Album: Tattoo You
Year: 1981
. . .
Tattoo You was born because the Stones wanted to go on tour in the fall of 1981 and they needed a new record out. (It was 40 years ago, and that’s just how it worked.) The problem was that Mick and Keith weren’t really speaking to each other, so Mick went digging through the vault, pulling and reworking tracks going all the way back to Goats Head Soup.
It should have been a mess, but with judicious overdubs, plus the conceit of having a “rocker” side and a “ballad” side, Tattoo You turned out to be a pretty good record, perhaps even their last great one. I certainly thought so in 1981, because I played the shit out of Tattoo You that year. I’ll betcha dollars to donuts that if you’re a person of a certain age, you did too.
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