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Black and Blue in depth

1976 is a very long time ago and the world was a very different place then. They did things differently there. For example, Black And Blue was originally launched in American with a huge billboard on Sunset Boulevard that showed the model Anita Russell bruised and bound by Mick Jagger, accompanied by the phrase, “I'm Black And Blue from the Rolling Stones — and I love it!”

Mick thought it was ‘a valid piece of commercial art, just a picture’ and Keith claimed that it was ‘funny’; but various feminist groups weren’t quite so sure and protested until it was removed.

In 1976 you could also, quite legitimately, get Billy Preston into the studio to play on Eric Donaldson’s Cherry Oh Baby, and then sing in a cod-Jamaican accent all over it. No one would think badly of you, except, perhaps, rock critic extraordinaire Lester Bangs who decreed Black And Blue was, “a letdown of hideous proportions” and “the first meaningless Rolling Stones album.” 

But that seems to miss the point somewhat because Black And Blue, perhaps more than any other Rolling Stones to date, was all about the medium rather than the message. It’s a good example of the old ‘Dancing about Architecture’ problem - there is nothing the music says that can usefully be put into words. This record is a triumph of sensation over meaning. So tune your ears in, but turn your brain off for a while, you won’t be needing it.