LONDON--The Rolling Stones are heading back to their roots. The band announced on Thursday it will release its first studio album in over a decade in December -- covers of the American blues greats who got them into music in the first place.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts recorded "Blue & Lonesome" last December in three days at London's British Grove Studios. That's close to where the band, which formed in 1962, began performing at local venues with American blues as a major inspiration.
"The passion for blues music ... has always been at the heart and soul of The Rolling Stones," a statement said. "Their approach to the album was that it should be spontaneous and played live in the studio without overdubs."
The album features songs by artists whose music the Stones played in their early days, such as Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor and Little Walter. During some of their stadium concerts in the past, the Stones have put on specific blues sets, and their repertoire includes the likes of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster" and Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain".
American blues was a major influence on the British rock scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with musicians in bands like Cream, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac all cutting their teeth on the genre.
The Stones' last studio album was 2005's "A Bigger Bang". They have since gone on tours around the world, putting on a large, free, outdoor concert in Cuba in March.
