Mixed Emotions: How Steel Wheels' First Single Channeled Jagger-Richards Feud at Air Studios Montserrat

By 1989, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards weren’t just bandmates with creative differences — they were barely speaking. Richards had spent the mid-80s publicly calling Jagger’s solo projects “Mick’s ego trips,” and Jagger had skipped Richards’ solo tour. So when the Stones gathered at Air Studios Montserrat to record Steel Wheels, the tension was thick enough to cut with a guitar pick.

“Mixed Emotions” was the first single and the most direct public acknowledgment of the rift. Richards wrote the riff and the core sentiment — “You’re out of touch, my son” was his line, aimed squarely at Jagger. But Jagger sang it, turning the accusation into a duet of resentment. The chorus “We’ve got to get it together” sounds like a plea, but the verses are pure barbed wire, especially the line “You’re out of time, my son” — a reference to Jagger being knighted in 2003? No, that’s later, but the “my son” jab was Richards’ way of reminding Jagger who started this band.

Recording at George Martin’s Air Studios, the band worked in a makeshift setup because Hurricane Hugo had just passed through the island, damaging the studio’s roof. The sessions were emotionally raw — Chris Kimsey, the producer, remembers Jagger and Richards not even looking at each other while tracking the song. They’d record their parts separately, with Richards laying down the guitar in one room while Jagger cut vocals in another. The result is a track where the anger is barely contained by the melody, a snapshot of a band that had to decide whether to keep going or implode. They kept going.