A Box Set Expands on the Rolling Stones’ ‘Black and Blue’

Just a few months shy of a half century after its release, the Rolling Stones’ Black and Blue is back in a “super deluxe” limited edition that includes four CDs (or five vinyl LPs) and a Blu-ray disc. Also in the box is a replica of a concert poster and an oversized 100-page hardcover book dominated by eye-catching photos.

Recorded shortly after the December 1974 departure of guitarist Mick Taylor, this 13^th Stones studio album employs several musicians who were being considered to replace him, including Canned Heat’s Harvey Mandel, session musician Wayne Perkins, and Faces and Jeff Beck Group alumnus Ron Wood, who ultimately got the job. The LP also prominently features keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston.

The record shot to No. 1 on Billboard’s chart upon its release in April 1976. However, it is probably not an LP that many people would mention today when asked to name the Stones’ best albums. That’s likely because most of its tracks sound more like riffs or jams than polished songs with strong melodies and hooks. Still, reggae- and funk-influenced numbers such as “Hot Stuff” and “Hand of Fate” have their strengths, and the album’s two ballads are outstanding exceptions to the predominant approach. Mick Jagger delivers one of his finest vocals on the soulful “Fool to Cry,” a Top 10 single, and he shines again on the wonderful “Memory Motel,” which features evocative lyrics about a lover and life on a rock and roll tour. Keith Richards shares lead vocals on that one.

The album receives a sonic boost in the “super deluxe” edition, where it benefits from a new mix by Steven Wilson. And the box is packed with other musical goodies, including a CD that features two outtakes from the Black and Blue sessions and four jams, three of which make excellent use of the late guitar wizard Jeff Beck.

The box devotes its final two CDs to 20 numbers culled from a six-night 1976 residency at the now-defunct Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. Granted, at this point, there isn’t exactly a shortage of Rolling Stones concert material on CD, but the performances here are good. In addition to four numbers from Black and Blue (but alas, no “Memory Motel”), the song list includes several tracks from the superlative Exile on Main Street and such fan favorites as “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Street Fighting Man,” “Brown Sugar,” “It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (But I Like It),” and “Honky Tonk Women.”

You’ll find some of the best reasons to buy this box on its Blu-ray disc. It includes terrific-sounding versions of Wilson’s remixes of the original album and the Earls Court show (hi-res stereo, DTS-HD, and Dolby Atmos, though not 5.1), as well as stereo copies of the two outtakes and four jams. There’s also video of a 1976 Paris performance whose 11 songs include three from Black and Blue, among them a fine reading of “Fool to Cry” with Jagger on piano. Not surprisingly, given that this video is about 50 years old, the images are not widescreen, but the sound and picture are excellent, as is the band.

Robert Gordon’s Fruitful Collaboration with Link Wray

Around 1977, early rock ’n’ roll revivalist Robert Gordon, an impassioned and frenetic singer, began collaborating with an actual early rock ’n’ roller, guitarist Link Wray. Their work together resulted in two studio albums and several concert series, including the one memorialized on the new Rumble: Their First European Tour 1978. “Rumble” is the name of the 1958 instrumental hit for which Wray is best known, and it appears on the album in two versions.

The liner notes to this package, which includes two CDs and a DVD, claim that it constitutes the first release of material from these shows. That may technically be correct, though at least some of these tracks have been unofficially issued before, and you can also find other concert recordings by the duo from this period.

Wray and Gordon, who passed away in 2005 and 2022, respectively, are in top form throughout the set, which includes 15 numbers recorded in Bremen, Germany, a full 23-song concert from Rotterdam, Holland, and a bonus track from Amsterdam. The CDs, which incorporate multiple versions of more than a dozen of their tunes, primarily feature covers of vintage rock and rockabilly classics.

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “My Baby Left Me” and Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” are here, for example, as are Jack Scott’s “The Way I Walk,” Junior Parker’s “Mystery Train,” Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock,” Jimmy Reed’s “Baby, What You Want Me to Do,” and Joey Reynolds’s “Endless Sleep.” You’ll also discover a couple of somewhat more recently penned numbers, but they’re likably anachronistic and fit right in. One is Gordon’s own “If This Is Wrong,” which sounds like an early Elvis Presley song; the other is “Fire,” which Bruce Springsteen wrote with the hope that Presley would sing it. (He died before he could hear the demo that the Boss sent to him, however.)

To fully appreciate what Gordon and Wray can deliver, watch the DVD because, in this case, as the saying doesn’t quite go, a motion picture is worth a thousand audio tracks. Featured on the video are all the numbers from Bremen, plus the one from Amsterdam (Cochran’s “Summertime Blues”). Gordon clearly loves this music, as does Wray, whose guitar pyrotechnics in the film are mesmerizing.

Melissa Carper Charms on Christmas CD

Christmas may be over, but if you’re still in that holiday mood or just want to be ready with new music for next December, pick up Melissa Carper’s A Very Carper Christmas. Her album fits in a couple of old favorites (“All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” and “Please Come Home for Christmas”), but the rest of this 15-track album is completely fresh and utterly charming. Many of its tunes seem likely to wind up on future lists of holiday classics.

The program, which includes eight co-writes with the singer’s old pal Gina Gallina, captures the spirit of the season with country-rooted music that incorporates elements of jazz, blues, and Western swing. Carper, whose personality-drenched, sandpapery vocals are a huge plus, is joined by a band that adds accordion, fiddle, trumpet, sax, piano, and more.

Smile-inducing tracks such as “Plug in the Tree” and “Dumpster Divin’ on Christmas Eve” are upbeat toe-tappers, but there are also several sweet ballads here. Among them are “Christmas Memories,” “Just One Stocking,” and “I Want a Dog for Christmas,” the latter a co-write with Brennan Leigh, who collaborated with Carper on last year’s marvelous Wonder Women of Country. 

Bottom line: this is the best Christmas album of 2025, and one of the very best so far in this century.