Life
Keith Richards
Life
Rolling Stone Keith Richard tells the story of his life. Memories include: Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records as a child in post-war Kent. Learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones' first fame and success as a bad-boy band. The notorious Redlands drug bust and subsequent series of confrontations with a nervous establishment that led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in 'Jumping Jack Flash' and 'Street Fighting Man' and 'Honky Tonk Women'. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the US, 'Exile on Main Street' and 'Some Girls'. Ever increasing fame, isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Mick Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Solo albums and performances with his band the Xpensive Winos. Marriage, family and the road that goes on for ever.
3.4 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Biography, Music, Stage & Screen |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
608 |
| RRP |
£20.00 |
| Date of Publication |
October 2010 |
| ISBN |
978-0297854395 |
| Publisher |
Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
| |
Rolling Stone Keith Richard tells the story of his life. Memories include: Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records as a child in post-war Kent. Learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones' first fame and success as a bad-boy band. The notorious Redlands drug bust and subsequent series of confrontations with a nervous establishment that led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in 'Jumping Jack Flash' and 'Street Fighting Man' and 'Honky Tonk Women'. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the US, 'Exile on Main Street' and 'Some Girls'. Ever increasing fame, isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Mick Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Solo albums and performances with his band the Xpensive Winos. Marriage, family and the road that goes on for ever.
John Crace's Digested Read — The Guardian
Reviews
The New York Times
Michiko Kakutani
“Electrifying… By turns earnest and wicked, sweet and sarcastic and unsparing, Mr. Richards writes with uncommon candor and immediacy… [His] prose is like his guitar playing: intense, elemental, utterly distinctive and achingly, emotionally direct.”
03/11/2010
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The Los Angeles Times
David L. Ulin
“...we get the sense that he's being candid, saying what he feels because he has no reason to hide. Nowhere is that more compelling than when Richards writes about music, which he does with insight and grace. Here we have the brilliant stuff, worth the price of admission.”
03/11/2010
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The Observer
Sean O'Hagan
“Life has the macho swagger that rock'n'roll in general – and the Rolling Stones in particular – once possessed. This is both its strength and its weakness. It often reads like a historical document of another time: a lost world in which women were always "chicks" or "bitches", an inflatable giant penis was a non-ironic stage prop, and a bottle of Jack Daniel's was the de rigueur rock'n'roll accessory.”
03/11/2010
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The Sunday Times
Lynn Barber
“All those X Factor wannabes should read this book and see how incredibly hard Keith and Mick Jagger worked for their success... immensely readable”
03/11/2010
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The Evening Standard
Pete Clark
“The first half of Life is the most interesting because it gives an essence of the man in his formative stages. The career of the fully fledged Stones has been so thoroughly exposed to the limelight that there are no hidden corners to explore. Keith comes across as a thoroughly decent man, with just a hint of the devil.”
03/11/2010
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