The Rolling Stones recently issued 40th anniversary, expanded deluxe editions of their chart-topping, multi-platinum 1981 album, Tattoo You, via Universal Music. The newly-remastered set is accompanied by no fewer than nine previously unreleased tracks from the era. Order in multiple formats here.

Keith Richards joined Strombo on Apple Music Hits to reflect on Tattoo You. He talks about the Super Deluxe reissue, the loss of drummer Charlie Watts, their latest tour, his relationship with Mick Jagger, and the need for flexibility in life.

On Tattoo You, Keith reveals: “Tattoo You was actually one of the first albums, one of the fewest albums that was actually made from different parts of different albums over a period of time... I think ‘Start Me Up’ was at least five years old by the time it got on this album. Tattoo You is beautiful, like leftovers, which turned out to be, in its own way, a beautifully flexible album maybe because it wasn't so planned.”

The 40th anniversary remaster of the original 11-track album includes such enduring favourites as "Hang Fire", "Waiting On A Friend" (showcasing jazz saxophone giant Sonny Rollins) and of course the opening track that's been a band signature ever since, "Start Me Up". The deluxe formats will also include Lost & Found: Rarities and Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982.

The Lost & Found disc contains no fewer than nine songs from the period of the album's original release, newly completed and enhanced with additional vocals and guitar by the band. Among these, 'Living In The Heart Of Love' is a quintessential Stones rock workout with all of the group on top form, complete with urgent guitar licks and fine piano detail.

Other highlights of Lost & Found include a killer version of "Shame, Shame, Shame", first recorded in 1963 by one of the band's blues heroes, Jimmy Reed; their reading of Dobie Gray's soul gem "Drift Away"; and a fascinating reggae-tinged version of "Start Me Up".

Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982 is an unmissable memento of the band's London show in June of that year on the Tattoo You tour. The mighty 26-track set is packed with Stones mega-hits, including an opening "Under My Thumb" and all-time greats such as "Let's Spend The Night Together", "Honky Tonk Women" and "Brown Sugar".

The Wembley show has covers of the Temptations' "Just My Imagination", Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock", the Miracles' "Going To A Go Go" and early rock 'n' roller the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace".'It also features early live workouts for tracks from the then-new Tattoo You such as "Start Me Up", "Neighbours", "Little T&A" and "Hang Fire".

Universal Music's Tattoo You (40th Anniversary Edition) follows the 2020 reissue of the Stones' 1973 landmark Goats Head Soup, which took the album back to No. 1 in the UK. Remarkably, this marked the second time their peerless catalogue had produced a UK chart-topper twice over, after 2010's deluxe edition of their 1972 staple Exile On Main St.

On first release, Tattoo You, produced by the Glimmer Twins with associate producer Chris Kimsey, topped the charts in the US (where it went quadruple platinum), Canada, Australia and across much of Europe, with gold and platinum awards around the world.

2CD tracklisting:

CD1 - Tattoo You (2021 Remaster)
"Start Me Up" – 2021 Remaster
"Hang Fire" – 2021 Remaster
"Slave" – 2021 Remaster
"Little T&A" – 2021 Remaster
"Black Limousine" – 2021 Remaster
"Neighbours" – 2021 Remaster
"Worried About You" – 2021 Remaster
"Tops" – 2021 Remaster
"Heaven" – 2021 Remaster
"No Use In Crying" – 2021 Remaster
"Waiting On A Friend" – 2021 Remaster

CD2 - Lost & Found: Rarities
"Living In The Heart Of Love"
"Fiji Jim"
"Trouble's A Comin"
"Shame Shame Shame"
"Drift Away"
"It’s A Lie"
"Come To The Ball"
"Fast Talking Slow Walking"
"Start Me Up" (Early Version)

"Living In The Heart Of Love" video: