Maps of Music

Steel Wheels (1989)

Where the lyrics of Steel Wheels take you, and where it was really made.

The album is known as the record that brought Jagger and Richards back into working together after their relationship had badly deteriorated following 1986.

Key places

Recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat (1989)

Recording site AIR Studios Montserrat — The album was recorded at AIR Studios on Montserrat, and the sessions also took place in London during spring 1989. The point is shown at building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixed at Olympic Studios, London (1989)

Recording site Olympic Studios — The album was mixed at Olympic Studios in London, with the mixing credited to Michael Brauer, Christopher Marc Potter and Chris Kimsey. The point is shown at building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Hit Factory, New York City (1989)

Recording site The Hit Factory — The Hit Factory in New York City is listed among the album's recording locations. The point is shown at building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Continental Drift recorded in Tangier (1989)

Recording site The Palace of Ben Abbou — Continental Drift was recorded in June 1989 in Tangier, with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar. The point is shown at city-centre level, so the exact building is not marked. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Steel Wheels is the Rolling Stones' 19th UK and 21st US studio album
• Released 29 August 1989 in the US and 11 September in the UK
• Final album of new material the band recorded for Columbia Records
• Hailed as a major comeback upon release
• Produced by Richards and Jagger, with Chris Kimsey
• Final full-length studio album with long-time bassist Bill Wyman
• First album since Some Girls without former member Ian Stewart

Background

• After Dirty Work in 1986, Jagger pursued a solo career and relations with Richards worsened
• Jagger's Primitive Cool (1987) was tepidly received; Richards' solo debut Talk Is Cheap (1988) got positive reviews
• The two years apart appeared to heal the wounds enough to restart the partnership and band
• Meeting in January 1989, just before the Stones' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
• About 50 songs were composed in a matter of weeks
• Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts were called in to record, with Chris Kimsey returning as producer
• Recording took place in Montserrat and London during spring 1989
• The album was designed to emulate a classic Rolling Stones sound

Recording

• Recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat
• Mixed by Michael Brauer, Christopher Marc Potter and Chris Kimsey
• Continental Drift, an Eastern-flavoured track, was recorded in June 1989 in Tangier with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar
• With most past disagreements resolved, the sessions were fairly harmonious

Cover

• Art direction and design by John Warwicker
• Logo design by Mark Morton

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1962 as an English rock band; their first stable line-up was Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.
• Jones named the band after a Muddy Waters song; they were rooted in blues and rock and roll.
• Manager Andrew Loog Oldham encouraged them to write their own songs, and the Jagger–Richards partnership became their main creative force.

Members

• Current: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood (joined 1975).
• Former: Brian Jones (died 1969), Mick Taylor (1969–1974), Bill Wyman (1962–1993), Charlie Watts (1963–2021, died 2021).
• Steve Jordan became their drummer after Watts' death.

Career

• Hits included "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), "Paint It Black" (1966) and "Start Me Up" (1981).
• Their 1969 Hyde Park show and Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. are key points of their career.
• Formed Rolling Stones Records in 1970, whose tongue-and-lips logo became their band logo.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989; the band has sold more than 250 million albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis said the album's ambivalence and psychological tension reflect the environment that has historically produced the band's best music
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the Stones sound good, with Mick and Keith each delivering a ballad, and that it feels like a comeback
• Critics were generally lukewarm toward the album
• Lead single Mixed Emotions peaked at No. 1 in Canada and No. 5 in the United States

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's retrospective view: the album is not a great Stones record, but it is not bad and does feel like a comeback
• In 2000 it was voted number 568 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums

Records

• Reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in the US
• Went double-platinum in the United States and reached multi-platinum status there
• Reached the Top 5 in numerous markets around the world
• Rock and a Hard Place was the band's last Top 40 hit in the US
• Remastered and reissued by Virgin Records in 1994, and again by Universal Music in 2009
• SHM-CD version released by Universal Japan on 2 December 2015, mastered from the original British master tape

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was the first digital recording the Rolling Stones made.
• Ian Stewart did not appear on it, having died shortly before the release of Dirty Work.
• Continental Drift was recorded in Tangier with The Master Musicians of Jajouka.
• Bill Wyman's final tenure with the band was on two studio tracks for the 1991 album Flashpoint, and his departure was announced in January 1993.
• In 1990 FOX aired a 3-D television special of the Steel Wheels tour.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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