How Don Was as a 1990s Producer Mediated the Jagger-Richards Tension

Bringing in outside producers like Don Was for Voodoo Lounge and Bridges to Babylon was a direct response to the deepening creative rift between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. By the early 1990s, the two weren’t just fighting over direction—they were barely in the same room during writing sessions. Don Was acted as a neutral referee, shuttling between Jagger’s polished pop instincts and Richards’ grittier rock sensibilities, often recording them separately and stitching the parts together.

Richards initially bristled at the idea of a producer who wasn’t a band member or longtime collaborator. But Was’s approach—letting each man finish his own ideas before bringing them to the other—actually reduced the friction. For the first time in years, Jagger and Richards could contribute without having to hash out every arrangement face-to-face. The result was a pair of commercially successful albums that kept the band alive, but also deepened the underlying separation: they were now making records through a producer rather than with each other.