The session produced an early version of “Angry,” which Jagger fleshed out with Jordan, singing along solo to the drumbeat. “I would just whap out the song’s lyrics to get the tempo,” Jagger says. “What accents can we put in? You want the chorus to be a different, slightly different feel from the verse. It’s a lot to do with danceability and spitting the lyrics out in the right tempo.
Watt began his work by sifting through demos of more than 100 songs. “[Andrew] came in, bossed us around, listened to the stuff, shuffled the pack, and chose the royal flush of the songs,” Wood says. “The pick of the bunch is amazing.”bang, bang, bang As they worked, they also started welcoming guests into the studio — including an old friend and fellow legend: Stevie Wonder, who helped to summon a vibe on the gospel-ish “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” Watt has a tattoo of Wonder on his finger, and thought the artist, who’d toured with the Stones in 1972, would be the perfect fit for the song. “How cool, as a fan, for Stevie Wonder to be playing on a Rolling Stones song?” he says, pride still in his voice.
Lady Gaga was recording in the same studio at the time and asked Jagger if she could stop by to say hello. “She just walked in, in front of me, and she just curled up in a ball in front of me on the floor,” Jagger recalls of the “Sweet Sounds” session. “And then someone gave her a mic, and she started singingIt was off-the-cuff, but he liked it. “She was sitting there on the floor just digging it and singing along,” Wood says, “and Mick said, ‘Well, come on in. Stand up.
“Paul said to me, ‘Can you believe, here we are in the studio together?'” Wood says. “He said, ‘I have a dream come true: I’m playing with the Rolling Stones. And guess who is producing? Andrew, like we said.’ He was loving it, like a kid in a toy shop.” Wood says McCartney also played on another track they plan to use for another release.
Wood says “Whole Wide World” is his favorite on the album, but he felt inspired by many of the songs. “I like Keith’s guitar on ‘Angry,’ ‘Tell Me Straight,’ and ‘Driving Me Too Hard,'” he says. “There’s a different kind of feel on ‘Driving Me Too Hard’; it’s almost country. And ‘Dreamy Skies’ is very sweet. It has a ‘Sweet Virginia’–type feel. You’ve got the dance track, ‘Mess It Up,’ which has also got Charlie on drums. There’s so many different genres on it that I love.