[books 2011] Keith Richards
11. Life by Keith Richards
I wasn't going to bother, because I don't as a rule do celebrity autobiographies. I happened to catch Richards plugging it on the Culture Show, and was surprised to find that he's articulate, charming and witty, so I ordered it from the library, on the assumption that it would be fluff that would take 2 hours to read, and I wasn't paying hardback prices for that. Judging by the time I had to wait, most of the users of LibrariesWest did the same.
I came to this book as a lifelong Stones fan, but where I've had any loyalty to any band member (which hasn't been a lot), it's been Mick. I struggled to work on why this is when I've played guitar for as long as I've loved the Stones, and can only conclude it's because when I first became aware of them in the late 70s-early 80s, Keef was a joke.
There's a lot more to this book than I expected (literally, as well as conceptually - over 500 pages of quite small print). It starts out with a description of a typical miserable post-War childhood. There is the obligatory self-serving justification of celeb autobiography, and yes, there are the obligatory tales of Hilarious Hi Jinks, all involving booze and/or drugs. It only starts to come alive as Richards discovers the blues, and playing the guitar.
Where he talks about music, and his love of it - making it or listening to it - it's nothing short of electric. Thankfully, this is the bulk of the book. If you don't want to read about someone's in-depth musings on music, this is not the book for you. I loved it - I am just a competent enough musician to appreciate the jaw-dropping talent and dedication of the man, and enough of a guitar nerd to be thoroughly enthralled by his discussion of the finer point of making some of the songs. Partly it's my interest, but a lot of it is Richards' sheer enthusiasm and love of what he does carrying you along like a tidal wave. I was almost inspired to get my guitar out.
Reading about the early years of the Stones was a useful reminder that at one point they really were considered new and dangerous - something it's all too easy to forget, now that they're grandparents. And also that tabloid journalism really hasn't changed much since then. Descriptions of touring in the 60s - being on the road 350 days one year, sometimes doing more than one show a day, being just one band on a long bill, make me glad I wasn't there. It was the opposite of exciting or glamorous, and it's no accident that so many musicians were addicted to uppers and downers.
So, the collected works of Stones will be on heavy rotation in my household for a while.
Still can't figure out why, of all their vast output, the song stuck in my head is "Too Rude".
I wasn't going to bother, because I don't as a rule do celebrity autobiographies. I happened to catch Richards plugging it on the Culture Show, and was surprised to find that he's articulate, charming and witty, so I ordered it from the library, on the assumption that it would be fluff that would take 2 hours to read, and I wasn't paying hardback prices for that. Judging by the time I had to wait, most of the users of LibrariesWest did the same.
I came to this book as a lifelong Stones fan, but where I've had any loyalty to any band member (which hasn't been a lot), it's been Mick. I struggled to work on why this is when I've played guitar for as long as I've loved the Stones, and can only conclude it's because when I first became aware of them in the late 70s-early 80s, Keef was a joke.
There's a lot more to this book than I expected (literally, as well as conceptually - over 500 pages of quite small print). It starts out with a description of a typical miserable post-War childhood. There is the obligatory self-serving justification of celeb autobiography, and yes, there are the obligatory tales of Hilarious Hi Jinks, all involving booze and/or drugs. It only starts to come alive as Richards discovers the blues, and playing the guitar.
Where he talks about music, and his love of it - making it or listening to it - it's nothing short of electric. Thankfully, this is the bulk of the book. If you don't want to read about someone's in-depth musings on music, this is not the book for you. I loved it - I am just a competent enough musician to appreciate the jaw-dropping talent and dedication of the man, and enough of a guitar nerd to be thoroughly enthralled by his discussion of the finer point of making some of the songs. Partly it's my interest, but a lot of it is Richards' sheer enthusiasm and love of what he does carrying you along like a tidal wave. I was almost inspired to get my guitar out.
Reading about the early years of the Stones was a useful reminder that at one point they really were considered new and dangerous - something it's all too easy to forget, now that they're grandparents. And also that tabloid journalism really hasn't changed much since then. Descriptions of touring in the 60s - being on the road 350 days one year, sometimes doing more than one show a day, being just one band on a long bill, make me glad I wasn't there. It was the opposite of exciting or glamorous, and it's no accident that so many musicians were addicted to uppers and downers.
So, the collected works of Stones will be on heavy rotation in my household for a while.
Still can't figure out why, of all their vast output, the song stuck in my head is "Too Rude".