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Rolling Stones unreleased: Light Up

Written by: Jagger/Richards
Recorded: Pathé Marconi Studios, Boulogne-Billancourt, France, Oct-Nov. 1977 (Some Girls sessions)

From Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012:
The pedal steel guitar trait on Some Girls, courtesy of Ron Wood, appears again on the instrumental Light Up giving it a country feel. And still the outtakes kept coming.

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Light Up: A Snapshot Of Experimentation

Long before Light Up was known to devoted collectors, its roots were planted in the turbulent yet wildly prolific atmosphere of the Rolling Stones’ 1977 sessions at Pathé Marconi Studios. The band arrived in Paris fractured by personal strains and shifting cultural tides, yet this pressure cooker sparked some of the most daring music they had attempted in years. The instrumental Light Up, built around Ronnie Wood’s understated pedal steel guitar, hints at the country textures woven through the Some Girls era—textures that arose almost by accident as the Stones pushed themselves into unfamiliar terrain. What emerged was not just a set of outtakes but a window into a band redefining itself on the fly, navigating disco, punk, and a rapidly transforming musical world with surprising openness.

The Some Girls Sessions Reimagined

The Some Girls sessions have often been framed through the prism of hits like Miss You, yet the deeper story lies in the band’s willingness to break their own rules. Working with co-producer Chris Kimsey, the Stones stripped back the layered polish of earlier records in favor of lean grooves, improvised structures, and a more spontaneous studio approach. Ronnie Wood’s pedal steel—often overlooked—became a recurring accent, lending a dusty Americana flair to tracks that were otherwise driven by urban tension and dance-floor rhythms.

As synthesizers entered their toolkit for the first significant time, and as Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman locked into funkier, more elastic patterns, the Stones embraced a raw, modern energy that sharply contrasted their blues-based origins. Even material left unreleased, like Light Up, reflects this restless creativity. Rather than a discarded idea, it stands as evidence of a band unafraid to reach, revise, and reinvent. The sessions at Pathé Marconi ultimately produced not only a celebrated album but a renewed identity—proof that the Stones could survive the late ’70s by transforming within it.

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