In 1978, The Rolling Stones tracked a reggae-styled song through dozens of takes. At the end of the session Keith Richards ran one straight rock pass. The band recorded it once and moved on.
Associate producer Chris Kimsey found that take in 1981 while digging through warehouse vault tapes for Tattoo You. He skipped past the reggae versions, pulled the rock take at the end of the reel, and played it for Mick Jagger. Jagger wrote new lyrics. The track became “Start Me Up.”
Key Takeaways
- The session: The Stones cut a reggae arrangement in 1978, then Richards added a single driving rock take at the close of the day.
- The vault: Kimsey spent months searching old warehouse tapes when the band needed songs for Tattoo You in 1981.
- The recovery: The usable rock take sat after dozens of reggae attempts on the same session reel.
- The release: Jagger wrote lyrics over the recovered track, and “Start Me Up” became one of the band’s biggest stadium anthems.
