Tattoo You

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Tattoo You
Studio album by The Rolling Stones
Released	24 August 1981
Recorded	November 1972-January 1973;January–March 1975;September 1977–March 1978;January-October 1979;October 1980-June 1981
Genre	Rock
Length	44:23
Language	English
Label	Rolling Stones/Virgin
Producer	The Glimmer Twins
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Blender link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link
The Rolling Stones chronology
Emotional Rescue (1980) Tattoo You (1981) Undercover (1983)
Singles from Tattoo You
"Start Me Up" Released: 14 August 1981 "Waiting on a Friend" Released: 30 November 1981 "Hang Fire" Released: April 1982

Tattoo You is an album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1981. The follow-up to Emotional Rescue, it proved to be a big critical and commercial success upon its release, and is considered by many to be one of The Rolling Stones' finest full-length releases, despite its prolonged recording history.

History

Tattoo You is primarily composed of outtakes, some dating back a decade, with new vocals and overdubs. Along with two new songs, the Rolling Stones put together this collection in order to have a new album to promote for their worldwide American Tour 1981/European Tour 1982 beginning that September. Many of the songs consisted at this point of instrumental backing tracks for which vocals had not been recorded:

• The backing tracks for "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend" were cut in late 1972 during the Goats Head Soup sessions (and feature Mick Taylor, not Ronnie Wood, on guitar; Taylor later demanded and received a share of the album's royalties).
• The backing tracks for "Slave" and "Worried About You" were recorded in 1975 during the Black and Blue sessions in Rotterdam. They feature Billy Preston on keyboards and Ollie Brown on percussion. Wayne Perkins plays the lead guitar on "Worried About You".
• "Hang Fire" and "Black Limousine" were worked on during the 1977-1978 Pathe Marconi recording sessions for Some Girls.
• The basic tracks for "No Use in Crying", "Little T&A", "Start Me Up", and re-recordings of "Black Limousine" and "Hang Fire" came from the Emotional Rescue sessions. "Start Me Up" was originally rehearsed as a reggae number in 1975 (during the Black and Blue sessions) and called "Never Stop", but was not released at that time; it was taken up again, and the balance of it was recorded during these sessions.
• "Neighbours" and "Heaven" were recorded during sessions in October-November 1980, after the release of Emotional Rescue. "Heaven" has an unusual lineup, consisting of only Charlie Watts on drums, Bill Wyman on synthesizer and bass, Mick Jagger on guitar, and producer Chris Kimsey on piano.
• Many of the vocal parts for the songs on Tattoo You were overdubbed during sessions in October-November 1980 and April-June 1981. Only Mick Jagger of the band was present at some of these sessions. Other overdubs, such as Sonny Rollins's saxophone parts on "Slave" and "Waiting on a Friend", were also added at these sessions. Most of the album was mixed at this time as well.

Despite the eclectic nature of the album, the Rolling Stones were able to divide Tattoo You into two distinct halves: a rock and roll side backed with one focusing on ballads.

"Start Me Up" was released in August 1981, just a week before Tattoo You, to a very strong response, reaching the top 10 in both the U.S. and the U.K. Widely considered one of their most infectious songs, it was enough to carry Tattoo You to #1 for nine weeks in the US, while reaching #2 in the UK with solid sales. It has been certified four times platinum in the US alone. The critical reaction was positive, many feeling that Tattoo You was an improvement over Emotional Rescue and a high-quality release. "Waiting On A Friend" and "Hang Fire" became Top 20 US hits as well.

"Start Me Up" would prove to be The Rolling Stones' last single to reach as high as #2 in the US, while Tattoo You is their last American #1 album to date.

The album title was originally planned to be simply "Tattoo". Jagger claims to this day that even he has no clue how the "You" became attached to the title. The title caused friction between Jagger and Richards, who suspected Jagger had changed the title without seeking his input.

There were several videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for this album including:

• "Start Me Up", "Hang Fire" and "Worried About You": Consisting of a standard band performance setting, playbacking to a backing tape.
• "Neighbours": An homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, it features the band playing in one apartment of an apartment house with various happenings in the windows: A working-class couple relaxing and making love, a tai chi practitioner exercising, and most notoriously, a man putting bloody body parts in a suitcase. This video was heavily censored when presented on television.
• "Waiting on a Friend": Filmed on location in New York City's East Village, it consists of Keith walking down the street, meeting Jagger, who is sitting on the front steps of a house (the same house used on the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti) with several other men, one of whom is the late Reggae musician Peter Tosh, who also shakes Keith's hand. They then proceed down the street and enter a bar where the rest of the band is waiting. The video also features Wood, rather than Mick Taylor on guitar (similar to the videos for Hot Stuff and Worried About You in which Harvey Mandel and Wayne Perkins respectively actually played).

In 1989, it was ranked #34 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 211 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In 1994, Tattoo You was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music.

The cover of the album was designed by artist Peter Corriston, who won a Grammy Award in the category of best album package for the design.

Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Start Me Up" – 3:31
2. "Hang Fire" – 2:20
3. "Slave" – 6:32
4. "Little T&A" – 3:23
5. "Black Limousine" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood) – 3:31
6. "Neighbours" – 3:31

Side two

1. "Worried About You" – 5:16
2. "Tops" – 3:45
3. "Heaven" – 4:21
4. "No Use in Crying" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood) – 3:24
5. "Waiting on a Friend" – 4:34

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar on "Heaven", and harmonica on "Black Limousine"
• Keith Richards – electric guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Little T&A", and bass guitar
• Charlie Watts – drums
• Ronnie Wood – electric guitar and backing vocals
• Bill Wyman – bass guitar, electric guitar, and synthesizer on "Heaven"

Additional personnel

• Ollie Brown – percussion
• Nicky Hopkins – piano and organ
• Chris Kimsey – piano on "Heaven"
• Wayne Perkins – electric guitar on "Worried About You"
• Billy Preston – piano and organ
• Sonny Rollins – saxophone on "Slave", "Neighbours", and "Waiting on a Friend"
• Ian Stewart – piano
• Mick Taylor – electric guitar on "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend"
• Pete Townshend – backing vocals on "Slave"

Chart positions

Album

Singles