Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 4:18
Musicians
Keith Richards: vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, acoustic guitar (?), bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Ron Wood: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Bobby Keys: saxophone
Recorded
Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas: January 23–February 12, 1979
Electric Lady Studios, New York City: November–December 1979, April 1980
Technical Team
Producers: The Glimmer Twins
Associate producer: Chris Kimsey
Sound engineer: Chris Kimsey
Assistant sound engineers: Sean Fullan, Brad Samuelsohn, Ron “Snake” Reynolds, Jon Smith
“All About You” is a song written exclusively by Keith Richards during the period when he was starting to come off heroin: “There’s never one thing a song’s about, but in this case if it was about anything, it was probably more about Mick.”2 If the show must go on, let it go on without you/So sick and tired hanging around with jerks like you. The words are clearly hurtful. Keith apparently had the bitter impression that Mick had taken advantage of his difficulties to keep “me from interfering in day-to-day business.”2 Now the Stones guitarist was back and had to be taken into consideration again. But Mick Jagger is not the only person targeted in “All About You.” The song also tackles the relationship between Keith and Anita, which was on its last legs. You’re the first to get blamed, always the last bitch to get paid: here too, Richards does not beat around the bush. He is probably alluding to the death of Scott Cantrell, with whom Anita was said to have been having an affair.
Following “Before They Make Me Run” on the previous album, here Keith Richards presents us with a new emotional scenario. In “All About You” he has chosen to express himself through a ballad that combines elements of the blues, rock, and jazz. Playing chords strongly colored by MXR phasing, he is joined in the intro by Bobby Keys, who doubles and harmonizes with himself on the sax. Ronnie accompanies on a second guitar, albeit reasonably discreetly. Charlie delivers some restrained drum work, with Keith lending him a hand on the bass. Although perfectly good, this bass playing lacks the special sound and touch that Bill can bring, particularly to this sort of ballad. Curiously, there is no acoustic guitar other than on the very last chord of the track, at 4:13. Keith sings from the soul, and his weariness is all too evident. He also provides some highly successful vocal harmonies alongside Ronnie, and takes care of the piano part as well. He would later claim to have written “All About You” three years earlier, inspired by some other song he had heard. Might this have been the Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie,” whose harmonies at the beginning of each verse are not dissimilar? No matter. “All About You” is a cry from the heart that stands out strongly from the other songs on this album.