Blue & Lonesome  by The Rolling Stones

Fifty-plus years after the release of their first studio album, which included only one of their own compositions, as all the other songs were covers of blues hits, the Rolling Stones return to the discography with Blue & Lonesome, an album consisting of twelve covers of blues songs written when they themselves were young children. Thus, they reach their twenty-third official studio album.

Blue & Lonesome took its title as an album from the song of the same name by Little Walter, a bluesman who died at thirty-eight in 1968, but in 2008 was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame as a harmonica player, something that had never happened before and has not been repeated since. The Rolling Stones cover songs by their beloved Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Johnson, and of course three songs by Little Walter. The fortunate circumstance was that at the same studio and at the same time, Eric Clapton was also recording, who seized the opportunity and played guitar on Everybody Knows About My Good Thing and I Can't Quit You Baby. It was the last album of the Rolling Stones on which Charlie Watts played drums, and now it seems like a fantastic way to bid farewell and thank the millions of fans worldwide who loved him for his playing style, but also for his unique character.

The production was by Don Was and of course the Glimmer Twins, that is, Jagger and Richards. The album is a true musical monument for all the above reasons. Lonesome & Blues rightly reached No.1 in over fifteen countries. Among them were Argentina, Japan, Belgium, Croatia, the United Kingdom, and many others. Its sales are estimated at 1,800,000 copies worldwide.