Goats Head Soup - Jimmy Miller's Final Rolling Stones' album, Rob Fraboni's first.
Jimmy Miller inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame November 14, 2026
Goats Head Soup
jimmy miller / Rob Fraboni / The Rolling Stones’ 1973 album
a study by JV
I found this on A.I. two days ago, and Rob Fraboni was kind enough to correct the information and put it in its proper contect. Thu, May 14 at 11:30 AM
Goats Head Soup marked the end of an era for producer Jimmy Miller and the beginning of a long-standing relationship with engineer Rob Fraboni. While Miller is credited as the album’s producer, Fraboni played a critical role during the later recordings in Los Angeles at Village Recorder where he was Chief Engineer.
Jimmy Miller’s Final Chapter
Jimmy Miller was the architect of the Stones’ “Golden Era,” producing every studio album from Beggars Banquet (1968) through Goats Head Soup. The Transition: By the time of Goats Head Soup, Miller’s influence was waning due to personal issues, leading the band to eventually self-produce subsequent records. (under the name The Glimmer Twins.)
Record Breaking: Despite critics’ mixed reviews at the time, the album was a commercial success, hitting #1 in both the UK and US. The 2020 re-release of the album also reached #1 in the UK.
Rob Fraboni’s Contribution
Rob Fraboni was a young engineer at Village Recorders in Los Angeles when the Stones arrived to finish the album.
Engineering: Fraboni worked on the album for roughly two weeks, handling engineering for two weeks with co-engineer Baker Bigsby duties for 7 tracks like “Star Star” with six tracks used including the hit “Doo Doo Doo Doo” Heartbreaker
A Lifelong Bond:
These sessions began Fraboni’s 45-year-plus relationship with Keith Richards. He would later produce Richards’ solo material, such as Talk Is Cheap, and co-produce the Stones’ 1997 album Bridges to Babylon. Sonic Expert: Richards has praised Fraboni for his deep knowledge of microphones and recording techniques, noting that he became one of the few engineers the band fully trusted in the studio.
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Joe Viglione reminisces 1:45 pm May 14, 2026
I was a 20 year old radio listener working at our family corporation when Angie came on for the first time. 9 years later I would become the exclusive world-wide manager of the producer, Jimmy Miller. “Angie” brought tears to a young man’s eyes, it was so exquisitely marvelous, Miller telling me “Mick Jagger is the most singles-conscious artist I know.”
The release on the boxed set, “Criss Cross” has “Brown Sugar” leanings, maybe some “Rough and Twisted” from the 2026 album in there too, the GHS song a prognostication of what was to come 52 years later on Foreign Tongues LP. The production by ProducerAndrew Watt is not the Miller/Fraboni, team. I like “In the Stars,” super chorus, and we are lucky to have the Stones churning out new product as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and Jim Morrison cannot. Was it that long ago, 1999, that Written In The Stars from Elton John and LeAnn Rimes happened? “Criss Cross” sounds like an out-take from the Exile on Main St. sessions, so the band was continuing in that direction subliminally/subconcsiously at least. Being who they are, the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.
AI Overview
Subliminal (or subconsciously received) stimuli are sensory inputs—visual, auditory, or sensory—that exist below the threshold of conscious perception, influencing thoughts, feelings, or actions without the person noticing. Derived from Latin for “under the threshold,” these messages bypass conscious defenses to affect the subconscious directly
But “Scarlet” also has that Golden Age Magic touch of Jimmy Miller, and the new album, as solid as it is, does not have the reckless drive that permeates these classic old takes that sat in the vaults unused for decades.
With Jimmy’s induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Nov 14 and the projected lecture tour of Rob Fraboni on the Last Waltz, Jimmy Miller, the Stones, Eric Clapton, Dylan, the Beach Boys etc there will be lots for music fans to absorb. Stay tuned to Joe Viglione’s substack for more information on Jimmy, Rob and thoughts on music in general
“Scarlet” from Goats Head Soup stays in your head where “In The Stars,” not so much, the magic in the grooves of the Miller/Mick Taylor/Rob Fraboni album is that it inserts itself into your head and mind, with great staying power. Foreign Tongues and Hackneyed Diamonds are wonderful outings, but miss the mark when the Rolling Stones formula - like Lou Reed in his solo golden era around the same time, could do no wrong.
Super Deluxe 3CD + Blu-ray Box Set
Artist: The Rolling Stones $149.98 https://interscope.com/products/goats-head-soup-super-deluxe-3cd-blu-ray-box-set?srsltid=AfmBOop_D-dXi6M3e4iAHUR4lZ-ijosS_N5Dbe3BJZ_kKaFc2vDZg_pR
Another prized jewel in the Rolling Stones’ unmatched catalogue is restored to its full glory. Goats Head Soup Super Deluxe box sets features 35 tracks on three CDs & one Blu-ray disc (Dolby Atmos, 96kHz/24 bit high resolution stereo, and 96 kHz/24 bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1). Included are the new stereo album mix, sourced from the original session files, Rarities & Alternative mixes featuring three previously unreleased tracks, Scarlet, All The Rage & Criss Cross.
Also included is The Brussels Affair, recorded live at the Forest National Arena in October 1973. The 4 discs are housed in the boxset alongside a 120 page book with an incredible array of photos and 3 essays. 50 Years On – An Appreciation of Goats Head Soup by Ian McCann, Brussels Affair Live 1973 Tour by Nick Kent & The Story Of The Cover Art by Darryl Easlea. The set is completed with 4 x 1973 reproduction tour posters, rolled up within the packaging to avoid creases.
Keith Richards autographs Rob Fraboni’s Genesis book on Exile, probably on Mother’s Day.
Heavy Stride from Foreign Tongues
Rough and Twisted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Tongues
BUY THE FANZINE Marilou Regan, Philadelphia, PA 09 Nov 2020
this 5 1/2 year old story is worthwhile and A.I. picked up on it
SOUND MASTER ROB FRABONI RECALLS THE INFLUENCE OF THE ROLLING STONES “GOATS HEAD SOUP” AND HOW HE AND KEITH RICHARDS BECAME FRIENDS
by Marilou Regan, Philadelphia, PA 09 Nov 2020
He’s been an influencer on the rock ‘n’ roll recording scene long before being an influencer was in the zeitgeist as someone who impacts your decisions.
He has produced, engineered and shaped the sound of some of the most influential artists in rock history in legendary recording sessions over four decades.
Rob Fraboni is a Sound Master who knows how music sounds and he’s turned many an acclaimed artist’s musical vision into a sonic reality.
It’s in the recording studio where Rob prefers to hang his fedora, even after having been a record label exec with his own boutique label and an inventor of music technology software with speakers named after him.
By contrast, when the Stones arrived in late May at Village Recorder Studios, it was a laid-back, accommodating and professional atmosphere in an old Masonic Temple where they could continue to work on “Goats Head Soup.” Rob had been promoted to chief engineer within three months after being hired as a maintenance engineer the year before, and he helped build the Village into one of the top U.S. studios.
“The Stones wanted to work in a studio outside of LA and we were perfect for them,” said Rob. “I was friends with Jimmy Miller and I didn’t know it at the time, of course, that this was the last Stones album he would produce.” Miller was the producer on their previous four albums, “Beggars Banquet,” “Let It Bleed,” “Sticky Fingers,” and “Exile on Main Street,” which are viewed by many fans as some of their best work.
“In two weeks, we cut seven songs on a 2-inch, 16 track. Some were re-cut from Jamaica,” Rob recalls. He noted that the chart-topping “ Angie,” was on a one-inch eight track and cut at Olympic Studios in London where the album was eventually mixed.
“The songs were all over the place and the band came to the Village to turn them into a more focused record, a tighter package,” he said. “It was a darker record in a certain way. ‘Goats Head Soup’ took its energy from ‘Exile’ but seemed in a darker place.
“With time, it has shown to be an incredible piece of work.”
Rob was an eager observer, and then a participant, in a revealing and intimate recording scene in Studio B, which Rob had designed. “I had other studio duties, so I couldn’t be there 100% of the time. Baker Bigsby, a great engineer, was assigned the session.”
Both engineers left their mark, literally. They had a hand in writing the album and song titles on the “Goats Head Soup” master tape #2 box cover. “Yeah, that’s Baker’s and my handwriting,” Rob laughed. “Back then there were no computers to print out song and album titles. We had Sharpies and pencils.”
Rob was an important presence in Studio B that fateful first night in the studio when he and Keith were building their brotherhood.