Watch The Rolling Stones Treat L.A. Crowd to an Extremely Rare Ballad on Hackney Diamonds Tour

The Rolling Stones dug deep in the vault for their Saturday (July 13) Hackney Diamonds tour performance in Inglewood, California, bringing back a rare ballad the band has only played 14 times throughout their decades-long career. Critics compared the penultimate track from the Stones’ 1976 release ‘Black and Blue’ to the band’s other hit sentimental track, “Angie.” Still, the band rarely included the song in its final setlist.

Diehard fans at SoFi Stadium were in for a treat as the band brought the funk-inspired ballad back, shimmering string synths and all.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Wrote The Song During A Critical Time In The Stones’ Career

“Fool to Cry” is the second to last track on the Rolling Stones’ 1976 album ‘Black and Blue,’ which also features tracks like “Hot Stuff,” “Hand of Fate,” and “Crazy Mama.” The penultimate ballad was the lead single from the critically divisive record, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. While the Stones enjoyed far higher chart positions than “Fool to Cry,” the ballad is notable in that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote the song just after lead guitarist Mick Taylor quit the Stones in December 1974.

Although the Stones’ future (and current) lead guitarist Ron Wood appears on the cover of the 1976 album, he wasn’t around for the recording of “Fool to Cry.” Thus, the band utilized the musical abilities of hired hand and session veteran Wayne Perkins to lay down the lead parts for the ballad. Cash Box called the track “somewhat of a departure for the Stones. The beat is relaxed. Vocals are laid over a foundation of Fender Rhodes and guitar, all played with funky style. Mick Jagger pulls off some excellent falsetto as Richard responds with searing guitar riffs.”

The rare Rolling Stones ballad is the only track off ‘Black and Blue’ that the band included on their greatest hits albums’ Forty Licks’ and ‘GRRR!’

The Rolling Stones’ Rare Ballad Wasn’t Always A Band Favorite

Despite ‘Black and Blue’ spending four weeks at No. 1 on the US charts, the album was not a particularly high moment, creatively speaking, for the band. “Everyone was using drugs, Keith particularly,” frontman Mick Jagger explained in a 1995 Rolling Stone interview. “I think it suffered a bit from all that. General malaise. I think we got a bit carried away with our own popularity and so on. It was a bit of a holiday period.”

“I mean, we cared, but we didn’t care as much as we had,” Jagger continued. “Not really concentrating on the creative process, and we had such money problems. We were really in a very bad way.”

Richards wasn’t especially fond of ‘Black and Blue’ either. During a 1976 show in Germany, Richards nodded off during the band’s performance of “Fool to Cry.” He dozed off with his foot on an effects pedal and awoke to a screech of feedback echoing through the arena. Luckily for fans at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, Richards made it through this recent rendition of “Fool to Cry” (only the 14th performance of the track in 47 years) without any major hiccups.

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