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Rolling Stones unreleased: Built That Way
In 1975, the Rolling Stones weren’t chasing perfection—they were chasing sparks. Camped out in Rotterdam with the Mobile Studio humming, the band drifted through late-night jams, loose ideas, and reckless inspiration. Somewhere in that blur, Built That Waytook shape. It never earned an official release, but that’s part of the charm. The track captures the Black and Blue era at its most unfiltered: gritty, exploratory, and unconcerned with polish. Less a finished product than a sonic snapshot, it plays like a secret message from the Stones’ mid-’70s laboratory—when instinct ruled, rules didn’t matter, and not everything great was meant to be released.
Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: Mobile Record Unit, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Jan-Feb. 1975 (Black and Blue sessions) Guest musicians: Billy Preston (piano)
Tucked away in the archives of the mid-70s lies Built That Way, a track that never officially saw the light of day on a Rolling Stones record. It was born during the Black and Blue sessions of early 1975, when the band parked themselves in Rotterdam with their Mobile Record Unit. The atmosphere was raw, experimental, and restless—exactly the kind of backdrop that could spark both timeless hits and forgotten gems.
What makes this piece intriguing isn’t just its obscurity but the company involved. Alongside the ever-dynamic Jagger and Richards, the sessions were graced by the soulful touch of Billy Preston on piano. His influence added a gospel-funk flavor that gave the Stones an extra edge during this era. Even on tracks that never reached the spotlight, his playing leaves fingerprints all over the grooves.
Rediscovering the Groove
Built That Way feels like a snapshot of the Stones at a crossroads—between the swaggering rock that made them legends and the more exploratory sounds they were chasing in the mid-70s. There’s a looseness in the jam, a sense that the band was stretching beyond the formula and simply seeing where the music could take them.
The fact that it stayed unreleased only adds to its mystique. For fans, stumbling upon a track like this is like discovering a hidden page in the Stones’ diary, one scribbled with ideas that never made it to the main story but still pulse with energy. It reminds us that behind every polished album lies a treasure trove of experiments, risks, and near-misses that tell just as much about the band’s evolution as the hits do.
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