“The only thing I want the Stones to be remembered for is being a good rock band,” he explained simply.
“There is going to be the Beatles and there is going to be the Stones and together they will represent the rock era.
“The Stones are much longer lived, obviously.”
Elsewhere in the profile interview, published on Saturday (14 October), the “Satisfaction” vocalist recalled his friendship with Paul McCartney, and his take on a comment the Beatles musician made about the Stones.
“He said the Beatles were better than the Stones because the Stones were really just a blues cover band,” Jagger told journalist Will Hodgkinson.
However, Jagger stressed that he didn’t harbour any bad feelings towards McCartney or his comment, claiming that McCartney’s band began in a similar fashion.
“Well, the Beatles were also really just a blues cover band when they started out. Every band is a cover band at the beginning, because that’s how it goes,” Jagger said.
“When we’re on tour I like to say that someone is in the audience when they’re actually not, to create a big moment, so I said one time, ‘Paul McCartney is here tonight. He’s going to come up on stage and play some of our blues cover tunes.’ I texted Paul to say thank you for his comment because it has given me a lot of comic material.”
During an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Jagger praised Gaga – who provided backing vocals on the track – and explained how ‘Sweet Sounds Of Heaven’ came together in the studio.
When Jagger explained the Lady Gaga track is “gospel flavoured”, Keith Richards quipped to his band mate: “You’ve never been to church in your life!”
“She’s a really great singer and I’d never heard her sing [in] quite that style before. Not exactly,” the frontman said of the pop star’s contribution.
“We did it live in the room and that was a great experience, her just coming in the room and her just opening up and seeing her bits and feeling her way and then getting more confident.”
He continued: “And then we came back and then did some extra parts that we hadn’t done on the day and then we did some tidying up and we were just in the overdub room, really face-to-face, getting them really tight, the parts really tight, and then being slightly competitive and screaming. And of course, we did overdubs, but it’s all played in the room.”
The single is the second release from the album, following “Angry,” which was dropped on Sep. 6 along with the news of their new album, which is due Oct. 20.
After the generic riff-rock of their previous single ‘Angry’, ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’ is a solid reset for the Stones. Dipping into the band’s penchant for gospel and old-school country music, the song finds Mick Jagger in full preacher mode, pleading that “no woman or child go hungry tonight.” Meanwhile, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood trade some phase-heavy guitar licks, not unlike the kinds that the pair traded on Some Girls.
For her part, Gaga does her best to channel the great vocalists that have cycled through the Stones’ work, including Merry Clayton and Lisa Fischer. It’s funny to hear Gaga go gospel – she’s tried her hand at classic crooning through her work with Tony Bennett, but I don’t think she’s ever done a real church stomper before. It fits her vocal style well, especially when she gets to belt her way through the song’s conclusion.
The album not only features guest appearances by Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga, but also Paul McCartney and Elton John. McCartney plays bass on “Bite My Head Off,” and John plays piano on “Get Close” and “Live by the Sword.”
The band recorded two tracks, “Mess It Up” and “Live by the Sword,” before Watts’ death, and the latter features the return of the band’s original bassist, Bill Wyman. Wyman left the group in the early Nineties.
“We wouldn’t be putting this out now if we didn’t really like it,” Jagger said. “We didn’t want to make just any record and put it out. So we wanted to make a record. Before we went in, we said we all want to make a record that we really love, ourselves. People may like it, other people may not. But we must say this, we are quite pleased with it. … We hope you’ll like it.”
Mick Jagger: 'The Rolling Stones are already working on another album'
Jagger said that he doesn’t think Hackney Diamonds will be “the last Rolling Stones album”.
Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood have been working with Fulwell 73 on a documentary about the making of their latest record 'Hackney Diamonds'.
A source told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: "Stones fans are in for a treat as they’re not only getting a new album, but a documentary film too.
“The band have been working with Fulwell 73 on the production. They’re the team behind 'The Kardashians’ big deal with Hulu.
“The film will chart the band as they started working on the 12 tracks which appear on 'Hackney Diamonds'.
Hackney Diamonds will land on 20 October 2023, and features former member Bill Wyman on one track, as well as some tracks recorded with the late drummer Charlie Watts.
The vinyl release includes a purple-colored disc from Target and a limited-edition lime green disc with alternate cover art on Amazon standard-edition vinyl available for $29.99 as of this writing, an 11% discount from the listed price. This is a classic 12-inch, 180g black vinyl LP.
Amazon also has the Rolling Stones vinyl in an exclusive lime green colorway and with an alternate cover.
Hackney Diamonds' tracklist:
1. Angry
2. Get Close (feat. Elton John)
3. Depending on You
4. Bite My Head Off (feat. Paul McCartney)
5. Whole Wide World
6. Dreamy Skies
7. Mess It Up (feat. Charlie Watts)
8. Live by the Sword (feat. Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and Elton John)
9. Driving Me Too Hard
10. Tell Me Straight
11. Sweet Sound of Heaven (feat. Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder)
12. Rolling Stone Blues
