How Backing Howlin’ Wolf Made the Stones Better Live Performers

In December 1970, the Rolling Stones headed to Olympic Studios to serve as Howlin’ Wolf’s backing band for The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. It wasn’t a typical guest appearance — Wolf ran the session like a gang leader, demanding they play close to his foot stomp, no overdubs, no fancy fills. “You’re playing too soft, you’re not listening to me,” he barked at Charlie Watts at one point. The Stones had to strip away their rock star instincts and lock into the raw, unpolished pulse of the Chicago blues, the very source they’d been imitating for years.

That experience changed how they approached live shows immediately afterward. The 1971 Good Times tour and the 1972 Exile era gigs have a looser, more dangerous feel — less polished beat, more space for Jagger to prowl and Richards to leave gaps.