Blackberry Smoke Release Rolling Stones Tribute Album, ‘Stoned,’ To Streaming Services

Blackberry Smoke country music
Joe Lopez

Gotta respect the classics.

It’s no secret that Blackberry Smoke has become one of the premiere southern rock groups in America.

The group dropped one of my favorite albums of 2021, You Hear Georgia, that I somehow find myself going back to at least once a week.

With that being said, the group released another album to streaming today, but this time, they’re paying tribute to one of the most iconic rock groups to ever walk this planet…

The Rolling Stones.

That’s right, Blackberry Smoke just dropped their Stoned project, a tribute album to the Stones, featuring seven of their favorite songs from the group. Originally released as a vinyl exclusive back in November, it’s now available on streaming platforms everywhere.

Recorded in 2020, each side was recorded live in one take:

“This album was recorded, mixed and mastered live to a vinyl master, in one take, on the evening of November 6th 2020 at Welcome To 1979 studio in Nashville.

There were no overdubs, edits, punch-ins, remixes or remastering. This type of recording is very rare due to the technical and creative difficulty associated with it. Once the recording has started it cannot stop until the end of the side. You are hearing one complete take per side of the record, which is no easy feat for all involved!”

Featuring songs primarily from the early ’70s, the album features a few songs from their 1971 album, Sticky Fingers, a few from their 1972 album, Exile On Main St., as well as a couple others.

In an interview with Music Radar, frontman Charlie Starr says they approach the studio (with producer Dave Cobb) the same way that the Stones did… organically. There’s not a lot of polish:

“He (Dave Cobb) was like, ‘No! You can’t fake the feeling in that riff. You might make it perfect and it’ll suck.’ And he was right. Sometimes I’ll catch myself thinking, ‘Really?’ But at the end of the day, that is why I love the Rolling Stones, because they have never strived for perfection.”

With a “less is more approach,” he adds that a band can learn a lot about playing together from the Stones:

“That’s a great lesson. Yeah! Listen to the fucking Rolling Stones!”

If you’re a fan of the Rolling Stones (and who isn’t), and if you dig Blackberry Smoke, you’re gonna love this project.

Here’s a few of my favorites:

“All Down The Line”

“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”

 

“Street Fighting Man”

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