Rolling Stones Collect Rare BBC Recordings for ‘On Air’

The Rolling Stones will collect 18 recordings the band performed on the BBC from 1963 to 1965 for the upcoming compilation On Air.

The collection, due out December 1st, culls the Rolling Stones’ performances from BBC shows like Saturday Club, The Joe Loss Pop Show, Blues in Rhythm, Top Gear and Yeah Yeah. Eight of the performances found On Air features songs the Rolling Stones have never recorded or released commercially.

All the appearances took place in a two-year span from October 1963 – where the group performed their debut single “Come On” – to September 1965.

On Air features Stones originals like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “The Last Time” and “The Spider and the Fly” alongside covers of songs popularized by Chuck Berry (“Memphis, Tennessee,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Around and Around,” “Beautiful Delilah”), Bo Diddley (“Cops and Robbers”) and more.

On Air is available to preorder now in a variety of formats, including a deluxe edition that houses additional 14 recordings the Rolling Stones made for the BBC. The Stones are also offering a bundle that packages the album with the recently published coffee table book The Rolling Stones – On Air.

For On Air, the original tapes from the BBC have undergone “a process called ‘audio source separation,’ which involved de-mixing the transcripts and allowing engineers at Abbey Road access to the original instrumentation and voices within each track, so that they could be rebuilt, rebalanced and remixed to achieve a fuller, more substantial sound,” the band’s rep said.

The release of the On Air follows the Rolling Stones’ covers LP Blue & Lonesome, a similarly blues-heavy affair.

On Air Track List

1. “Come On” Saturday Club, 26 October 1963
2. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” Saturday Club, 18 September 1965
3. “Roll Over Beethoven” Saturday Club, 26 October 1963
4. “The Spider And The Fly” Yeah Yeah, 30 August 1965
5. “Cops And Robbers” Blues in Rhythm, 9 May 1964
6. “It’s All Over Now” The Joe Loss Pop Show, 17 July 1964
7. “Route 66” Blues in Rhythm, 9 May 1964
8. “Memphis, Tennessee” Saturday Club, 26 October 1963
9. “Down The Road Apiece” Top Gear, 6 March 1965
10. “The Last Time” Top Gear, 6 March 1965
11. “Cry To Me” Saturday Club, 18 September 1965
12. “Mercy, Mercy” Yeah Yeah, 30 August 1965
13. “Oh! Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin’)” Saturday Club, 18 September 1965
14. “Around And Around” Top Gear, 23 July 1964
15. “Hi Heel Sneakers” Saturday Club, 18 April 1964
16. “Fannie Mae” Saturday Club, 18 September 1965
17. “You Better Move On” Blues in Rhythm, 9 May 1964
18. “Mona” Blues In Rhythm, 9 May 1964

Bonus Tracks (Deluxe)

19. “I Wanna Be Your Man” Saturday Club, 8 February 1964
20. “Carol” Saturday Club, 18 April 1964
21. “I’m Moving On” The Joe Loss Pop Show, 10 April 1964
22. “If You Need Me” The Joe Loss Pop Show, 17 July 1964
23. “Walking The Dog” Saturday Club, 8 February 1964
24. “Confessin’ The Blues” The Joe Loss Pop Show, 17 July 1964
25. “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” Top Gear, 6 March 1965
26. “Little By Little” The Joe Loss Pop Show, 10 April 1964
27. “Ain’t That Loving You Baby” Rhythm And Blues, 31 October 1964
28. “Beautiful Delilah” Saturday Club, 18 April 1964
29. “Crackin’ Up” Top Gear, 23 July 1964
30. “I Can’t Be Satisfied” Top Gear, 23 July 1964
31. “I Just Want to Make Love To You” Saturday Club, 18 April 1964
32. “2120 South Michigan Avenue” Rhythm and Blues, 31 October 1964