Having just finishing reading Keith Richards' autobiography, I have no doubt that he, and not Mick Jagger, deserves to be a Knight of the British Empire.
For Millennials who may not recognize the name, Keith Richards is lead guitarist, co-founder and, as the book reveals, almost always the number one idea man driving the 'world's greatest rock and roll band', The Rolling Stones.
Written in an e e cummings stream of consciousness style, Keith's book is called 'Life'. And, trust me, it's as jagged, ragged and engrossing as the Stones themselves.
'Life' is a treasure trove of fascinating facts, figures and background stories that told me many, many things I never knew about one of my favorite groups.
For example, do you know the answers to these questions:
- Linda Keith was Richards' first true love. She dumped him while he was touring in America to take up with Jimi Hendrix instead. What song did his subsequent heartache drive Keith to write?
- Who inspired Keith and Mick to write 'Jumpin Jack Flash'?
- What event that occurred right outside Keith's London flat produced 'Gimme Shelter'?
- Who were Keith and Mick mad at when they wrote 'Get Off of my Cloud'?
- What city's 1968 riots inspired Keith to compose 'Street Fighting Man'?
- Who was 'Sister Morphine'?
- Whose outrageous stage act and patronizing treatment of his band mates inspired Mick to follow suit (which, in turn, caused the media to incorrectly nickname the group 'Mick & the Boys')?
- Who was Keith thinking about when he wrote 'Wild Horses'?
As you might expect, the book also cites chapter and verse on Keith's never-ending battles with heroin, cocaine, the law, and legions of redneck hooligans who constantly tried picking fights with one of the world's best known rockers.
Life is also a raw, kiss-and-tell tome that simultaneously praises and buries Keith's alter ego, Sir Mick Jagger.
What finally comes through the purple haze (which, FYI, was the nickname for a high grade form of heroin) IS this: Keith is the heart and soul of the Stones. To wit:
- Keith's the guy who covered for Brian Jones for two years as the group's second guitarist descended into a world of madness and eventual suicide.
- Keith's the guy who kept the group together while Sir Mick went MIA for months at a time to chill with his latest lady friend and/or intimate circle of beautiful people.
- And, it was Keith's shoulder on which all those women whose hearts were broken by Sir Mick over the years cried their hearts out and asked, “What should I do?” As Keith tells you, he always responded by saying, “How the f*ck should I know? You're the one who's sleeping with him. Not me.”
With 'Life,' it seems Keith finally did what HE wanted to do. He wrote the best rock and roll book this blogger's ever read. I just hope it gives the guitarist some satisfaction after all these years. Because, if even half of 'Life' is accurate, Keith Richards was unquestionably the band's 'Beast of Burden' and he sure deserves a whole lot more recognition (and satisfaction).
...And, in addition to all of this, Keef also gives you some of his favorite sausage recipes as well. You just can't beat that.
Posted by: ghost | September 19, 2011 at 11:11 AM
And his views on Hugh Hefner as well: ‘A pimp. Nothing more. Nothing less.’
Posted by: RepMan | September 19, 2011 at 11:28 AM
RepMan - My knowledge of the Stones is no where near my knowledge of the Fab 4. That said, I'll take a stab at these, but doubt I'll get any right.
- Linda Keith was Richards' first true love. She dumped him while he was touring in America to take up with Jimi Hendrix instead. What song did his subsequent heartache drive Keith to write? ANSWER: "BITCH"
- Who inspired Keith and Mick to write 'Jumpin Jack Flash'? ANSWER: WHOOPI GOLDBERG :-)
- What event that occurred right outside Keith's London flat produced 'Gimme Shelter'? ANSWER: YOKO ONO HELD A "HAPPENING"
- Who were Keith and Mick mad at when they wrote 'Get Off of my Cloud'? ANSWER: LENNON & McCARTNEY
- What city's 1968 riots inspired Keith to compose 'Street Fighting Man'? ANSWER: CHICAGO
- Who was 'Sister Morphine'? ANSWER: MARIANNE FAITHFULL
- Whose outrageous stage act and patronizing treatment of his band mates inspired Mick to follow suit (which, in turn, caused the media to incorrectly nickname the group 'Mick & the Boys')? ANSWER: IGGY POP
- Who was Keith thinking about when he wrote 'Wild Horses'? ANSWER: ANITA PALLENBERG
Posted by: JulieFarin | September 19, 2011 at 02:34 PM
Good stuff, Julie. Linda Keith actually inspired ‘Ruby Tuesday’. Jumpin’ Jack Flash was inspired by Keith’s gardener, Jack, whose noisy hoeing and raking woke Keith and Mick up one morning after an all-nighter. ‘Who’s that?’asked Mick. ‘That’s Jack,’ replied Keith. ‘Jumpin’ Jack.’ To which Mick replied, ‘Gas.’ And away they went. ‘Gimme Shelter’ was inspired by a category five thunderstorm outside Keith’s London flat. It had nothing to do with the Vietnam War with which it is commonly associated. Mick and Keith were tired of the record company pressuring them to churn out one hit after another so they wrote, ‘Get off of my cloud’. BINGO on sister Morphine. Well done. Negative on Iggy Pop. Correct answer is James Brown. And, negative on Wild Horses and Anita Pallenberg (but, an excellent guess nonetheless). Keith was actually inspired to write that tune about his newborn baby boy, Marlon (named after Marlon Brando, BTW)
Posted by: RepMan | September 19, 2011 at 04:09 PM
Hey RepMan - I actually did know that Keif's son was named after Brando. And the song "Dandelion" is about his daughter, also named Dandelion.
Was there anything telling in the book regarding Jagger/Richards' creative competition with Lennon/McCartney? (You know where my loyalty lies).
Posted by: JulieFarin | September 19, 2011 at 04:48 PM
Nah. There’s a little about Lennon. When both groups were white hot, John would call Keith, or vice versa, and they’d discuss the timing of their latest new records. They’d agree not to release them on the same date so each group could make the most amount of money in sales, etc. There are also a couple of stories about their drug use. Keef says Lennon couldn’t handle the hard stuff very well and could always be found straddling a toilet seat. Aside from that, though, there’s nothing about the rivalry.
Posted by: RepMan | September 19, 2011 at 05:00 PM
Interesting... I've always felt that the Stones took their cue from the Beatles, i.e. "Sgt Pepper" was followed by "Satanic Majesties Request"; "Let It Be" was followed by Let It Bleed," etc.
Posted by: JulieFarin | September 19, 2011 at 05:13 PM
Keith does acknowledge that ‘Satanic Majesties Request’ was ‘inspired by ‘Pepper’, but that’s as far as he goes.
Posted by: RepMan | September 20, 2011 at 11:17 AM
THanks for this. I read "Life" when it came out early in the year. Without a doubt this is the best celeb autobiography I've ever read -- brutally honest, funny and a lot more insightful than I ever expected. The jacket copy said something like "bet you're surprised I remember so much" and I was.
- Whose outrageous stage act and patronizing treatment of his band mates inspired Mick to follow suit (which, in turn, caused the media to incorrectly nickname the group 'Mick & the Boys')?
ANSWER: JAMES BROWN
Posted by: PEngelinNYC | September 20, 2011 at 04:26 PM