Listen to unreleased Rolling Stones song No Spare Parts

The Glimmer Twins in all their late '70s glory
The Glimmer Twins in all their late '70s glory (Image credit: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis)

Depending on your level of fan devotion, The Rolling Stones' No Spare Parts might be very familiar, something you've heard for years on bootlegs and YouTube, or it could strike you as totally new.

The truth is, the song is at least 33 years old, possibly more, and it was cut during the sessions leading up to 1978's Some Girls (listen below) but shelved in favor of stronger material. With a couple of reissue packages on the way, however, the recording has been polished and spit-shined (with what certainly sounds like a new vocal; the lyrics are definitely different) and will be included in both Deluxe and Super Deluxe sets.

Coming off like a first cousin to Some Girls' laid-back, countrified Far Away Eyes, No Spare Parts features Mick Jagger on vocals and electric piano, Keith Richards on acoustic pie-ano, Ron Wood on pedal steel, along with the reliable rhythm section of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman.

The Some Girls reissues will be available on 21 November. So what do you think of No Spare Parts?

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.