The Rolling Stones' 'Cocksucker Blues' – The Unreleased 1970 Session That Became a Bootleg

Recorded in April 1970 at Olympic Studios in London, “Cocksucker Blues” was the Stones’ middle finger to their label Decca, who demanded a new single to fulfill their contract. Instead of a radio-friendly hit, the band delivered a raw, slow-burning acoustic blues with lyrics that explicitly detailed a day in the life of a male prostitute in London—drugs, grim blowjobs, and a desperate plea to escape the city. Decca refused to release it, so the Stones slipped out their contract with “Brown Sugar” as a substitute, but the tape leaked and became one of rock’s most infamous bootlegs.

The session itself was minimal and tense: just Mick Jagger on vocal and harmonica, Keith Richards on acoustic guitar, and a piano (likely Nicky Hopkins). No production polish, no double-tracking. That stripped-down, almost demo-like sound was deliberate—it captured the outlaw persona the band was cultivating right before the Exile on Main St. era. The song’s unflinching vulgarity and refusal to conform to industry norms were a test of how far they could push creative freedom. It didn’t become an album track, but it became a statement: the Stones were done playing nice, and the dirt under their fingernails was the point.