But didn't you know that the Stones had nearly cease to exist? Back in 1977,their backbone Keith Richards was about to be convicted in Toronto for smuggling a couple ounces of smack,and other band members like bass player Bill Wyman was muttering about leaving."Could this be the last time?" published one newspaper,but luckily for Keith,he was set free,but not so fast,he had to do a charity concert for the blind.
Keith Richards or "Keef" as many Stones fans called him was one of the founding members of the Rolling Stones-as they proclaim themselves the greatest rock n' roll band in the world.While their friends and contemporary the Beatles had broken up in 1970,the Rolling Stones got meaner and meaner and was playing under the fiery wings of "Bitch","Sympathy For The Devil" and "Honky Tonk Women" with the latter song having been hailed as one of the finest riffs by Richards along with their guitarist at the time Mick Taylor,who replaced Brian Jones in 1969.
Richards was born in Dartford,Kent on December 18,1943 and was already friends with Mick Jagger since their childhood.They later met a chap called Brian Jones who was then forming a band and eventually named it the Rolling Stones after one Muddy Waters song "Rollin' Stone Blues".And the rest as they say it,is history.Having started to get their own gig in 1962,the Stones were known for its longevity releasing new albums and writing new materials since then,though the band had started performing blues covers before starting to write their own material.But as I mentioned before,the Stones had their own ups and downs as the band nearly as I say cease to exist.Aside from the late seventies fiasco of Richards,there was an early eighties fallout between him and his songwriting partner/bandmate--lead singer Mick Jagger.There was a heavy vibe at the time that the Rolling Stones would disband after nearly twenty years of touring and recording as Richards and Jagger went their own separate ways and started making their own solo albums.Jagger and Richards eventually made up and the Stones continued to release new albums in the late eighties,the nineties and beyond.
Keith Richards alone wasn't spared by controversy and was still making headlines just as recently.In 2007,he claimed he snorted his father's ashes in which a few rock fans didn't took kindly.As a result,a spokesman from his management was forced to apologize in his behalf saying that Keith was only joking about snorting his dad's cremated remains.
Keith Richards' drug taking wasn't a secret,his was uniquely advanced that a few lesser mortals were prematurely extinguished,like Gram Parsons,for instance,who was a close friend and would often hang out with Richards' at his home in the early seventies before he died of a drug overdose a year later.Parsons,who became a member the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers,was a heavy doper like Keith himself.On the other hand,Richards who started off with the Stones in the early sixties with a cherubic face and then gradually,as drugs puts it,his cheek became hollow and as the Stones got meaner,was applying mascara and eye shadows with Jagger perhaps to maximize the band's appeal in the seventies.
With the main man's heavy doping,smoking and drinking,one would describe his face nowadays as to somewhat a rough painting on canvass.Other publications would describe the latter day Richards as the Stones' cadaverous guitarist.But a heavy doper he may be,he outlived them all,and he has never admitted having a problem with drugs--only with authorities.Rumor has it,that he never sleeps and that he couldn't remember the seventies,any of it.Well we always hear the words "If you can remember the sixties,then you were not there."Perhaps Richards had so many busts from the late sixties up to the next decade wherein authorities were less lenient to the so-called bad boys of rock.
Keith Richards,who was describe by fellow guitarist and contemporary Jeff Beck as the "guv'nor"(governor) of guitar riffs perhaps,he played the opening riff on "Start Me Up" with the first string missing.Discovered by accident,he is the only guitar player known to play the riff in absolute perfection using only five strings with the first one taken off.
(photo left:Anita Pallenberg)
Like other rock stars,Keith Richards has also entertained hordes of groupies along with Jagger.Groupies-girls whose prime goal was to have sex with their idols.He was also famous for stealing the girlfriend of his friend/bandmate Brian Jones.Anita Pallenberg,is a German model,she and the Stones had crossed paths and admitted to have been attracted to Jones coz he was the only one who ever talked to her when she first met the band.Brian Jones can even speak a little German,her native lingo.Jones and Pallenberg became lovers and were living together until Richards came in between them.Thus the rift between Jones and the Jagger-Richards axis took for the worst which led to the departure of Brian in early 1969.Brian Jones-who is the leader and founder of the Rolling Stones,died in July 3 of that year when he drowned in his home pool,he was only 27 years old.
Jones' former girlfriend,Anita Pallenberg,has set a home with Richards and has claimed of sleeping with all the members of the band.Rumored as a witch,she had a wild fling with Mick Jagger as well.It was alleged that actor James Fox who co-starred with both Jagger and Pallenberg in the film Performance was shocked to find them making love in the film's dressing room.Pallenberg was the girl who other people have described that "rolled from Stone to Stone".She became Keith's partner,as well as a partner in crime sharing with his own wicked ways.
Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg's romance slowly turned sour as Anita was flirting with other men even while she was still with Keith.Their union was finished when one of Anita's young lovers,a teenage boy by the name of Scott Cantrell shot himself in the head at the New York home she shared with Richards.
One says that theres no one could ever play good Chuck Berry than Richards himself. Berry,on the other hand,has continued to tour and mesmerize crowds even at the age of 85.And it wasn't on a few occasions that Keith and Berry had crossed paths.One occasion in which Richards was punched in the mouth by Chuck Berry and the former's involvement in the Berry tribute film would be one of the most heroic efforts in rock music history.
Some people might kid around asking when Keith Richards would ever stop performing.He'll probably be rocking until he's 150 or something.Rumor also has it that with his advance drug taking he might fell off and die onstage while performing.He once fell asleep while playing "Fool To Cry" and everybody thought "that was it"..but the man's still here.Like what was mentioned here before,he never admitted having problems with drugs--only with the authorities.He even claimed with his drug intake he never had a cold or flu in years.Though it certainly 'fried' him off.Several news had him recently quitting drinking and fighting to save his liver.
Rocking for five decades,the Rolling Stones doesn't have any signs that they ever wanna stop. Certainly,this won't be the last time we will ever hear from him.
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| Keith Richards,then and now |
(c) Keith Vernon Adagio
Wow! The 2 pics of Keith at the end really tell a story!It's really amazing that he is still alive. My favorite Stones song is "The Last Time" thanks in large part to the classic opening riff. Keith & Mick have had their share of squabbles through the press, but they endure. Not only is Keith the "human riff machine" but it has been said that he has an uncanny sense of timing. Looks sure are deceiving I guess. You're right, I think Keith will have to have his Telecaster ripped from his hands for him to give up playing.
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