Like what you see? Help keep it going! This ad-free site runs on the support of readers like you. Your donation helps cover costs and keeps fresh content coming your way every day. Thank you!
Following the River is the kind of Rolling Stones song that makes you wonder what else was hiding in those archives. The track had already been sitting around for years before Mick Jagger found a way to turn its piano-led framework into something complete, adding lyrics and a new sense of direction. Not bad for a song that initially existed without words and seemed destined to remain another forgotten piece of Stones history. Instead, The Rolling Stones brought it back for the 2010 reissue of Exile on Main St., proving once again that their vaults can be almost as unpredictable as their career. Sometimes the leftovers are the interesting stuff.
My cards are on the table/ But the drinks have all run out…
Written by: Jagger/Richard Recorded: Rolling Stones Mobile, Villa Nellcôte, Villefranche-sur-mer, France, July 6-28 and Aug. 30-Sept. 20 1971 *Mixing, editing and overdubbing of original leftovers done in New York (One East Studio), Los Angeles (Henson Recording Studios, Tne Village and Mix This!) and London (unidentified studio) 2009
Mick Jagger: vocals, guitar, tambourine Keith Richards: guitar Bill Wyman: bass Charlie Watts: drums Guest musicians: Nicky Hopkins (piano), Lisa Fisher and Cindy Mizelle (backing vocals), David Campbell (strings arrangement)
More about Following the River by The Rolling Stones
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
A Song That Waited For Its Moment
Following the River took an unusually long route from recording session to release. The piano-led ballad began life as an instrumental during the Stones’ sessions at Villa Nellcôte in France in 1971, with Nicky Hopkins providing the piano at its core. Rather than disappearing completely, the unfinished piece remained in the band’s archives for decades, waiting for a new purpose. Mick Jagger later returned to the recording, adding fresh lyrics and vocals that transformed the original instrumental into a finished song. In an interview with The Sunday Timeson May 9, 2010 Jagger recalled his affection for the piece while admitting he had never known where it would ultimately lead. That uncertainty finally ended when the song appeared on the 2010 expended reissue of Exile on Main St., nearly four decades after the original sessions.
From Nellcôte to the Archives
The original recording dates from July 6-28 and Aug. 30-Sept. 20 1971, recorded with the Rolling Stones Mobile during the sessions at Villa Nellcôte, Villefranche-sur-mer, France. Written by Jagger/Richard, the track was initially little more than a piano-centered musical idea. Mick Jagger handled vocals, guitar and tambourine, while Keith Richards played guitar, Bill Wyman bass and Charlie Watts drums.
The unfinished recording eventually gained a second life when Mick Jagger revisited it and supplied new lyrics. His comments to The Sunday Times suggest that the song had remained something he valued even though its destination was uncertain. That revival turned an archival fragment into a completed Rolling Stones recording without erasing its original character.
Mick Jagger (2010): “The original tape was pretty sparse… I just started from nothing on that. The core tape of it was the piano and the drums, bass, and guitar. There was no top line or lyric. I started from scratch – I mean, that’s what I do, and I’ve done it many times before. And it’s daunting in the beginning, but after a while you get into it.”
The 2010 Revival
The finished version was included on the 2010 re-release of Exile on Main St., the Rolling Stones’ 1972 album. Work on the old material involved mixing, editing and overdubbing in New York at One East Studio, Los Angeles at Henson Recording Studios, Tne Village and Mix This!, and London at an unidentified studio during 2009. The additional musicians expanded the arrangement, with Lisa Fisher and Cindy Mizelle contributing backing vocals and David Campbell handling the strings arrangement.
Producere Don Was (2010): “On Following the River the vocal was there but Mick knew what he wanted to do with the words – he just never got around to it. So he sang it again. And in one case there is a great ballad that never had lyrics. He wrote it and finished it.”
The Musicians
The final recording brought together the familiar Stones lineup with several important guest contributions. Nicky Hopkins remained central through his piano part, while David Campbell shaped the strings arrangement. What makes Following the River particularly intriguing is not simply its late release, but the way an unfinished 1971 recording was patiently reshaped nearly forty years later without losing its connection to the original sessions.
Mick Jagger (2010): “It’s a good feeling when it all comes together. There’s a track on the album called Following the River, which is a ballad. It’s a got beautiful piano on it, which I didn’t play. And I’d heard this before but it didn’t have any lyrics at all. It had a beautiful – I could hear different melodies but I didn’t know how I was going to get the melody to fit with this already existing track, which is very heavily piano. And when it came together, when I was sort of – I was just singing onto it, I was putting it on the stereo and I was singing along, trying out different melody lines and trying out different words. And when it actually came together, it’s a very good moment, you know? There’s a moment – there’s a frustration, there’s a build-up of this, and then try, try, try, try, and there’s a moment when it really comes together for you.”
Like what you see? Help keep it going! This site runs on the support of readers like you. Your donation helps cover costs and keeps fresh Rolling Stones content coming your way every day. Thank you!
Stones Data on Substack
