Yesterday (September 4th) Mick Jagger tweeted footage of him at home laying down harmonica tracks through his computer to a new song, with the caption: “Harmonica playing on new tunes!” It remains unclear whether he’s recording the part for a new solo project or the Rolling Stones‘ new album — although as the 2001 TV special Being Mick showed, Jagger is know to lay down tracks away from the studio in the comfort of his own home.
Harmonica playing on new tunes ! pic.twitter.com/BY8JJYuRtI
— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) September 4, 2018
The Rolling Stones were actually recording a new album when the December 2015 sessions morphed into the blues tracks that made up 2016’s Blue & Lonesome. Stones producer Don Was maintains that there is ample original material already in the can, telling Pulse: “It’s really too early to . . . how many songs that we’ve actually recorded will make a record in the future. Y’know, we cut 30 to get at least 15. So, there’s all kinds of stuff. And that’s why I say I couldn’t even tell you what’s going to stand the test of time, and very little of it has gone past the initial tracking date.”
When Pulse last caught up with Ron Wood, he said that the eight or so Mick Jagger/Keith Richards originals already in the can from their then-recent sessions might end up being there for a while: “Well, those things have to cook awhile, y’know, the new songs. No, I thought I’d leave this up to Mick this time, and, y’know, Keith was saying, ‘Well, let’s see where it’s gonna take shape.’ ‘Cause, I always come in with songs if they haven’t got any (laughs). I like to see what they come up with first. But those songs are gonna sit a while and maybe be re-done, whereas the blues songs, we just hit it once (claps) — bang! Y’know, next song! We had the album in two, three days.”]