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The Rolling Stones were apparently incapable of leaving a studio session without something else rattling around in the vaults, and Cookin’ Up is a particularly tasty example. Recorded in Paris in 1982 during the Emotional Rescue sessions, this unreleased rocker comes charging in with boogie piano, punchy guitars and the sort of loose energy that makes you wonder why it never escaped the vault. Mick Jagger’s vocals sit strangely low in the mix, while Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts keep the whole thing moving with gritty confidence. Also known as What I Am Sayin’ Is True, it sounds less like unfinished business and more like the Stones having too much fun to stop.
Also known as: What I Am Sayin’ Is True Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: Pathé Marconi Studios, Boulogne-Billancourt, France, Dec. 1-19 1982 (Emotional Rescue sessions) Guest musicians: Chuck Leavell (keyboards)
The Rolling Stones’ Cookin’ Up: A Forgotten Rocker from the Emotional Rescue Sessions
Some Rolling Stones outtakes sound like unfinished business; others sound like the band accidentally left the tape machine running while having far too much fun. Cookin’ Up belongs firmly in the second category. Recorded during the sessions that produced, this unreleased track captures The Rolling Stones in loose, hard-driving rock-and-roll mode, with a punchy rhythm, boogie-woogie piano and enough swagger to remind you that subtlety was never exactly the band’s favorite hobby. Mick Jagger’s vocals sit surprisingly deep in the mix, almost drifting behind the instruments, which gives the performance an improvised, late-night studio-jam atmosphere. Meanwhile, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood provide the crunchy guitar interplay, while Charlie Watts keeps the whole thing moving with his typically economical drumming. It may never have earned an official album slot, but Cookin’ Up has plenty of attitude.
A Rocker Hiding in the Vault
What makes Cookin’ Up interesting is how naturally it slips between the different personalities of the Stones during this period. The Emotional Rescuesessions were hardly limited to one musical formula. The band moved between disco, funk, blues, reggae and straight-ahead rock, apparently seeing genres less as rules and more as suggestions.
Cookin’ Up takes the most direct route. The rhythm is immediate and muscular, while the piano adds a boogie-driven bounce that gives the track an extra jolt. There is no obvious attempt to make the performance overly sophisticated. It simply rolls forward with the confidence of a band that already knows exactly how to make a rock song sound dangerous.
Jagger, Richards and Wood Let Loose
The unusual vocal mix is perhaps one of the track’s most distinctive features. Jagger does not dominate the recording in the way he often does on finished Stones productions. Instead, his voice seems partially submerged beneath the instrumental attack, reinforcing the feeling that this is a studio performance caught somewhere between a proper recording and an extended jam.
Richards and Ronnie Wood provide the guitars with the kind of interlocking swagger associated with the Stones, while Watts anchors everything without ever sounding as though he needs to prove anything. The result is rough around the edges, but that is precisely the appeal.
Another Piece of the Stones’ Unreleased Puzzle
Cookin’ Up never appears on the finished Emotional Rescuealbum, but its existence adds another fascinating layer to the sessions. The track has circulated through bootleg collections includingThe Virchov Tape, Undercover Reworked and Fully Finished Studio Outtakes, among others.
Stylistically, it sits somewhere between the punchier side of Some Girls and the rougher rock and blues textures that would later characterize Tattoo You. It is not a polished masterpiece, and perhaps that is exactly why it remains interesting. Cookin’ Up offers a glimpse of The Rolling Stones doing what they often did best: plugging in, finding a groove and letting the song take care of the rest.
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