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Rolling Stones unreleased: So Young (early version, 1977)
Hidden in the shadows of the Some Girls sessions, So Young reveals a different side of The Rolling Stones—looser, riskier, and charged with cinematic tension. Recorded in Paris in 1977 but left unreleased for years, the early version captures Mick Jagger and Keith Richards chasing a spark rather than perfection. It’s not just an outtake; it’s a snapshot of instinct in motion. With its playful edge and restless energy, the song shows how even the band’s leftovers could shimmer with possibility, offering fans a rare glimpse into the creative heat that fueled one of their most iconic eras.
There’s something cinematic about So Young, as if the projector has just started to hum and the screen flickers to life inside a half-empty theater. A young woman drifts into view—restless, imperfect, almost defiantly unpolished. She moves with an awkward rhythm, distracted, her innocence marked by the small, human details others might overlook. At first, she hardly seems the stuff of fantasy. He studies her with a mix of curiosity and caution, whispering a silent plea for discipline, as though temptation were a test of faith. Then comes the smallest of gestures: a pair of boots offered across the dim glow. The transformation is instant. She laughs, pulls them on, and suddenly the air changes. What felt uncertain becomes electric. Desire sparks where doubt once lingered, and he finds himself caught between exhilaration and the instinct to run before the moment burns too bright.
Studio Sparks And Shifting Time
Behind that vivid snapshot lies a different kind of magic—the creative friction of late 1977 at EMI Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris, where Jagger and Richards were shaping material during the Some Girlssessions. So Young may have remained unreleased at the time, but it carried the pulse of that era: raw, playful, slightly dangerous. Like much of what surrounded those sessions, it thrived on spontaneity, capturing how quickly the ordinary could tilt into something unforgettable. The song feels less like a polished statement and more like a photograph developed in haste—grainy, alive, and honest.
Over the decades So Young refused to fade. A later mix surfaced as the B-side to Love Is Strong in 1994, polished under Chris Kimsey’s production and subtly enriched by Chuck Leavell’s piano. In 2011 the expanded release of Some Girls revisited the track once more, with additional vocals and even a stripped-down piano interpretation. Each version reframes that fleeting cinema encounter, proving the song’s charm doesn’t belong to a single year. Instead, it lingers—reshaped, revoiced, and rediscovered—like a memory that keeps finding new light.
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