Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
Life by Keith Richards
All the expected characters and tales are to be found in the memoir of Keith Richards, the lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones: Anita Pallenberg and Ian Stewart; Allen Klein and Andrew Loog Oldham; Gram Parsons and Brian Jones (who seems a nastier piece of work with every retelling of his life story); the night Charlie thumped Mick; the day Keith fell out of a tree; the drugs, the guns, the knives, the drugs, the drugs. What's unexpected, but maybe shouldn't be, is the sheer joy Richards finds in doing a job well — in his case, creating ageless rock 'n' roll. "I need a love to keep me happy," goes what is maybe Richards' greatest song. The music was the love.