{"id":268896,"date":"2026-02-01T15:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T15:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/268896\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T15:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T15:54:07","slug":"it-was-hell-working-with-the-rolling-stones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/268896\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It Was Hell’ Working With the Rolling Stones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Producer Steve Lillywhite has a long and impressive rock resume, but his experience working with the Rolling Stones<\/a> definitely ranks among the most difficult points of his career.<\/p>\n

It was 1985 when Lillywhite was recruited to produce the Stones\u2019 18th studio album, Dirty Work<\/a>. The band was going through a tumultuous period, due largely to continual infighting between Mick Jagger<\/a> and Keith Richards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with Keith and Mick when they were not talking to each other at all,\u201d Lillywhite noted during a recent appearance on the Word in Your Ear<\/a> podcast, adding that the duo spoke to each other \u201cmaybe one hour out of the whole time that we were making the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hell,\u201d the producer admitted. \u201cThey literally weren’t [in the same room].\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: The History of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Dirty Work’<\/a><\/p>\n

The uncomfortable situation put Lillywhite in an\u00a0awkward role, serving as both peacemaker and translator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have one come up to me go \u2018blah blah blah blah,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd I would go and say [the message] to the other one. And he would go, \u2018You tell him, blah blah blah blah.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lillywhite likened his role to that of a diplomat. \u201cI say I was Henry Kissinger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Released in March 1986, Dirty Work sold well in spite of the tumultuous situation. Due to the band’s continuing turmoil, the Stones’ didn’t tour in support of the LP.<\/p>\n

Rolling Stones\u2019 Open Door Policy<\/p>\n

While Lillywhite admitted his experience with the Rolling Stones was difficult, it was also educational. The producer noted he learned how important it is to have people outside the band visiting the studio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned this from the Rolling Stones,\u201d Lilywhite revealed, \u201cnever stop people coming into the studio. Always have an open door policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Rolling Stones Albums Ranked Worst to Best<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people come in and they listen to something, I sort of hear it through their ears. So there might be something that I’m, subconsciously, I’m thinking it’s not quite right, but it hasn’t come to the conscience yet. Whereas when someone’s in there listening and I’m playing them a rough mix I go, got it. Now I know what we have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rolling Stones Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide<\/p>\n

Given how long they’ve been together, the\u00a0Rolling Stones\u00a0have actually weathered a surprisingly small number of lineup changes.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Jeff Giles<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Producer Steve Lillywhite has a long and impressive rock resume, but his experience working with the Rolling Stones…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-268896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}