How Don Was and Bob Clearmountain Shaped the Rolling Stones' 'Bridges to Babylon'

Don Was came into the Bridges to Babylon sessions with a clear brief: help the Stones break out of their comfort zone without losing the band’s core swagger. He pushed them toward a more modern, layered sound—encouraging loops, drum machines, and experiments like sampling k.d. lang’s melody for “Anybody Seen My Baby?” It was Was who suggested lifting that hook from her 1992 song “Constant Craving,” then had to quickly clear it after the Stones realized it was an accident. His role was part traffic cop, part provocateur, nudging Keith Richards and Mick Jagger into the same room when they were working separately.

Bob Clearmountain took the raw tracks and turned the hodgepodge into a cohesive album. His mixes—especially on “Anybody Seen My Baby?”—blend the sampled vocal hook, Wyclef Jean’s guest guitar, and the band’s live drums into something that feels both effortless and tossed-off. Clearmountain had already worked with the Stones on Steel Wheels and Voodoo Lounge, so he knew how to keep Charlie Watts’ snare punchy while letting digital textures sit beside old-fashioned slide guitar. The album’s genre-hopping (blues, trip-hop, country, gospel) only works because his mixes never let one element bully the others.