Great Read!
Last night I finished a surprisingly excellent autobiography, Life by Keith Richards - the lead guitarist, principal songwriter and co-founder of the Rolling Stones.
I say "surprisingly excellent," because let's face it... when you hear the guy talk you can barely understand a frickin' word he says (as evidenced by the "interview" below). Heck, Johnny Depp based his character Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean off a character study of Richards - and Richards was such a good sport about it that he even made a cameo appearance in one of the movies.
Yes, years of drug abuse have seemingly taken their toll, but he can still think clearly and he can write very well - and yes, Richards wrote this book. The "voice" is unmistakably Keith Richards.
Funny, because I knew this memoir would be full of crazy stories of 40+ years of excess on the road with the original "bad boys" of rock and roll, and that was my main reason for buying it. In that respect, Richards did not disappoint - the stuff he's done and lived through... well, let's just say he shouldn't be alive.
But I must say I wasn't expecting to end up actually liking the guy, much less respecting him - but that's exactly how I felt at the end. He's a good guy. And he actually has some morals (believe it or not!). He's had his share of problems, but underneath it all he's a decent guy and good father.
And the more I read, the more I realized he is a musician par excellence. A great guitar player and an amazing songwriter - dare I say right up there with McCartney and Lennon. Hey, I don't say something like that lightly, but his songs have had the same kind of staying power.
I guess it just never occurred to me before, maybe because his public persona is that of "poster boy of rock-n-roll excess," but we are talking about the guy who wrote the unforgettable riffs to "Satisfaction," "Start Me Up," "Wild Horses," "Brown Sugar," "Gimme Shelter," "Tumbling Dice," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Beast of Burden," and hundreds of others.
And yes, Keith Richards wrote those songs. Jagger supplied the lyrics, but Richards wrote the music.
So I just had to chime in and share with you this excellent read. It is not "G"-rated by any means; if you are easily offended by naughty language and hedonism in general, don't open it up.
But who would expect anything different from the engine of the Rolling Stones?
A fake "Weird Al" Yankovic interview... but very funny.
I say "surprisingly excellent," because let's face it... when you hear the guy talk you can barely understand a frickin' word he says (as evidenced by the "interview" below). Heck, Johnny Depp based his character Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean off a character study of Richards - and Richards was such a good sport about it that he even made a cameo appearance in one of the movies.
Yes, years of drug abuse have seemingly taken their toll, but he can still think clearly and he can write very well - and yes, Richards wrote this book. The "voice" is unmistakably Keith Richards.
Funny, because I knew this memoir would be full of crazy stories of 40+ years of excess on the road with the original "bad boys" of rock and roll, and that was my main reason for buying it. In that respect, Richards did not disappoint - the stuff he's done and lived through... well, let's just say he shouldn't be alive.
But I must say I wasn't expecting to end up actually liking the guy, much less respecting him - but that's exactly how I felt at the end. He's a good guy. And he actually has some morals (believe it or not!). He's had his share of problems, but underneath it all he's a decent guy and good father.
And the more I read, the more I realized he is a musician par excellence. A great guitar player and an amazing songwriter - dare I say right up there with McCartney and Lennon. Hey, I don't say something like that lightly, but his songs have had the same kind of staying power.
I guess it just never occurred to me before, maybe because his public persona is that of "poster boy of rock-n-roll excess," but we are talking about the guy who wrote the unforgettable riffs to "Satisfaction," "Start Me Up," "Wild Horses," "Brown Sugar," "Gimme Shelter," "Tumbling Dice," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Beast of Burden," and hundreds of others.
And yes, Keith Richards wrote those songs. Jagger supplied the lyrics, but Richards wrote the music.
So I just had to chime in and share with you this excellent read. It is not "G"-rated by any means; if you are easily offended by naughty language and hedonism in general, don't open it up.
But who would expect anything different from the engine of the Rolling Stones?
A fake "Weird Al" Yankovic interview... but very funny.
