Artist: THE ROLLING STONES
Album: DIRTY WORK REMASTERED (CD)

Release date: 1986/ 2009
EAN/UPS: 0602527015644
Media type: CD

Dirty Work is The Rolling Stones' 18th studio album (or the 21st, counting their US releases). It was released on 24 March 1986 on the Rolling Stones label by CBS Records. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album was recorded during a period when relations between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soured considerably,[citation needed] and is often regarded as a low point for the band.

The album produced a hit for the Rolling Stones - their cover of "Harlem Shuffle" — and features a number of guest appearances, including contributions by Tom Waits, Patti Scialfa, Bobby Womack, and Jimmy Page on "One Hit (To the Body)."

In 1994 Dirty Work was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music.

The sessions for Dirty Work, the first album under the Rolling Stones' recording contract with CBS Records, began in April 1985 in Paris, running for two months before breaking for a short spell. Mick Jagger had just released his first solo album, She's the Boss, much to Richards' annoyance, since the latter's first priority was The Rolling Stones and he was stung that Jagger was pursuing a career as a pop star.[citation needed] Jagger was often absent from the Dirty Work sessions while Richards recorded with Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts; Jagger's vocal parts were added later on.[citation needed] The divide between Jagger and Richards was on public view on 13 July 1985, when Jagger performed a solo set at Live Aid while Richards and Wood supported Bob Dylan's set on acoustic guitars.

Charlie Watts' involvement in the recording sessions was also limited: in 1993 Watts told Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes that during the 1980s he had been addicted to heroin as well as alcohol, and that this is why replacement drummers are credited on both Undercover and Dirty Work. Steve Jordan and Anton Fig do the drumming on some tracks; Ronnie Wood takes over the sticks on "Sleep Tonight". Jagger would later cite Watts' personal state as one of the reasons he vetoed a tour in support of Dirty Work in 1986, preferring to start work on his second album, Primitive Cool.[citation needed]

Four of the album's eight original compositions are credited to Jagger/Richards/Wood and one to Jagger/Richards/Chuck Leavell. Only three are credited to Jagger/Richards, the lowest number since on any Rolling Stones album since Out of Our Heads (1965). Dirty Work is the first Rolling Stones record to feature two tracks with Richards singing lead vocals ("Too Rude" and "Sleep Tonight").

Following a further month of final recording in July and August 1985 (which saw guest appearances by Jimmy Page, Bobby Womack and Tom Waits), co-producer Steve Lillywhite supervised several weeks of mixing and the creation of 12 inch remixes. On 12 December, Ian Stewart - one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones and their longtime pianist and road manager - died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 47. In remembrance of their friend, a hidden track of Stewart playing Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" was added to close the album.

In March 1986, The Rolling Stones' cover of "Harlem Shuffle" (their first lead single from a studio album not to be a Jagger/Richards original since the earliest days of the band) was released to a receptive audience, reaching #13 in the UK and #5 in the US, though it did not receive the same amount of exposure as previous hits. The follow-up single "One Hit (To the Body)" was a Top 30 hit and featured a revealing video of Jagger and Richards seeming to trade blows.

TRACKLIST:

1."One Hit (To the Body)" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood) – 4:44
2."Fight" (Jagger/Richards/Wood) – 3:09
3."Harlem Shuffle" (Bob Relf/Ernest Nelson) – 3:24
4."Hold Back" (Jagger/Richards) – 3:53
5."Too Rude" (Lindon Roberts) – 3:11

1."Winning Ugly" (Jagger/Richards) – 4:32
2."Back to Zero" (Jagger/Richards/Leavell) – 4:00
3."Dirty Work" (Jagger/Richards/Wood) – 3:53
4."Had It with You" (Jagger/Richards/Wood) – 3:19
5."Sleep Tonight" (Jagger/Richards) – 5:11
6."Key to the Highway" (Big Bill Broonzy/Charles Segar) – 0:33

LINE-UP:

Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals and harmonica
Keith Richards – electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals, and piano
Charlie Watts – drums
Ronnie Wood – electric, acoustic, and pedal steel guitar, backing Vocals, bass guitar, drums, and tenor saxophone
Bill Wyman – bass guitar and synthesizer

Additional musicians:

Jimmy Cliff – backing vocals
Dan Collette – trumpet
Don Covay – backing vocals
Beverly D'Angelo – backing vocals
Anton Fig – shakers
Chuck Leavell – keyboards
Kirsty MacColl – backing vocals
Dollette McDonald – backing vocals
Ivan Neville – backing vocals, bass guitar, organ, and synthesizer
Jimmy Page – electric guitar
Janice Pendarvis – backing vocals
Patti Scialfa – backing vocals
Ian Stewart – piano
Tom Waits – backing vocals
Bobby Womack – backing vocals, electric guitar on "Back to Zero"