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Some Girls is an album by The Rolling Stones, released on 9 June, 1978. It was the first full album the band recorded with new guitarist Ron Wood (although he had appeared on the Stones's previous two studio albums). On a lighter note, it's the first album where Keith is credited by his real name of Richards instead of Richard.
While it's generally considered Keith Richards' 'comeback' album from heroin addiction (and he did take a lead vocal for the first time since 1973), in fact all the lyrics and most of the music was written by Mick Jagger, mostly in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1976-77. (Thus the many New York references in songs such as When The Whip Comes Down and Shattered.) One of the songs, Miss You, was begun on the Stones's 1976 European Tour. Both keyboardist Billy Preston and Mick Jagger have said Preston provided the initial spark for the song, although in the end it was credited to Jagger/Richards.
The album was recorded in Paris at Pathe Marconi Studios (a division of EMI, the band's new distributor for territories outside the USA). A (mostly) new face was engineer Chris Kimsey, best known for his work with Bad Company. He was probably recommended by that band's drummer, Simon Kirke, a friend of Jagger, Richards and Charlie Watts since the early 1970s. Kimsey had also done some engineering on 1971's Sticky Fingers, under the supervision of Glyn Johns.
The sessions were protracted, lasting from mid October 1977 to March 1978, with a break for Christmas and New Year. The Stones ended up recording some 50 songs, and several would turn up in different guise later: Black Limousine and Start Me Up (both of which had been attempted at the Black and Blue sessions) would be re-recorded and released on 1981's Tattoo You, while Summer Romance would wind up on the band's next album, 1980's Emotional Rescue.
The Stones stripped things back in the studio, using fewer studio musicians than they had for any sessions since those for 1968's Beggars Banquet. Besides the core band of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood and Bill Wyman, the main contributor was Ian McLagan on keyboards, who thus became the fifth member of the Small Faces/Faces to appear on a Stones album. (Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane are on 1967's Their Satanic Majesties Request; Ron Wood and Kenney Jones on 1974's It's Only Rock 'n' Roll.) Also making appearances were ex-King Crimson sax player Mel Collins, blues harmonica player Sugar Blue, and Simon Kirke (credited as 'A Jew'; he's on Shattered.) Jagger had decided to play guitar on many of the songs; this caused the band's road manager, Ian 'Stu' Stewart, to absent himself from many of the sessions, making this a rare Stones album he doesn't appear on.
The album cover for Some Girls was designed by Peter Corriston (who would do the next three albums as well). An elaborate die-cut design featuring the Stones in drag (again!) and a bunch of lingerie ads, it ran into trouble when several celebrities whose pictures had been used in the collage either objected on moral grounds (Lucille Ball) or on not being paid for the use (Racquel Welch). It was withdrawn and the offending pictures removed.
Another controversy surrounded the lyrics to the title song, an extended musing on what women of various nationalities and races were like in bed. A reference to African-American women and their sexual appetites drew strong protests from various groups.
The first single from the album was Miss You, a rhythm-heavy soul song that went down well in discos (prompting the release of the first Rolling Stones 'extended mix', by engineer Bob Clearmountain). It duly became the Stones' biggest hit single since Angie five years earlier. The ballad Beast Of Burden was chosen as a follow-up in the USA, and charted well enough for a third single to be released, this time the sarcastic ode to New York, Shattered. In the UK and Europe the record company preferred to follow Miss You with the energetic rocker Respectable (perhaps in an attempt to cash in on the music press's then-current obsession with punk rock).
The Stones embarked on a summer tour of the USA in support of the album, which for the first time saw them mount several small venue shows, sometimes under a pseudonym; this would become standard practice for the band's future tours.
Some Girls is by far the band's biggest-selling studio album. It is estimated to have sold 12 million copies worldwide through 2000.
It was also a huge critical success, with many people calling it a return to form. In more recent times opinion has become more mixed, with some critics noting its relative lack of ambition and experimentation.
All credited to Jagger/Richards except where noted.
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