Mick Jagger, My Father (Part Four)

I know what you may be thinking: it is just a coincidence that Mick and the boys ended up naming their ’73 release after a meal enjoyed by my family. What about the albums that followed? There was 1974’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and then “Black and Blue”. This is a fair critique which I can easily dismiss. The former album has an album cover that still resonates with me; not for Guy Paellart’s painting technique – it looks like it was brushed onto black velvet – but for the posture of the band. Put a baby in Mick’s arm and you have as near a reproduction of the early photograph I mentioned, the one where my face is obscured next to my nervous mother. Then there is the latter album, the one where they covered their first reggae song, “Cherry Oh Baby”. Why this sudden urge to connect with a different black musical idiom? There is a lot to be said for covering one’s tracks.