ROBERT ALTMAN/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY
LOS ANGELES, 1969
Mick and Keith have a natter while sharing a Bud in the studio during the Let It Bleed sessions at Elektra’s Sunset Sound studios in October, 1969, as co-founder and keyboardist Ian Stewart looks on. The majority of the album was recorded at Olympic Studios in London, with further work taking place in LA while the Stones prepared for an impending US tour. Merry Clayton’s wonderful backing vocals on Gimme Shelter were recorded during these sessions, along with Bobby Keys and Leon Russell’s contributions to Live With Me. Let It Bleed was the second instalment in the Stones’ classic run of albums, which began with the previous year’s Beggars Banquet. To mark its 50-year anniversary, it is now the subject of an expanded deluxe reissue via ABKCO, which features newly remastered stereo and mono versions (see our full review on page 92).