How 'The Original R&B Sessions' Pushed the Stones to Go Live in the Studio

The 1965 Chess compilation The Original R&B Sessions is a raw document of blues and R&B greats like Sonny Boy Williamson and Memphis Slim cutting tracks with just a band and a mic, no overdubs. The Rolling Stones—already obsessive students of Chess Records’ catalog—studied that album hard. They saw how the energy of a one-take performance could make a record crackle.

That ethos directly shaped the sessions for Out of Our Heads. Instead of layering parts in the booth, the Stones set up live in the studio, tracking rhythm section, vocals, and harp in the same room. Songs like “The Last Time” and “Satisfaction” weren’t polished in post—they were captured like a club set. The album became a statement: real rhythm and blues didn’t need surgery.