Rolling Stones return to blues roots in new studio album

LONDON – It’s back to the blues for the Rolling Stones.

The band that first made its name covering songs by American blues artists announced plans Thursday to release a blues album on Dec. 2. The “Blue & Lonesome” album will be their first studio release in more than a decade.

The band says the album was recorded without overdubs in just three days at British Grove Studios in west London with the goal of having a spontaneous live feel.

Eric Clapton, who helped popularize the blues in Britain in the 1960s during his time with the Bluesbreakers and with Cream, plays on two of the album’s 12 tracks.

The album includes a version of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1966 song “Commit a Crime,” Jimmy Reed’s “Little Rain” from 1957 and “Hoo Doo Blues,” recorded in 1958 by Lightnin’ Slim.

In the Stones’ early days, they often played their own versions of hits by Reed, Willie Dixon, Little Walter and other American artists, helping older blues masters find a new, youthful audience.

Later they developed their own style, as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards penned classics like “Satisfaction,” ”Sympathy for the Devil,” ”Midnight Rambler” and many others.