The Rolling Stones’ career is undoubtedly one of the most impressive in the world of music. Founded in the dark streets of Dartford before exploding onto the London blues scene, the group—comprising Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts—soon became globe-trotting, swashbuckling rock and rollers who dominated the rock world for much of the 20th century. They achieved this by meticulously honing their material.

Part of the reason the band is so highly regarded is their robust early discography. However, as time went on, the group became increasingly reluctant to share new material, demonstrating an unwillingness to dilute their legacy.

Mick Jagger is a perfectionist who is determined not to release anything under The Rolling Stones’ name that might tarnish their legacy. Reflecting this sentiment, when the band stumbled upon some previously lost songs, Jagger initially resisted the urge to release the material, dismissing them as “terrible}”.

In 2020, the group decided to reissue Goats Head Soup after finding three long-lost tracks, but Jagger needed to take some persuading before agreeing to the re-release. Surprisingly, it didn’t even coincide with a notable anniversary of the album, and the reissue was strangely shared to celebrate the LP’s 47th birthday. But with such a wealth of content to play with and so many new forms of media to release it on, it’s no surprise that the business-savvy group saw their opportunity and pounced.

The initial idea to revisit the album came from Polydor Records, who had discovered the songs hidden in their vault. The label felt compelled to release away rather than agonisingly wait for the album to turn 50. As a result, Giles Martin was enlisted to mix the tracks, and he successfully managed to get them up to a standard that Jagger deemed acceptable for public consumption.

The expanded edition of the album included three previously unheard tracks: ‘Criss Cross’, ‘All the Rage’, and ‘Scarlet’, which featured Jimmy Page. Page’s work alongside The Rolling Stones needed to be heard by all fans, and after it had been tweaked slightly, Jagger agreed, too.

Previously speaking to The Sunday Times, Jagger explained: “[The record executives] said, ‘We’ve found these three tracks’. I said, ‘They’re all terrible’. That’s always my initial reaction, ‘They’re all useless!’ I mean, actually, I always liked the songs, but they weren’t finished”.

He continued, “Sonically, they still sound like they were recorded then, even if they weren’t perfect. You can make them sound a little better than they did. But I think these three songs are all up there with the rest of the songs on this record”. An artist is always likely to feel most of their past work is incomparable with their later creation, but Jagger would eventually relent.

Jagger also discussed how the collaboration with Page came about and explained: “There was an invite to do a session. It was with Keith. So I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll bring my guitar along and I’ll lay the solo parts on it’. It’s really great to have done it. It’s brilliant what Mick has done with it. But it’s also good to hear Jimmy Page flying as he was in the 1970s”.

It would have been a crying shame if this trio of songs had never seen the light of day, and Jagger’s claims that they were “useless” and “terrible” are just further proof of his being his toughest critic. The idea of Jimmy Page colliding with The Stones when they were in their golden eras seemed nothing but a pipedream, but the long-lost ‘Scarlet’ lived up to lofty expectations.