Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / 4:37
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals, acoustic guitar
Keith Richards: acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, backing vocals
Bill Wyman: bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Ron Wood: acoustic guitar
Chuck Leavell: organ
Matt Clifford: piano, harmonium
Phil Beer: fiddle, mandolin
Luís Jardim: percussion
Bernard Fowler: backing vocals
Recorded
AIR Studios, Montserrat: March 29–May 5, 1989
Olympic Sound Studios, London: May 15–June 29, 1989
Technical Team
Producers: Chris Kimsey, the Glimmer Twins
Sound engineer: Christopher Marc Potter
Assistant sound engineer: Rupert Coulson
Mixing: Michael H. Brauer
“Blinded by Love” is a ballad with a country and western flavor and exotic Hawaiian accents. In it Mick Jagger invokes a selection of tragic lovers from history in order to warn of the dangers of passionate love, which can divert men from their destiny and lead to their undoing. Hence Mark Antony, ruined by his love for the Queen of the Nile, Samson, betrayed by Delilah, and the poor Prince of Wales (Edward, Duke of Windsor), forced to abdicate for the sake of the beautiful eyes of a second-hand American lady! You better lock up your soul for safe-keeping, sings Jagger, against all expectations.
“Blinded by Love” is a steadfastly acoustic track giving pride of place to the stringed instruments. The three guitarists each play acoustic rhythm: Mick in the center, Ronnie most likely on the left, and Keith on the right. The latter seems to be using Nashville tuning and also plays short phrases on a Sadowsky Nylon String guitar, as can be heard at 2:03. This mass of guitars has probably been boosted by various overdubs, but better timing would not have gone amiss in places. Charlie plays cross-stick, Bill tries to do something different to the “pumping” style of bass generally associated with this type of music, and Chuck Leavell comes in with short sequences on the organ (1:52). Matt Clifford plays a very good piano part that is not unlike the style of Nicky Hopkins, and although also credited with the harmonium, it has to be said that he is inaudible on that instrument. Phil Beer, a newcomer to the world of the Stones, plays an effective mandolin part and also a very good fiddle accompaniment, even taking a short solo at 3:27. Mick sings with a certain listlessness, and is supported in the vocal harmonies by Keith and Bernard Fowler. “Blinded by Love” is not the best country track ever written by the Glimmer Twins. It is strangely lacking in imagination and falls away a little after the first few bars. Where is the Stones’ craziness? Where is their mockery? Mick Jagger turns himself into a moralizer, and this is a role that does not suit him particularly well—any more than it does his colleagues.