The Rolling Stones have released a previously unheard collaboration with Jimmy Page, ‘Scarlet’.
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’ – which features an epic solo from guitar hero Page – 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.
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.”
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 ‘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".
‘Scarlet’ is out now.