The Red Devils were a Los Angeles-based blues rock band who were active from 1988 to 1994. With their no-frills approach and singer Lester Butler's convincing Chicago-style blues harp, they were a popular fixture on the Los Angeles club scene and toured the U.S. and Europe. By early 1991, the Blue Shadows (as they were then known) came to the attention of producers Rick Rubin and George Drakoulias of Def American Recordings, and the band hoped that Drakoulias would work with them, but it became clear that Rubin wanted to produce their debut album. One of his first orders of business was a name change, so the Blue Shadows became the Red Devils, and then Rubin decided that their debut album was going to be a live album, a one-take, no-overdubs release, titled simply 'King King', for which he chose the songs and the cover art. The album was recorded at the King King club during three or four of their regular Monday-night performances in 1991, and featured a mix of songs by blues figures such as Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf, and Willie Dixon along with some band originals. Mick Jagger became interested in the Red Devils following a recommendation by Rick Rubin, who was producing Jagger's third solo album, and after scouting the band at King King, Jagger joined them on stage in May 1992 and performed Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love?' and Little Walter's version of 'Blues With A Feeling'. A month later, the Red Devils were invited to record some blues standards with Jagger, presumably for his upcoming solo album, and during one thirteen-hour recording session at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, Jagger and the band recorded thirteen songs, mostly completed in three or fewer takes, with no overdubs, as Jagger wanted to recreate the spontaneous, rough-and-tumble quality of his favorite early Chicago blues. When Jagger's 'Wandering Spirit' was released in 1993, it didn't include any of the songs recorded with the Red Devils, and the sessions passed into legend until bootlegs started to appears some years later. On listening to these recordings you can hear that Jagger and the band are having a ball, and while the production is rough and ready, that's what they wanted, and so it really is an authentic r'n'b/blues album by an artist trying to re-connect to his roots.
01 Mean Old World
02 Blues With A Feeling
03 I Got My Eyes On You
04 Still A Fool
05 Checkin' Up On My Baby
06 One Way Out
07 Talk To Me Baby
08 Evil
09 Ain't Your Business
10 Shake 'M On Down
11 Somebody Loves Me
12 Dream Girl Blues
13 40 Days 40 Nights
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