LONDON (AP) — It's back to the blues for the Rolling Stones.

The band that first made its name covering songs by American blues artists announced plans Thursday to release a blues album on Dec. 2. The "Blue & Lonesome" album will be their first studio release in more than a decade.

The band says the album was recorded without overdubs in just three days at British Grove Studios in west London. Blues virtuoso Eric Clapton plays on two of the 12 tracks.

In the Stones' early days, they often played their own versions of hits by Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Little Walter and other American artists. Later they developed their own style, as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote dozens of songs for the band.