Keith Richards [antikvár]

Introduction "I don't think I'm anything special. Just a regular rock'n'roll myth? Yeah." (1992) Few musicians embody the spirit of rock'n'roll so completely as Keith Richards. Aside from his great musical contribution, his unkempt, debauched, wasted appearance is the supreme ideal to which to aspire for scores of leather clad rockers who have tried to follow in Keith's illustrious footsteps. He was there from the very beginning, as the Stones sought to make their first footholds in the closed, incestuous London R&B scene he was there when they scandalised authority by peeing on fiUing-station forecourts he was there when they dressed in drag to promote 'Have You Seen Your Mother'. And he was very much there when the authorities tried to 'break a butterfly on a wheel', as the famous Times editorial put it, and jailed the Glimmer Twins, Jagger and Richards, for alleged drugs offences. Many thought drugs would be his downfall. A self-confessed heroin user, he went through the card of available pharmaceuticals yet remained resolutely wedded to this mortal cod. Brian Jones and Mick Taylor departed, the former all too permanendy, yet the Stones' guitar department remained very much open for business. It was Keith who filled the gap by bringing close friend Ronnie Wood into the fold, a musical marriage so successful that the ex-Face has now clocked up more years as a Stone than his predecessors combined. Punk came and went, but Keith was stiU there, again inspiring the Hkes of Johnny Thunders and coundess others with his inimitable sartorial and musical style. In the Eighties, rumours of blood transfLisions and rifts with Jagger abounded. More certain was marriage to model Patti Hansen after the split with long-time girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. As the Stones seemed forever on the point of disintegration, Keith finally broke a long-time vow and did his own thing, while stressing that his commitment to the Stones as a going concern remained unwavering. And as Bill Wyman threatened to jump ship and become only the third ex-Stone, it was clear that as long as Jagger and Richards remained the band would roH along regardless. Now in the Nineties, with the Stones freshly signed to Virgin Records, Keith the human riff continues to power them to future glory. And the preponderance of Keef wannabes, from The Black Crowes to The Spin Doctors and beyond, underlines the fact that his love affair with the guitar - not his drug intake - will be Richards' lasting legacy. Mick Jagger may be the most quoted Stone but Mick is a polirician and what he has to say is frequently inconsequential or stunted by his unwillingness to become involved in controversy. Keith has never been a politician and when he speaks he keeps htde back. If aU you know of him is the much-imitated 'Keef rifii', prepare for a surprise I >1 1 ¦ i ( I '''' I i' . ( ¦ i ii'