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Description edit
The long-awaited autobiography of the guitarist, songwriter, singer and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Ladies and gentleman: Keith Richards. Keith Richard brings us the story of a life we have all longed to know more of, unfettered, fearless and true.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
With the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the songs that roused the world, and he lived the original rock and roll life. Now, at last, the man himself tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records, learning guitar and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
People edit
- Keith Richards: Focus of this autobiography. Richards is one of the founding members of the Rolling Stones, a guitarist, songwriter and singer.
- Ronnie: Add a description of this character.
- Mick Jagger: Fellow co-founder of the Rolling Stones.
- Ron Wood
- Doris
- Brian Jones
- Ronnie Wood
- Charlie Watts
- John Lee Hooker
- Patti
- Doris Dupree Richards: Keith's mother
- Robert Fraser
- Stu
- Freddie Sessler
- Gus
- Roy
- Anita Pallenberg: Italian-born actress, model and fashion designer. She was romantically involved with Richards from 1967 to 1979.
- Andrew
- Marlon Richards: Son Richards had with Anita Pallenberg.
- Steve
- Linda
- Emma
- Angela
- Marianne
- Anita
- Tony
- Patti Hansen
- Ernie
- Bobby Keys
- James
- Little Walter
- Fordyce
- Chuck Berry
- Tara
- Cyril Davies
- Michael
- Marlon
- Andrew Loog Oldham
- Bill Wyman
- Johnnie Johnson
- Steve Jordan
- Angela Richards: Daughter Richards had with Pallenberg. Originally named Dandelion.
- Marianne Faithfull
- Jimmy Reed
- Bo Diddley
- Bill Carter
- Gram Parsons
- Mick Taylor
- Ian Stewart
- Bianca Jagger
- Buddy Holly
- Jimmy Miller
Quotes edit
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“Not everything's designed for your taste and your taste alone.”
Keith Richards -
“I'm the riff master.”
Keith Richards -
“But if someone said, "You can play only one of your riffs ever again," I'd say, "OK, give 'Flash.'" I love "Satisfaction" dearly and everything, but those chords are pretty much a de rigueur course as far as songwriting goes.”
Keith Richards -
“People say, "Why don't you give it up?" I can't retire until I croak. I don't think they quite understand what I get out of this. I'm not doing it just for the money or for you. I'm doing it for me.”
Keith Richards -
“Sometimes I think songwriting is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible without bringing on a heart attack.”
Keith Richards -
“"Flash" was supposed to be about heroin, and I see the connotation, the reference to "Jack" -- but "Jumpin' Jack Flash" has nothing to do with heroin. The myths go deep, though. Whatever you write, somebody is going to interpret it in some other way, see codes buried in the lyrics. That's why you have conspiracy theories.”
Keith Richards -
“Mick doesn't want me to have any friends expect him. Maybe his exclusivity is bound up with his own siege mentality. Or maybe he thinks he's trying to protect me: "What does that asshole want from Keith?" But quite honestly, I can't put my finger on it.I love the man dearly; I'm still his mate. But he makes it very difficult to be his friend.”
Keith Richards -
“Mick and I may not be friends--too much wear and tear for that--but we're the closest of brothers, and that can't be severed. How can you describe a relationship that goes that far back? Best friends are best friends. But brothers fight.”
Keith Richards -
“I'm here to say something and to touch other people, sometimes in a cry of desperation: "Do you know this feeling?"”
Keith Richards -
“People really do want to touch each other, to the heart. That's why you have music.”
Keith Richards -
“It's really jazz-that's the big secret. Rock and roll ain't nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat.”
Keith Richards -
“Give Mick Jagger a stage the size of a table and he could work it better than anybody, expect maybe James Brown.”
Keith Richards -
“The power of the teenage females of thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, when they're in a gang, has never left me. They nearly killed me. I was never more in fear for my life than I was from teenage girl.”
Keith Richards -
“The opening line of my letter from Tony Blair was "Dear Keith, you've always been one of my heroes ..." England's in the hands of somebody who I'm a hero of? It's frightening!”
Keith Richards
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Friendship is a diminishing of distance between people. That’s what friendship is, and to me it’s one of the most important things in the world.
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The silence is your canvas, that’s your frame, that’s what you work on; don’t try and deafen it out.
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What is it that makes you want to write songs? In a way you want to stretch yourself into other people’s hearts. You want to plant yourself there, or at least get a resonance, where other people become a bigger instrument than the one you’re playing. It becomes almost an obsession to touch other people. To write a song that is remembered and taken to heart is a connection, a touching of bases. A thread that runs through all of us. A stab to the heart. Sometimes I think songwriting is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible without bringing on a heart attack.
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But if you want to get to the top, you’ve got to start at the bottom, same with anything. Same with running a whorehouse.
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People say, “Why don’t you give it up?” I can’t retire until I croak. I don’t think they quite understand what I get out of this. I’m not doing it just for the money or for you. I’m doing it for me.
Highlighted by 109 Kindle customers -
Preaching is tax free. Very little to do with God, a lot to do with money.
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There’s a certain moment when you realize that you’ve actually just left the planet for a bit and that nobody can touch you. You’re elevated because you’re with a bunch of guys that want to do the same thing as you. And when it works, baby, you’ve got wings. You know you’ve been somewhere most people will never get; you’ve been to a special place. And then you want to keep going back and keep landing again, and when you land you get busted. But you always want to go back there. It’s flying without a license.
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For many years I slept, on average, twice a week. This means that I have been conscious for at least three lifetimes.
Highlighted by 89 Kindle customers -
I firmly believe if you want to be a guitar player, you better start on acoustic and then graduate to electric. Don’t think you’re going to be Townshend or Hendrix just because you can go wee wee wah wah, and all the electronic tricks of the trade. First you’ve got to know that fucker. And you go to bed with it. If there’s no babe around, you sleep with it. She’s just the right shape.
Highlighted by 79 Kindle customers -
There’s something beautifully friendly and elevating about a bunch of guys playing music together. This wonderful little world that is unassailable. It’s really teamwork, one guy supporting the others, and it’s all for one purpose, and there’s no flies in the ointment, for a while. And nobody conducting, it’s all up to you. It’s really jazz—that’s the big secret. Rock and roll ain’t nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat.
Highlighted by 52 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Dartford
- London
- Dartford, Kent, England: Where Richards was born.
- New York
- America
- England
- Paris
- Chicago
- Jamaica
- Redlands
- France
- Memphis
- Nellcôte
- Texas
- Toronto
- United States
- Long Island
- Connecticut
- Switzerland
- Sidcup
- Steer Town
- Marrakech
- Rotterdam
- Munich
- Uk
- California
- Richmond
- Islington
- Dallas
- Arkansas
- Bexley
- Canada
- Germany
- Barbados
- Usa
- Washington
- Walthamstow
- Europe
- Australia
- Mississippi
- Babylon
- Valencia
- Mexico
- Ealing
- Altamont
- South Africa
- New Jersey
- Rome
- Poland
- Chastilian Road
- Fiji
Organizations edit
- Rolling Stones: A rock band.
First Sentence edit
Why did we stop at the 4-Dice Restaurant in Forydce, Arkansas, for lunch on Independence Day weekend?
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Time Magazine's Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2010. (authoritative list)
This is book 17 of 146 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by To Kill a Mockingbird, and followed by Pride and Prejudice.
This book is in Rainy Day Books (Staff Picks for 2010). (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Keith Richards (Author)
- James Fox (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: October 26, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-12856-8
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: October 26, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-12856-8
Page Count: 576
Awards edit
- Nobbie Award (2010)
- Duff Cooper Prize (Finalist, 2010)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 790
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
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