Rolling Stones release unheard 1974 track with Jimmy Page

The Rolling Stones released a previously unheard track, which they collaborated on with Jimmy Page, titled Scarlet on Wednesday.

The long-lost gem was recorded by Sir Mick Jagger and co in October 1974 featuring the Led Zeppelin guitarist and Blind Faith’s Ric Grech on bass. 

Scarlet follows the release of Criss Cross, and both tracks are taken from the upcoming multi-format reissue of the band’s 1973 album Goats Head Soup, set for release on September 4.

The fun number was only a demo born out of a jamming session with Page, but it turned out so well, the Satisfaction rockers felt it should be shared with the world. 

In a video reflecting on the recording session, Jagger said: ‘I remember first jamming this with Jimmy and Keith [Richards, guitarist] in Ronnie’s [Wood, bassist] basement studio. It was a great session.’ 

Keith added: ‘My recollection is we walked in at the end of a Zeppelin session. They were just leaving, and we were booked in next and I believe that Jimmy decided to stay. 

‘We weren’t actually cutting it as a track, it was basically for a demo, a demonstration, you know, just to get the feel of it, but it came out well, with a line up like that, you know, we better use it.’

Mick appeared on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Show to talk about the track on the day of its release, as he admitted he’d ‘completely forgotten’ about the track until he recently  rediscovered it.

He explained: ‘I’d completely forgotten about this one, it was recorded around the time we made Goats Head Soup in 1973.

‘It was recorded in Ronnie Wood’s basement of his house, sounds very rock and roll doesn’t it? It was Keith and me, and Jimmy Page turned up for some reason and we had various other musicians, I had this song and I thought let’s try it out.

‘We ran through other things and Keith and I worked on but then I completely forgot it. Jimmy Page remembered everything about it and I didn’t remember anything.’ 

The reissue is also set to feature the never-heard-before track All The Rage, plus many more rarities, outtakes and alternative mixes. 

The legendary group have previously reissued tracks Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street and Some Girls. 

In April, they released their first original music since 2012, the reggae-tinged single Living In A Ghost Town, which they worked on last year and completed whilst in isolation amid the global health crisis. 

The Brown Sugar hitmakers – completed by drummer Charlie Watts – referenced the coronavirus pandemic on the line: ‘Life was so beautiful, then we all got locked down.’ 

Jagger hoped the song – their first since the singles Doom and Gloom and One More Shot from their 2012 best-of compilation Grrr! would ‘resonate’ with everyone in these unsettling times. 

The iconic band are known to be working on a new album of original tunes – their first since 2005 LP A Bigger Bang – and bassist-and-guitarist Ronnie previously teased it’s going to be ‘very diverse’.