"Rock and a Hard Place" is a song by the English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

from their 1989 album '' Steel Wheels''. It is the second single from the album, and remains the most recent '' Billboard'' top 40 hit by the band.

Recording

Credited to

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, "Rock and a Hard Place" was recorded at Montserrat's

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

and London's Olympic Studios in the spring months of 1989. On the song, Richards said in the liner notes to the 1993 compilation album ''

Jump Back ''Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones'' is the sixth official compilation album by The Rolling Stones. It was initially released worldwide, except in the US, in 1993. The American release came on 24 August 2004. It was the first Rolling S ...

'' (on which it was included), "This was like going back to the way we worked in the early days, before '' Exile'', when we were living round the corner from each other in London. Mick and I hadn't got together in four years since '' Dirty Work'', but as soon as we met up in Barbados for a fortnight, with a couple guitars and pianos, everything was fine." At the time of release, Jagger said, "This is one of those songs like " Start Me Up", where the minute you hear the opening notes, you head for the dance floor. It's real '70s, in the best possible way." With Jagger on lead vocals, Richards,

Ron Wood Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and Jagger perform guitars for the recording. Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts perform bass and drums, respectively. Keyboards are played by Matt Clifford and Chuck Leavell. The Kick Horns provided brass for the recording. Lisa Fischer,

Sarah Dash Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer and actress. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, sess ...

and

Bernard Fowler Bernard Fowler (born January 2, 1960) is an American musician. He is known for a long association with The Rolling Stones, providing backing vocals since 1989 and on their studio recordings and live tours. Fowler has been a featured guest vocali ...

all perform backing vocals.

Release

"Rock and a Hard Place" was released as the second single from ''Steel Wheels'' on 13 November 1989 in the UK. "Cook Cook Blues", a slow blues outtake from the 1983 album ''

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...

'', was the B-side. The single reached No. 63 in the UK, No. 23 in the U.S. and No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song has been performed by the Stones sporadically since its release, appearing on the

Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album '' Steel Wheels''; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome. The European leg ...

Voodoo Lounge Tour The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album '' Voodoo Lounge''. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman, and their first with touring bassist Darryl Jones, as an addition ...

, Bridges to Babylon Tour, and Licks Tour. A music video was shot at Sullivan Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts during the band's three sold out night stand at that venue and directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the Univers ...

. The video reached the Top 10 of MTV's Top 20 Video Countdown in December, 1989. A live recording captured during the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour was included on the live albums '' Flashpoint'', ''

Live at The Tokyo Dome ''Live at the Tokyo Dome'' is a live album by the Rolling Stones, released in 2012. It was recorded at the Tokyo Dome in Japan in 1990. The album was released exclusively as a Online distribution, digital download through Google Music on 10 July ...

'' and '' Steel Wheels Live''. The studio album and/or single version were included on the compilations ''

'' and '' Honk''.

Track listing

#"Rock and a Hard Place" – 4:05 #"Cook Cook Blues" – 4:08

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles The Rolling Stones songs 1989 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Chris Kimsey