The Mick Jagger recording with The Red Devils has become the stuff of legend. And the stuff of press kits, and the stuff of illegally obtained and distributed recordings.
But the news of the session broke first in the June 26-July 2, 1992, edition of LA Weekly, as far as we can tell, publishing the news before the tubes had time to cool down. Under the heading “Not fade away,” Belissa Cohen lays claim to the narrative of the June 18, 1992, session, a tale that would become cut-paste in most Red Devils stories from here on out:
“But the new news is that last week the Devils — ex-Blaster Bill Bateman on drums, Lester Butler blowing harmonica, bassist Jonny Ray and guitarists Dave Lee Bartel and Paul Size — got the call they’d been eagerly awaiting and spent 15 hours in a local studio with the Mickster last Thursday, backing his distinctive vocalizations on 13 hardcore blues covers, recorded one after another with Def American prez Rick Rubin producing.”
To put this in perspective, the Devils had already jammed with Jagger a couple of times at the King King in Hollywood, and recorded the sessions before their debut album had even been released.
Is it any wonder why everyone thought The Red Devils would be the next big thing? Cohen even speculates on “tour compatibility” between the Jagger and Devils camps.
Of course, that would never come to pass. The Red Devils would share the stage with Jagger only two more times for their trouble.
More Mick
- Paul Size on getting robbed at Mick Jagger’s birthday party
- The Devils behind Jagger’s ‘great lost album’
- Rick Rubin: ‘I hope Mick Jagger/Red Devils comes out’
No Fightin' 