The Rolling Stones were at their creative peak in this era, with multiple recording sessions for two studio masterpieces, “Sticky Fingers” and “Exile on Main St,” and three landmark tours. Here are some key dates chronicling the events around both albums.
Dec. 2-3, 1969
By Dailynetworks, Wikimedia Commons, 2007
The road to “Sticky Fingers,” the Stones’ 1971 album, starts at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Ala., the home of countless classic soul tracks in the ‘60s. It was “rock ‘n’ roll heaven,” Keith Richards once said, and the studio vibe lived up to all his expectations. The Stones work with producer-multi-instrumentalist Jim Dickinson, who played tack piano on “Wild Horses,” and engineer Jimmy Johnson, a mainstay Muscle Shoals guitarist. In addition to “Wild Horses,” the productive session yields a cover of Fred McDowell’s blues-spiritual “You Gotta Move,” a staple on the Stones’ ’69 tour, and “Brown Sugar,” which is debuted live only days later at Altamont.