Emotional Rescue is the 15th British and 17th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1980. Upon release, it topped the charts in both the US and UK.
Contents[]
- 2 Packaging and artwork
- 3 Release and reception
- 4 Track listing
- 5 Personnel
- 6 Certifications
- 7 Charts
- 8 References
History[edit][]
Recorded throughout 1979, first in Nassau, Bahamas (Compass Point), then Paris (Pathe Marconi), with some end-of-year overdubbing in New York City,Emotional Rescue was the first Rolling Stones album recorded following Keith Richards' exoneration from a Toronto drugs charge that could have landed him in jail for years. Fresh from the revitalisation of Some Girls, Richards and Mick Jagger led the Stones through dozens of new songs, some of which were held over for Tattoo You, picking only ten for Emotional Rescue.
While several of the tracks featured just the core band of Jagger, Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman, keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and co-founder Ian Stewart, sax player Bobby Keys and harmonica player Sugar Blue joined the Rolling Stones on Emotional Rescue.
The song "Claudine" was rumoured to be a part of the original album, but didn't make the cut most likely due to the fear of litigation and controversy. The lyrics dealt with the light sentence (30 days in jail) singer-actress Claudine Longet received after she killed her live-in boyfriend, Olympian ski racer Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, in their Aspen, Colorado home. The song was eventually released as part of the deluxe version of Some Girls in 2011. Some other songs left off the album would find their way onto the next album, Tattoo You ("Black Limousine", "Start Me Up", "Hang Fire", "Little T&A", and "No Use in Crying"). "Think I'm Going Mad", another song from the sessions, was released as the B-side to "She Was Hot" in 1984. A cover song sung by Richards: "We Had It All", was released on the 2011 deluxe Some Girls package.
Packaging and artwork[edit][]
The album cover, designed by Peter Corriston, features a selection of thermographic photos taken by British-born, Paris-based artist Roy Adzak[1] using a thermo camera, a device that measures heat emissions. The original release came wrapped in a huge colour poster featuring more thermo-shots of the band with the album itself wrapped in a plastic bag. The music video shot for "Emotional Rescue" also utilised the same type of shots of the band performing.
Release and reception[edit][]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Blender | link |
| Robert Christgau | (B+) link |
| Rolling Stone (1980) | (Negative) link |
| Rolling Stone (2004) | link |
| Smash Hits | 5/10[2] |
Released in June with the disco-infused hit title track as the lead single, Emotional Rescue was an immediate smash. The title track hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album gave the Rolling Stones their first UK No. 1 album since 1973's Goats Head Soup and spent seven weeks atop the US charts. The follow-up single "She's So Cold" was a top 30 hit while "Dance Pt. 1" reached No. 9 on Billboard's Dance chart.
In 1994, Emotional Rescue was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music. In 2011 it was released by Universal Music Enterprises in a Japanese only SHM-SACD version.
Track listing[edit][]
All songs composed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except "Dance (Pt. 1)" co-written by Ronnie Wood.
- Side one
- "Dance (Pt. 1)" – 4:23
- "Summer Romance" – 3:16
- "Send It to Me" – 3:43
- "Let Me Go" – 3:50
- "Indian Girl" – 4:23
- Side two
- "Where the Boys Go" – 3:29
- "Down in the Hole" – 3:57
- "Emotional Rescue" – 5:39
- "She's So Cold" – 4:12
- "All About You" – 4:18
Personnel[edit][]
- The Rolling Stones
- Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic and electric piano
- Keith Richards – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, piano, lead vocals and bass guitar on "All About You"
- Ronnie Wood – electric, acoustic, slide and pedal steel guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar on "Emotional Rescue"
- Charlie Watts – drums
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar, synthesiser
- Additional personnel
- Ian Stewart – electric and acoustic piano, percussion
- Billy Preston – clavinet
- Sugar Blue – harmonica
- Bobby Keys – saxophone
- Michael Shrieve – percussion
- Max Romeo – backing vocals on "Dance (Pt. 1)"
- Jack Nitzsche – horn arrangement on "Indian Girl"
- Chris Kimsey – associate producer and engineer
Certifications[edit][]
| Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| France (SNEP)[3] | Gold | 277,900[4] |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[5] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[6] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[7] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[8] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
|
^shipments figures based on certification alone | ||
Charts[edit][]
Peak positions[edit][]
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Year-end charts[edit][]
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