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The Rolling Stones had plenty of serious business to handle in 1993, but apparently Charlie Watts’ wardrobe could not escape scrutiny. Alteration Boogie, an unreleased track from the Voodoo Lounge sessions, finds Keith Richards doing what Keith Richards does best: turning a passing joke into a boogie. Recorded in Barbados, the song reportedly poked fun at Charlie’s shirts and double-breasted suits, proving that even Stones outtakes could come with their own dressing-room comedy routine. Mick Jagger then supplied the title, because apparently someone had to put a name on the evidence. It’s a wonderfully odd little glimpse behind the sessions.
Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: Blue Wave Studios, St. Philip, Barbados, West Indies, Apr. 30-mid May 1993 (Voodoo Lounge sessions)
From Martin Elliott’s book The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2012: Keith Richards’ boogie lament for Charlie Watts’ dress sense. You know it don’t hang right. A fun ad-lib on shirts and double-breasted suits. The title was jokingly suggested by Mick Jagger at the song’s end.
An “altered boogie” by The Rolling Stones
Alteration Boogie is exactly the kind of Rolling Stones recording that makes the band’s unreleased material so much fun: a loose, slightly ridiculous idea that somehow became a song. Recorded at Blue Wave Studios in St. Philip, Barbados, between April 30 and mid-May 1993 during the Voodoo Lounge sessions, the track was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Its subject? Charlie Watts’ dress sense. More specifically, Keith turns a joke about Charlie’s shirts and double-breasted suits into a playful boogie lament. Apparently even the Stones’ wardrobe could become songwriting material. Mick Jagger reportedly suggested the title jokingly at the end, neatly giving this strange little outtake its name. It may not have been destined for an album, but that is precisely what makes it interesting: behind the serious business of making Voodoo Lounge, the Stones were still capable of simply messing around.
A very different side of the sessions
The Alteration Boogie recording comes from a fascinating period for The Rolling Stones. In April 1993, Jagger and Richards began writing new material after both had released solo albums: Richards’ Main Offender and Jagger’s Wandering Spirit. They brought in Don Was as co-producer, setting the stage for what would eventually become Voodoo Lounge.
Before heading to Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin later that year, the band worked on songs at Ronnie Wood’s home in Ireland. The sessions also marked a major lineup change, with Darryl Jones taking over bass duties from Bill Wyman. Charlie Watts was reportedly the one who suggested Jones. And somewhere amid all that planning, recording and musical housekeeping, Keith found time to write a song about Charlie’s clothes. Priorities, apparently.
Don Was and the classic Stones sound
Don Was wanted to steer the group toward a more traditional Rolling Stones identity, emphasizing the blues, R&B and country influences that had shaped their classic recordings. The approach pleased many critics and rock-oriented fans, but Mick Jagger was less convinced.
Jagger later complained that several grooves, African influences and other musical directions had been pushed aside during the Voodoo Lounge sessions. Was defended his decisions, arguing that grooves needed substance and direction rather than existing simply for their own sake. The resulting album leaned heavily into the Stones’ classicist side. It was a deliberate return to familiar territory, even if Jagger felt some more adventurous possibilities had been sacrificed along the way.
The strange world of Voodoo Lounge
The title Voodoo Lounge itself came from Keith Richards’ life in Barbados during the recording period. Richards had adopted a stray kitten and named it Voodoo after the animal somehow managed to survive against the odds. He also gave the terrace of the house where he was staying the name Voodoo Lounge.
The Stones would eventually complete the album in Los Angeles during the first months of 1994 before preparing for the massive tour that followed. The sessions have since become particularly well documented through numerous professionally packaged bootleg releases.
Among all that material Alteration Boogie remains a wonderfully minor but revealing curiosity. It shows that even during an important album project, The Rolling Stones could abandon grand musical ambitions for a few minutes and have a laugh at Charlie Watts’ expense.
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