It may have only taken him 50 years to do it, but Mick Jagger has finally surged into the lead as the coolest member of the Rolling Stones.
Up until this point we’d become comfortable in our assessments of the Glimmer Twins: Keith, the soulful, roving musicians’ musician who would knock back a pint with a fan Mick, the ego-driven money vacuum who courts the elite and places showmanship over creativity.
But thanks to current events within the Stones camp these roles have somewhat reversed and Mick’s stock and credibility has soared.
It started with two separate events, both within months of each other, and culminated with arrival of new Mick project called SuperHeavy, but we’ll get to them later.
The first was the release of Keith’s autobiography, Life. Richards’ tome was a mostly entertaining read and a gift to “Keef” fanatics hoping for the experience of chilling with the man in his Connecticut den. But it was also heinous act of back-stabbing crime directed his musical life-mate.
You expected Richards to take the piss out Mick – it would be well-deserved – but not spiral into childish insults and nasty criticism of Jagger as an artist. After reading Life, it’s really hard to picture the two standing on stage together again, Keith leaning on Mick’s shoulder in that iconic pose.
The second was Mick’s performance at this year’s Grammy Awards. As if responding to Keith’s taunts about his unspectacular 80s solo career, Jagger slayed the Grammies with a throwdown of the Solomon Burke/Wilson Pickett classic Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Jagger absolutely schooled those auto-tuning kids on the hit parade.
Now, as if energized by months of Life-fuelled gossip and criticism of his solo ventures, Mick has unveiled a no-Stones project that actually makes sense and shows he’s willing to come out of the comfort zone.
And where’s Keith these days? Playing dress-up pirate for Disney and chumming around with Bill Clinton.
Mick’s new group, called SuperHeavy and consisting of Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley and Slumdog soundtrack star A.R. Rahman, just dropped their first single today, Miracle Worker. It’s a jammed-out reggae joint with a sweet hook, Jagger and Stone connecting on the chorus while Marley does lyrical throw-ins from the background and Rahman lays down an instrumental melody.
Sadly, this could be the best songs Mick has done since the Steel Wheels album and it’s right in Keith’s backyard, so to speak. Keith has always been the main reggae guy in the Stones, signing late legend Pete Tosh to their label back in the 70s and even buying a house and setting up shop in Jamaica.
The last time Mick broke out alone, Keith went mental and, as Life proved, we’re still hearing about it. Hopefully this time Keith can put the poison darts down long enough to appreciate the talents of his Stones brother.
