Voodoo Lounge (1994)

Voodoo Lounge is the twentieth British and twenty-second American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 11 July 1994. The album was the band's first release under their new alliance with Virgin Records and their first studio album in five years, since Steel Wheels in 1989. Voodoo Lounge is also the band's first album without original bassist Bill Wyman, who left the band in early 1991, though the Stones did not announce his departure until two years later. In 2009, the album was remastered and reissued by Universal Music. This album was released as a double LP on vinyl and as a single CD and cassette.

After the departure of Wyman, the Stones chose not to officially replace him as a band member and continued as a four-piece with Mick Jagger (vocals), Charlie Watts (drums), Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood (both guitars). Wyman was unofficially replaced by Darryl Jones, who performed with the Stones in the studio and on tour as a contracted player. Keyboards were provided by Chuck Leavell. Jones and Leavell, though not band members, would remain collaborators with the group from that point on. Don Was was brought in to produce the album alongside Jagger and Richards.

Voodoo Lounge sold well, reaching either Gold or Platinum status in several countries, but failed to produce a US top 40 hit. The songs "Love Is Strong" and "You Got Me Rocking" peaked at Nos. 14 and 23 in the UK, respectively, and "You Got Me Rocking" became a staple on most subsequent Stones tours. The album received several positive reviews and won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 1995.

Background

Following the release of Keith Richards' Main Offender and Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit respectively in 1992 and 1993, both leaders of the Rolling Stones began composing new songs in April 1993, deciding upon Don Was as co-producer for the upcoming sessions. In November, after rehearsing and recording at Ronnie Wood's house in Ireland that September, the Stones shifted to Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and began cutting Voodoo Lounge. Although not joining the band officially, Darryl Jones would be taking Bill Wyman's place as the group's regular bassist, at the suggestion of drummer Charlie Watts.

Don Was, noted for his retro rock production sensibilities, was reportedly responsible for pushing the band towards more conventional territory in an attempt to reproduce the archetypal "Rolling Stones" sound. Although this approach pleased critics and the Stones rock-oriented fan base, Jagger in particular expressed some dissatisfaction with Was's aesthetic, commenting in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone:

... there were a lot of things that we wrote for Voodoo Lounge that Don steered us away from: groove songs, African influences and things like that. And he steered us very clear of all that. And I think it was a mistake.

Was responded that he was not "anti-groove, just anti-groove without substance, in the context of this album. They had a number of great grooves. But it was like, 'OK, what goes on top of it? Where does it go?' I just felt that it's not what people were looking for from the Stones. I was looking for a sign that they can get real serious about this, still play better than anybody and write better than anybody."

The result was an essentially classicist recording that drew on the blues, R&B, and country that had informed the Stones classic late 1960s/early 1970s recordings. Jagger would insist on a more diverse, contemporary production cast for the subsequent Bridges to Babylon (1997). After a period of recording in Los Angeles in the first few months of 1994, Voodoo Lounge was complete and the Rolling Stones moved onto the rehearsals for the Voodoo Lounge Tour, which would begin in August. In June, four of the songs were leaked and were played on radio station KRZZ, prompting Virgin to "keep the material off the air".

During the recording of the album, Richards adopted a stray cat in Barbados which he named Voodoo, because they were in Barbados, and the kitten had survived the odds. He dubbed the terrace of the house Voodoo's Lounge. "Sparks Will Fly" was written by Richards after a blow-up with Jerry Lee Lewis in Ireland. Richards invited Lewis to Wood's home to jam on a few songs. Lewis took it seriously and thought they were making an album, and upon playback of the session, he started to pick apart Richards' band, which outraged Richards.

Release and reception

Released in July 1994, Voodoo Lounge received generally positive reviews and debuted at No. 1 in the UK (their first chart-topper there since 1980's Emotional Rescue) and No. 2 in the US (behind the soundtrack to The Lion King) where it went double platinum.