Enjoy this site? Please consider making a small contribution to help cover running costs and keep updating it daily. Every bit of support helps! Thank you.
Before the Rolling Stones became the band everyone knows, they were busy absorbing American blues and turning borrowed songs into something unmistakably their own. Baby, What’s Wrong is one of those early snapshots, a Jimmy Reed number recorded in 1963 when the Stones were still sharpening the sound that would soon make them impossible to ignore. Mick Jagger handles the vocal while the band leans into the raw, ragged rhythm-and-blues attack that suited them so well. It is not polished, and that is precisely the point. Sometimes the rough edges tell the story better than the finished product ever could.
Also known as: Baby What’s Wrong? Written by: Jimmy Reed/Mary Lee Reed Recorded: IBC Studios, Portland Place, London, March 11 1963
From Martin Elliott’s book The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2012: This track wraps up the Stones’ first recording session. The IBC sessions, although now famous and much sought after, were considered as a whole far too rough for a commercial release, much to the band’s disappointment. Honey What’s Wrong is a mendearing-type song and harmonies inspired by Keith Richards leave a lot to be desired. The mix of pop vocals with R&B lead guitar and harmonica did not quite mix. The band were particularly critical of the lack of bass in the mix and wanted the tracks re-cut. This did not happen. a 10-inch acetate of the five tracks was sold by a friend of Brian Jones at an auction in April 1993.
More about The Rolling Stones’ take onHoney What’s Wrong?
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
The Rolling Stones and the Raw Blues of Honey What’s Wrong?
Before fame, big tours, and global recognition The Rolling Stones were just a hungry young band trying to lay down their sound. One of their earliest attempts to bottle that bluesy energy came on March 11, 1963, at IBC Studios in London. Among the handful of tracks cut that day was a gritty little number called Honey What’s Wrong? (also known as Baby, What’s Wrong?), originally written by Jimmy Reed and his wife Mary Lee.
The session itself was rough, raw, and full of the kind of growing pains you’d expect from a new band still finding its groove. The Stones weren’t thrilled with the outcome. The mix lacked bass, the harmonies were shaky—especially Keith Richards’ contributions—and the attempt to blend pop-style vocals with R&B guitar and harmonica felt forced. Despite their dissatisfaction, the band didn’t get a do-over. Those takes, flaws and all, became a part of their early history. And while the session was initially shelved, a 10-inch acetate survived and later resurfaced in 1993 through a friend of Brian Jones, selling at auction.
From Dusty Tape to Deluxe Release
It took nearly 50 years, but Honey What’s Wrong? finally got its due after circulating on countless bootlegs. In 2012, the track was officially released on the deluxe edition of the GRRR! compilation, giving fans a chance to hear the Stones in their earliest, roughest form. It’s hardly a polished masterpiece, but that’s precisely where much of its charm lies. The recording captures a young band still finding its voice, full of raw ambition, loose edges, and plenty of attitude. You can hear the beginnings of something bigger taking shape, even if the finished sound is still a long way off. Flawed, loud, energetic, and undeniably eager, Honey What’s Wrong? offers a fascinating glimpse of the Rolling Stones before they fully became the band the world would know.
Enjoy this site? Please consider making a small contribution to help cover running costs and keep updating it daily. Every bit of support helps! Thank you.
Stones Data on Substack
