The Rolling Stones collate rare radio sessions from 1963 to 1965 for new album ‘On Air’

The Rolling Stones are set to release a collection of rarely heard radio recordings from their embryonic years.

Author: Scott ColothanPublished 6th Oct 2017

Aptly titled ‘The Rolling Stones - On Air’, the album consists of songs Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman recorded for BBC shows including Saturday Club, Top Gear, Rhythm and Blues and The Joe Loss Pop Show between 1963 and 1965.

Making the release highly enticing for Rolling Stones aficionados, eight of the songs included have never been recorded or released commercially. Conversely, seven of the tracks were debuted on the airwaves before featuring on future Rolling Stones albums and EPs.

Available to pre-order right here, ‘The Rolling Stones - On Air’ is released via Polydor Records on CD, double CD deluxe edition, heavy-weight vinyl and special limited-edition coloured vinyl on Friday 1st December. The standard edition contains 18 tracks, while the expanded deluxe version boasts a further 14 songs.

As a taster for the record, you can listen to a live version of The Rolling Stones’ debut single ‘Come On’ below – a cover of the Chuck Berry song of the same name – recorded for The Saturday Club on 26th October 1963.


Other Chuck Berry staples that feature include ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Memphis, Tennessee’ and ‘Beautiful Delilah’, while elsewhere there’s ‘Fannie Mae’ (originally recorded by bluesman Buster Brown in 1959), Tommy Tucker’s ‘Hi Heel Sneakers’, and Bo Diddley’s ‘Cops and Robbers’.

Alongside the cover versions are raw and vibrant renditions of Stones Jagger/Richards originals, such as ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, ‘The Last Time’ and ‘The Spider And The Fly’.

The album track-listing is as follows:

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

Bonus Tracks (Deluxe)
19. I Wanna Be Your Man (Saturday Club, 1964)
20. Carol (Saturday Club, 1964)
21. I’m moving On (The Joe Loss Pop Show, 1964)
22. If You Need Me (The Joe Loss Pop Show, 1964)
23. Walking The Dog (Saturday Club, 1964)
24. Confessin’ The Blues (The Joe Loss Pop Show, 1964)
25. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Top Gear, 1965)
26. Little By Little (The Joe Loss Pop Show, 1964)
27. Ain’t That Loving You Baby (Rhythm And Blues, 1964)
28. Beautiful Delilah (Saturday Club, 1964)
29. Crackin’ Up (Top Gear, 1964)
30. I Can’t Be Satisfied (Top Gear, 1964)
31. I Just Want to Make Love To You (Saturday Club, 1964)
32. 2120 South Michigan Avenue (Rhythm and Blues, 1964)