Imaginary Albums #17: The Rolling Stones (Again)

Just yesterday, I was talking about the newly-released deluxe edition of the Rolling Stones' 1976 album Black And Blue, their first release after guitarist Mick Taylor left the band. So it makes sense to also re-post, as part of my recent walk through my imaginary record concoctions, the CD I created a few years ago supposing what a final Stones record with Mick Taylor might have sounded like.

Waiting On A Friend compiles the various non-album tracks on which Taylor played in the 70s, which have trickled out over the years on, among other places, 1975's Metamorphosis leftovers collection, 1981's Tattoo You (another collection of leftover songs from over the years), and various reissues and bootlegs.

It's not a great album by any means (a few obvious classics aside). The songs were recorded over several years and don't necessarily congeal into a unified whole; more significantly, the band generally made the right calls in deciding which tracks weren't worthy of their albums, and Taylor's last couple records with the band were already getting kinda shaky, never mind the outtakes. But for those of us who think Other Mick's slinky slide guitar lines can make any Stones track a little better, it's kinda cool to have these assembled in one place. And it's definitely better than Black And Blue.

(For the Spotify playlist, I had to omit a couple tracks from my CDR because they don't stream; it's a real loss in the case of "Through The Lonely Nights".)