Keith Richards on Keith Richards
Interviews and Encounters
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- £7.49
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- £7.49
Publisher Description
The iconic life and career of the famed guitarist of the Rolling Stones is detailed in this compilation of interviews that spans the last 50 years. Featuring articles from GQ, Melody Maker, and Rolling Stone, as well as interviews that have never previously appeared in print, it charts Keith Richards’s journey from gauche, young pretender and swaggering epitome of the zeitgeist to beloved elder statesman of rock. Initially overshadowed by band mates Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, Richards gained popularity as half of the second-most important songwriting team of the 1960s, and in 1967 the drug bust at his house and his subsequent trial and imprisonment made him a household name. His interviews match his outlaw image: free of banality and euphemism, they revel in frank stories of drugs and debauchery. Yet they also reveal an unexpectedly warm, unpretentious, articulate, and honest man. This collection amply illustrates the magic and charm of Keith Richards.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rock music writer Sean Egan (The Rough Guide to the Rolling Stones, The Mammoth Book of the Beatles, etc) dug through countless stacks of periodicals to select the fifteen articles (primarily interviews) that make up this slim but entertaining look at one of rock's most iconic figures. Offering little more than a paragraph introduction to each entry, Egan nevertheless does an admirable job as a curator the collection spans other five decades and pieces vary in length. Even readers who consider themselves well-versed on Richards will find new material here. In a previously unpublished interview with Ira Robbins from 1988, Richards discusses his legendary drug habit, noting that "If they'd have left me alone, you wouldn't have half these freaks thinking that's the way you play guitar, by taking that crap." Also included is the full, unexpurgated version of Richards's epic Rolling Stone interview from 1971 which "served to confirm that he was now a counter-culture icon." Remarkably honest, Richards comes across as an affable, humble subject quick to give credit to his band mates for songs like "Paint it Black" as well as the performers who inspired him decades ago.
