Lennon, Jagger Record Found

A London collector plans to put up for sale what he says is a thirty-year-old blues recording by Mick Jagger and John Lennon. The unlabeled record, bought from another collector who claimed to be a friend of Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, features Jagger singing the Willie Dixon blues "Too Many Cooks." The London auction house Cooper Owen, which will oversee the sale, says the Rolling Stones singer verified that Lennon plays guitar on the recording.

The record is said to date to 1973 or 1974, Lennon's "Lost Weekend" period when he was estranged from wife Yoko Ono. Lennon is known to have kept company with Jagger then, and he also made recordings with Elton John, David Bowie and Harry Nilsson during that time.

"Too Many Cooks" has appeared before on a popular Stones bootleg compilation, Greatest Rarities, Vol. 1, but Lennon's presence on the track has never been confirmed.

The recording will go under the hammer on February 20th.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »

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