Bitch wrote on Feb 7
th, 2009 at 2:57pm:
As I recall the ABB album was recorded in a few weeks time at MICK's place in France, just MICK & KEEF putting the songs together. Then the studio mixes took a few months and the whole deal was done in much less than a year's time, so in 6 months or so there could be a new, completed album project, IF they put their effort into it.
they started it just after Charlie's cancer diagnosis - late summer 2004. They recorded in dribs and drabs after that and were still recording in spring 2005 (Ronnie added his parts around the week that he played his solo show at Drury Lane - mid March 2005)
However, and this partly is a response to what Ian says above - we KNEW a new record was in the works as far back as autumn 2004. The tour wasnt announced until 10 May 2005 and began in late August 2005. So there was actually a full year between it being known they were going to make a record and a tour starting.
Every time the Stones have toured behind a
new * album for as long as I can remember - whilst we maybe only got a few months notice of a tour, it was common knowledge for a few months before any announcement that they were going to make a record. Even BTB, while they didnt record it until spring 1997, it was common knowledge that Mick and Keith had been working on songs in late 1996.
There is absolutely nothing to suggest that any work has been undertaken with a view to a new record being made.
* I exclude the Licks tour from that because they didnt make a new album - prior to them announcing the tour on May 7 2002, whilst we knew a tour was on the cards, there was no definite word on a new release, so there was a bit of confusion about whether there would be a new album (there had been no indication to suggest they'd been recording) or whether they would be touring behind a boxed set of unreleased material. The deal between Universal and ABKCO to issue '40 Licks' was only finalised a day or two before the press conference, which was when they confirmed that they would release it - at that point, the compilation didnt have a name and they said that they would record some new songs for it as well, which were then recorded later that month.