Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters (Musicians in Their Own Words)
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Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters (Musicians in Their Own Words) Details
From 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 In a previously unpublished interview with Ira Robbins from 1988, Richards discusses his legendary drug habit, noting that "If they'd have left me alone, you wouldn't have half these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. Read more From Booklist For those who have read Rolling Stones’ guitarist Richards’ massive autobiography, Life (2010), and are still eager for more, here is a compilation of candid interviews spanning the years 1964–2011. That chronology offers interesting insight into the musician who went from sneaking off to the bathroom at art school for guitar practice to the superstar who has toured all over the world. His love of music is always prime (“I love my kids most of the time, and I love my wife most of the time. Music I love all the time”), the reason the group wrested creative control from their record company and still insist on recording and practicing while all in the same room. All of the infamous incidents are covered—Brian Jones’ drowning death, Richards’ 1967 drug bust and subsequent jail time, the violence at Altamont, and Richards’ public feuding with Mick Jagger, most notably after Mick’s knighthood. But what also comes through is his still-burning admiration for the Chicago blues musicians who were his greatest influence and his wariness of fame. Great reading for Stones’ fans. --Joanne Wilkinson Read more Review "All of the infamous incidents are covered—Brian Jones’ drowning death, Richards’ 1967 drug bust and subsequent jail time, the violence at Altamont, and Richards’ public feuding with Mick Jagger, most notably after Mick's knighthood. But what also comes through is his still-burning admiration for the Chicago blues musicians who were his greatest influence and his wariness of fame. Great reading for Stones’ fans."—Booklist“[An] entertaining look at one of rock's most iconic figures.”—Publishers Weekly“Sean Egan has done a terrific job of bringing together some of the best ‘classic’ Keith Richards interviews with little-known, hard-to-find gems that reveal more about the ‘soul of the Stones.’ As an interviewee, Keith Richards has always been the most entertaining Rolling Stone to read—at once straightforward, informative, and eloquent—and this collection is a great way to revisit fifty years of Stoneage.” —Ian McPherson, timeisonourside.com Read more About the Author Sean Egan is an author and journalist who has interviewed members of the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Sex Pistols, the Velvet Underground, the Who, and many others. He is the author of The Guys Who Wrote 'Em, Jimi Hendrix and the Making of Are You Experienced, The Mammoth Book of the Beatles, and The Rough Guide to the Rolling Stones. Read more
Reviews
This is a wonderful book, which collects a career-spanning group of previously published interviews with Keith. At best you will have read a very small number of the articles previously, as many were published in magazines with small circulations, and of course the interviews go back as far as 50 years ago. The interviews are almost all substantive and interesting, Even if you've read "Life", Keith's autobiography, this book will still be interesting to you, as more than a few of things he says in his memoir are at odds with things he said years before in these interviews. It is also interesting to see that there are things Keith has been unusually consistent about over the years, for example mentioning repeatedly the importance he attaches to practicing regularly on an acoustic, rather than electric guitar, because in his view playing an electric guitar permits a player to use flashiness to cover up certain inadequacies I should add that the Musicians on Musicians series - of which this book is a part - is in general terrific.
