Robert Smith recently revealed that he originally declined Mick Jagger’s offer for him to feature on the upcoming Rolling Stones album. According to NME, The Cure frontman featured on the guitar on The Rolling Stones’ recent single “Divine Intervention,” from their upcoming album Foreign Tongues, releasing on July 10th. However, Smith revealed that the offer had been given to him unprepared, so he had initially turned it down.
Smith said that he had exchanged texts and called with The Rolling Stones’ producer, Andrew Watt, for multiple years. While the producer was in London to work on Foreign Tongues, he asked Smith if he wanted to get a beer with him near the end of his session with Jagger.
“He said that they’d pretty much done all the tracking and Mick was just left to pick up some vocal stuff,” Smith said. “He told me the day before, ‘Mick might still be around’, and I was like, ‘You know, that’s okay.’”
However, Smith didn’t want to interrupt Jagger’s artistic flow. So he waited for confirmation from the singer’s assistant that he wanted him to come before he agreed.
“I know what it’s like being in the studio, particularly when you’re singing,” he said. “The last thing you want is guests. It sounds a bit miserable, but the dynamic and the atmosphere is kind of a really crucial part of what you’re trying to get done. And the worst thing in the world is people bursting in, having a party when you’re trying to do something.”
Once in the studio, Jagger played some songs for Smith and asked for his opinion. Smith said that, as he was drinking while they chatted, his suggestions were gradually “more and more absurd.” It was then that Jagger asked him if he wanted to record for the album, which caught him off guard.
“I was like, ‘Whoa, hang on!’” He said. “And he said, ‘Oh, play a bit of guitar…’ and I was like, ‘Well… I wasn’t really prepared for it.’ And so I, much to everyone’s astonishment, I said, ‘No, no thanks, I can’t do that.’ I went up there expecting just to get drunk, really. And I wasn’t expecting to play on the Rolling Stones album.”
Smith didn’t relent until after Jagger had already left. He finally decided to give it a go, and “one thing led to another.”
Jagger spoke about recruiting Smith for the album as well. He said, “there was this bloke standing there with his back to me with his long gown on and when he turned around he was covered in lipstick. He said, ‘Yeah, we’ve never met.’ And then I said, ‘Well, while you’re here then you’d better go and do something’. That’s how collaborations work sometimes.”
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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