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Rolling Stones Unreleased: Brown Leaves
Written by: Jagger/Richard Recorded: Dynamic Sounds Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, Nov. 25-Dec. 21 1972 and EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, Boulogne-Buillancourt, France, Jan.5-March 2 1978
From Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012: This track had a long life but was never officially released. It started of as an instrumental under the name of Brown Leaves in 1972 and another instrumental version was recorded in 1978. With vocals it possibly appeared as the outtake Dancing Girls.
From Jamaica to France: The Journey of Brown Leaves
Some Rolling Stones tracks are buried for good reason. Others—like Brown Leaves—linger in the vaults like whispers of what could have been. This mysterious outtake began life in the sun-soaked haze of Kingston, Jamaica, during the band’s 1972 sessions at Dynamic Sounds Studios. It wasn’t a polished song, but a raw instrumental jam capturing the loose, exploratory vibe that often fueled the Stones’ most intriguing ideas. Then, six years later, the track was unexpectedly revived in a very different setting: the sleek and more controlled EMI Pathé Marconi Studios in France. Something about Brown Leaves stuck with the band—it survived not one, but two recording phases, which hints at its underlying potential. Though the song never officially made it out into the world, it clearly had enough spark to keep the Stones coming back to it. It’s the kind of studio ghost that teases collectors and fans alike.
A Hidden Link to Dancing Girls?
According to Martin Elliott’s book The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions, Brown Leaves might have eventually evolved—vocals and all—into the unreleased outtake known as Dancing Girls. If that’s true, the transformation is both subtle and fascinating. While the instrumental base of Brown Leaves remains obscure, its possible vocal incarnation offers a glimpse of what the Stones heard in the rhythm and mood. The band has always had a knack for recycling and reshaping their own material, and Brown Leaves seems to have been part of that creative shuffle. It may never surface officially, but its legacy endures as one of those deep cuts that reveals how much material the band generated behind the scenes—some forgotten, some repurposed, and some forever stuck in the echo chamber of Rolling Stones mythology.
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