Mick Jagger’s 10 favourite blues songs
The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is the ultimate connoisseur of the blues. Since he was a teenager, Jagger has immersed himself within the genre, which has been a constant presence in his whirlwind life. Throughout the years, Jagger has discussed numerous blues tracks on many occasions and once provided a definitive list of the ten he consider to be his favourites.
If it wasn’t for his love of the blues, Jagger would never have rekindled his relationship with Keith Richards, and The Rolling Stones may have never formed. Despite falling out of each other’s lives after being childhood friends, they both independently became obsessed with the blues, and on one seemingly random day, Richards noticed Jagger grasping a Muddy Waters record while standing at the local train station.
The vinyl became a talking point, and the pair soon began making music together, which led to the formation of The Rolling Stones. With the band, Jagger has always worn his influences on his sleeve and paid tribute to his musical forefathers. A prime example is their band name, taken from the Muddy Waters song ‘Rollin’ Stone’.
In 2020, Jagger took over the Planet Rock radio show Blues Power and selected the programme’s playlist with his ten favourite blues songs. As part of the broadcast, the Stones frontman opted to air deep cuts from the genre, which show his robust knowledge, and began the episode with the Freddie King track ‘Palace Of The King’. Of the song, Jagger said: “Freddie King, a great guitar player. This was recorded by Shelter Records, originally. I think in charge of the band was Leon Russell playing piano on the track.”
He added: “So it’s not a traditional blues sequence, it’s got backing vocals, it’s kind of slightly, you may say commercial. But I think it’s a fantastic blues record.”
Jagger also credited the pioneering Sister Rosetta Tharpe and selected her song ‘Strange Things Are Happening Every Day’. He commented: “Sister Rosetta Tharpe was mainly a gospel singer but she wanted to cross over, she wanted to be a pop singer, she wanted to be a blues singer as well. So this is her biggest hit, playing with Sammy Price on piano. It was questioning what was going to happen socially after the war, ‘Strange Things Are Happening Every Day’.”
Another classic record the singer picked out was by Buddy Guy, a hero of the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Jagger selected ‘Baby Please Don’t Leave Me’ and explained: “From a record called ‘Sweet Tea’, that people (sort of) like and they didn’t like it and everything,” the frontman said. “It was taking Buddy back literally to Mississippi and putting him in a shack, which sounds rather sort of pretentiously weird. Anyway, that’s what they did and used a lot of local Mississippi musicians in an attempt to get Buddy back into the Mississippi Delta.”
The list didn’t solely lean on musicians from the past, though, and Jagger also included ‘Alright Alright’ by Alabama Shakes and praised Brittany Howard’s vocals. “Bringing things really up to the present day, Brittany Howard, fantastic singer with the Alabama Shakes ‘Always Alright’, which I particularly like,” he commented.
Other artists who Jagger played during the broadcast include Little Walter, Memphis Minnie and Joe Louis Walker. See his full list of selections below and list to a playlist comprised of the ten tracks picked by The Rolling Stones singer.
Mick Jagger’s 10 favourite blues songs:
- ‘Palace Of The King’ – Freddie King
- ‘Drop Down Mama’ – Mississippi Fred McDowell
- ‘Chicago’ – Luther Allison
- ‘Strange Things Happening Every Day’ – Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- ‘Too Drunk To Drive Drunk’ – Joe Louis Walker
- ‘Has Anyone Seen My Man’ – Memphis Minnie
- ‘Baby Please Don’t Leave Me’ – Buddy Guy
- ‘I’m So Happy I Cry’ – Fantastic Negrito Feat. Tang & The Bangas
- ‘Alright Alright’ – Alabama Shakes
- ‘Boogie’ – Little Walter
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.