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Rolling Stones songs: The Storm
Minutes turn to hours/ And hours turn into days/ The storm started howlin’/ I’m out of my brain…
*B-side of Love is Strong Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: Ronnie Wood’s Sandymount Studios, Kildare, Ireland, July 9-Aug. 6 and Sept. 1993; Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland, Nov. 3-Dec. 10 1993 ; Don Was’ Studio and A&M Studios, Los Angeles, USA, Jan. 15-Apr. 1994 *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
Mick Jagger: vocals, Dobro, harmonica Keith Richards: rhythm guitar Charlie Watts: drums Ron Wood: slide guitar Guest musicians: Darryl Jones (bass), Chuck Leavell (piano)
Long before The Storm ever reached listeners, its true turbulence had already erupted in Mick Jagger’s mind. The track channels the persona he slips into so effortlessly—the grizzled Delta bluesman who seems to wander out of some humid Southern crossroads carrying nothing but a harmonica and a lifetime of stories. That voice rises again here, singing of how the storm started howlin’ and he felt a mighty rumble coming from the ground, lines that sound less written than conjured. Jagger’s harmonica wails with the same ominous electricity.
Although excluded from Voodoo Lounge, the song soon found a home beside Love Is StrongandSo Young on the album’s first single. And yet, few listeners might guess that this fierce, lived-in blues track was born not from years of reflection but from a last-minute creative scramble.
The Last Day Rush
The genesis of The Storm traces back not to a planned writing session but to the final moments of wrapping up Voodoo Loungeat Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin. The band was ready to pack up when producer Don Was approached Mick Jagger with a simple reminder: they still needed three B-sides for the upcoming singles. Jagger, exhausted and convinced he couldn’t possibly produce more material, told Was he simply didn’t have the time or energy to write anything new. Was, ever the practical problem-solver, pointed toward the cafeteria and proposed an almost absurdly casual directive—sit down, grab a corner, and knock something out.
Written In A Cafeteria
The remarkable part is that Jagger actually did it. Within a short stretch of time, he returned with not one rough idea but three: The Storm, Jump On Top Of Meand I’m Gonna Drive. What might have been a moment of pressure-induced burnout instead became a burst of spontaneous creativity. Jagger immediately went from cafeteria to studio, where the band captured the backing tracks for all three songs in a single take. He announced he would come back to the lyrics later—an afterthought that feels almost comically casual, considering the grit and depth of the finished song. Those lyrics were eventually completed and tracked at A&M Studios in Los Angeles in early 1994, long after the backing tracks had been captured in that sudden Dublin session.
A Chicago Blues Spirit
Despite its improvised origins, The Storm radiates the authority and swagger of classic electric blues, the kind that feels as if it rolled in straight from Chicago. Ron Wood handles the slide guitar, likely using his Zemaitis, slipping behind Jagger’s vocals in the old-school tradition of shadowing the singer’s phrasing. Jagger’s vocal delivery is soaked in vibrato and conviction, sounding as though he had lived every word he wrote in that Dublin cafeteria. Adding another layer of depth, he also plays Dobro, and lays down several expressive harmonica lines that intertwine with the storm imagery. It’s yet another reminder of how naturally he steps into the blues idiom, letting the instrument moan and twist around the song’s emotional core.
The Band Behind the Lightning
Keith Richards anchors the track with electric rhythm guitar, giving it the sturdy backbone a blues like this demands. Curiously, the bass line appears not to be played by Darryl Jones; many suspect Don Was himself took the role, though the credits aren’t definitive. Chuck Leavell contributes piano, though his playing sits deep in the mix, adding ghostlike textures more felt than heard. Charlie Watts, with brushes rather than sticks, gives the song a simmering pulse—subdued, smoky, and perfectly suited to the atmosphere. The combined effect is a band weaving a blues landscape that sounds anything but rushed, even though its foundation was created spontaneously.
If anything makes The Storm fascinating, it’s the contrast between the method of its creation and the depth of its sound. In the early days—1964 in particular—Jagger and Richards struggled mightily under Andrew Loog Oldham’s pressure to write original material. Three decades later, Jagger casually produced three strong tracks in the time it took to drink a coffee. It remains the standout of the batch: a moment where urgency birthed something timeless, and where a passing idea became a fully formed blues force.
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