Dirty Work is The Rolling Stones' 18th studio album (or the 21st, counting their US releases). It was released on 24 March 1986 on the Rolling Stones label by CBS Records. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album was recorded during a period when relations between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soured considerably,[citation needed] and is often regarded as a low point for the band.[1]
The album produced a hit for the Rolling Stones — their cover of "Harlem Shuffle" — and features a number of guest appearances, including contributions by Tom Waits, Patti Scialfa, Bobby Womack, and Jimmy Page on "One Hit (To the Body)."
In 1994 Dirty Work was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music.
Recording
The sessions for Dirty Work, the first album under the Rolling Stones' recording contract with CBS Records, began in April 1985 in Paris, running for two months before breaking for a short spell.[2] Mick Jagger had just released his first solo album, She's the Boss, much to Richards' annoyance, since the latter's first priority was The Rolling Stones and he was stung that Jagger was pursuing a career as a pop star.[citation needed] Jagger was often absent from the Dirty Work sessions while Richards recorded with Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts; Jagger's vocal parts were added later on.[citation needed] The divide between Jagger and Richards was on public view on 13 July 1985, when Jagger performed a solo set at Live Aid while Richards and Wood supported Bob Dylan's set on acoustic guitars.
Charlie Watts' involvement in the recording sessions was also limited: in 1993 Watts told Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes that during the 1980s he had been addicted to heroin as well as alcohol, and that this is why replacement drummers are credited on both Undercover and Dirty Work. Steve Jordan and Anton Fig do the drumming on some tracks; Ronnie Wood takes over the sticks on "Sleep Tonight". Jagger would later cite Watts' personal state as one of the reasons he vetoed a tour in support of Dirty Work in 1986, preferring to start work on his second album, Primitive Cool.[citation needed]
Four of the album's eight original compositions are credited to Jagger/Richards/Wood and one to Jagger/Richards/Chuck Leavell. Only three are credited to Jagger/Richards, the lowest number since on any Rolling Stones album since Out of Our Heads (1965). Dirty Work is the first Rolling Stones record to feature two tracks with Richards singing lead vocals ("Too Rude" and "Sleep Tonight").
Following a further month of final recording in July and August 1985 (which saw guest appearances by Jimmy Page, Bobby Womack and Tom Waits), co-producer Steve Lillywhite supervised several weeks of mixing and the creation of 12 inch remixes. On 12 December, Ian Stewart—one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones and their longtime pianist and road manager—died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 47. In remembrance of their friend, a hidden track of Stewart playing Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" was added to close the album.
In March 1986, The Rolling Stones' cover of "Harlem Shuffle" (their first lead single from a studio album not to be a Jagger/Richards original since the earliest days of the band) was released to a receptive audience, reaching #13 in the UK and #5 in the US, though it did not receive the same amount of exposure as previous hits.[citation needed] The follow-up single "One Hit (To the Body)" was a Top 30 hit and featured a revealing video of Jagger and Richards seeming to trade blows.
Reception
Dirty Work was released a week after "Harlem Shuffle", reaching #4 in the UK and the US (going platinum there), but the critical reaction was less than enthusiastic.[citation needed] Some reviewers felt the album was slight in places, with weak, generic songwriting from Richards and Wood and puzzlingly abrasive vocals from Jagger.[who?] Some felt Jagger was saving his best material for his solo records, though the critical reaction to those releases was muted as well.[citation needed] Dirty Work's critical standing has only marginally improved over the years, in part because it lacks any notable hits, and in part because of the plastic, recognizably mid-80s production.[citation needed] To this day, the album is regarded by some as perhaps the weakest Rolling Stones record.[1]
However, in 1986 Robert Christgau called Dirty Work "a bracing and even challenging record [which] innovates without kowtowing to multi-platinum fashion or half-assed pretension. It's honest and makes you like it."[3] In 2004 Stylus Magazine's "On Second Thoughts" feature assessed the album as "a tattered, embarrassed triumph, by far the most interesting Stones album since Some Girls at every level: lyrical, conceptual, instrumental."[4] The re-evaluation of the album finds that despite its 80s-style production, the album features "the most venomous guitar sound of the Stones’ career, and Jagger’s most committed vocals."[4]
Artwork and packaging
The original vinyl release of Dirty Work came shrinkwrapped in dark red cellophane. Breaking with Rolling Stones tradition, Dirty Work was the first of their studio albums to contain a lyric sheet in the U.S., apparently at the insistence of then-distributor CBS Records,[citation needed] who also pushed for the atypical colourful band-photo cover.[citation needed] The album was also noteworthy as the first major release to be issued simultaneously on compact disc.
Track listing
- Side one
- "One Hit (To the Body)" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood) – 4:44
- "Fight" (Jagger/Richards/Wood) – 3:09
- "Harlem Shuffle" (Bob Relf/Ernest Nelson) – 3:24
- "Hold Back" (Jagger/Richards) – 3:53
- "Too Rude" (Lindon Roberts) – 3:11
- Side two
- "Winning Ugly" (Jagger/Richards) – 4:32
- "Back to Zero" (Jagger/Richards/Leavell) – 4:00
- "Dirty Work" (Jagger/Richards/Wood) – 3:53
- "Had It with You" (Jagger/Richards/Wood) – 3:19
- "Sleep Tonight" (Jagger/Richards) – 5:11
- "Key to the Highway" (Big Bill Broonzy/Charles Segar) – 0:33
- A hidden and uncredited recording performed by Ian Stewart, who died just after the album's completion
Outtakes and demo versions
The Dirty Work recording sessions took place at Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France, from 8 April to 17 June 1985 and RPM Studios, New York, from 16 July to 17 August 1985. Outtakes and demo versions from these sessions are available on various bootlegs, and include numbers like:
- "Strictly Memphis"
- "You're Too Much" (Keith Richards on vocal)
- "Treat Me Like a Fool" (Keith Richards on vocal)
- "She Never Listens to Me" (Keith Richards on vocal)
- "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" (Hunter/Wonder)
- "Deep Love" (Keith Richards on vocal)
- "What Am I Going to Do With Your Love"
- "Crushed Pearl" (Keith Richards on vocal)
Personnel
- The Rolling Stones
- Additional musicians
Chart positions
- Album
- Singles
External links
Notes
