The first insight into the new songs recorded in Paris comes from Chuck Leavell...THE ARENA Updated August 30, 2012, 10:49 p.m. ET
A Stones Sideman Steps Out
By JOHN JURGENSEN
The email from Mick Jagger came in on July 24. He was putting Chuck Leavell on active duty with the Rolling Stones, as he has many times since the journeyman keyboard player first toured with the band in 1982. From his home near Macon, Ga., Mr. Leavell flew to Paris for a weeklong recording session that ended last Thursday, and contributed piano and organ parts for two new songs intended for a Stones 50th-anniversary release expected later this year.
Mr. Leavell's calendar reflects his career as a musical wingman to the likes of the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and George Harrison. Before parachuting into Paris, he recorded in Nashville with blues harmonica heavy James Cotton. He then spent two weeks at John Mayer's house on the Yellowstone River in Montana, where the chart-topping singer and guitarist was breaking in a studio and recording new material while recovering from throat surgery. The Stones finished just in time for Mr. Leavell to make a concert—with his own band—in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In addition to impeccable chops, musicians hired for long-haul sessions and tours must provide good company. During an interview in New York this summer, Mr. Leavell chuckled over road memories, like winging it on an out-of-tune piano in Italy during his freshman tour with the Stones; or when a stage tech attached two hair dryers to a plastic tube to warm the pianist's fingers during a frigid mid-'70s Allman Brothers show.
Seated at a Steinway in Electric Lady Studios, where he played on Mr. Mayer's last album, "Born and Raised," Mr. Leavell improvised some boogie-woogie, stride and barrelhouse riffs. He explored these styles on his recent album "Back to the Woods," a homage to Otis Spann, Leroy Carr and other piano pioneers. He says, "When you say 'blues,' everybody thinks 'guitars.' "
Mr. Leavell last joined the Stones for a rehearsal in New York in April, the first time the band had assembled in five years.
He describes the songs they recorded in Paris as "up-tempo" Jagger/Richards rockers, including one on which Ronnie Wood played slide guitar. "Great hooks. Great energy. Bare bones," he says. With co-producer Don Was present, they dashed off the songs with just a few takes each. Mr. Leavell wouldn't confirm a recent report that the band will play concerts in London and Brooklyn in November.
There are risks to playing sideman to the stars. When Mr. Mayer canceled a tour because of his throat problem, Mr. Leavell lost a job that would have lasted at least six months. It was also too late to book many of his own solo gigs for the summer. In part to buffer himself, he has built side careers, including a founding stake in a conservationist website, the Mother Nature Network, and a 2,500-acre tree farm he runs with his wife. When gigs fall through, he says, "I don't mind spending time on that tractor."
A version of this article appeared August 31, 2012, on page D5 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Stones Sideman Steps Out.
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