The Rolling Stones released the compilation GRRR! on November 12, 2012, in the UK, with North America following the next day. The collection marked the band’s 50th anniversary, but its newest recordings gave the retrospective a fresh endpoint. “Doom and Gloom” and “One More Shot” reunited Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood in the studio for the first time since A Bigger Bang in 2005.
Getting those additions recorded had been a comparatively quick job. Richards told Billboard in its November 17, 2012 issue that the request for new material came late in the compilation’s preparation, leaving roughly a month to respond. He and Jagger each had a song to offer, and the recording itself took three days. “We cut two tracks in three days, boom,” Richards said. Jagger identified “One More Shot” as a song Richards had largely written. Preparing the retrospective had given their songwriting partnership a specific assignment and a short deadline.
“Doom and Gloom” was only a few months old when Jagger discussed it with Paul Sexton for a November 2012 interview in The Blues, later republished by Classic Rock. He had made the demo with Matt Clifford handling programming while he supplied guitar and vocals. Jagger sent several songs to Don Was and Jeff Bhasker; their response to this one was stronger than he’d expected, because he had considered it an obvious choice. The finished recording kept much of the demo’s arrangement and character. Jagger called it “a deluxe version of how I’d done the demo.” Wood also emphasized simplicity in his conversation with Sexton, describing the group’s approach as keeping the performances raw and avoiding an overworked recording.
Was produced the Paris sessions, while Bhasker handled the radio mix of “Doom and Gloom.” The song reached listeners on October 11, 2012, premiering on BBC Radio 2 and becoming available digitally ahead of the compilation. Fans could hear the result of that studio reunion before the retrospective reached shops.
On the three-CD edition, the new songs completed a 50-track selection that began with “Come On,” the band’s debut single from 1963. The route between them included “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Miss You” and “Start Me Up,” mixing singles with album tracks. The set moved through the early recordings and the late-1960s and 1970s catalog before reaching the later material. Its final disc ended with the two Paris recordings, giving the collection a conclusion made specifically for this release.
The super deluxe edition expanded the main program to 80 tracks across four CDs and offered another reason for collectors to investigate. A separate bonus CD contained five IBC demos recorded in March 1963, including “Diddley Daddy” and “Road Runner,” while a seven-inch EP collected BBC session performances from 1964. The demos reached back before “Come On,” extending the collection into the period before the band’s debut single. Together with the new recordings, those extras placed two very different stages of the Stones’ studio history inside the same box.
GRRR! reached No. 3 on the UK Official Albums Chart, entering on the chart dated November 24, 2012.
