Life [L0090]

2011 - PB in nice condtion except for foxing on text edges. The long-awaited autobiography of the guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Ladies and gentlemen: Keith Richards. 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 forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones's first fame and the notorious drug busts that led to his enduring image as an outlaw folk hero. Creating immortal riffs like the ones in "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Honky Tonk Women." His relationship with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the U.S., isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Marriage, family, solo albums and Xpensive Winos, and the road that goes on forever. With his trademark disarming honesty, Keith Richard brings us the story of a life we have all longed to know more of, unfettered, fearless, and true.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "The heart of this book is not the founding of, or his history with, The Rolling Stones. The heart of the book, and his life, is his love of music, and the joy it brings to him. It is amazing to see how many different musicians have influenced him and just how many he has played with over the years. It literally is a Who's Who of music, from Howlin' Wolf to Willie Nelson. It is also about family, friends, some frank discussions on drugs, and life in general. My advice is to get a dictionary of British slang to aid your understanding of the text"; "His insight into his guitar technique is fascinating. Richards explains that none of his blues heroes were "playing straight chords. There's a throw-in, a flick-back... It's an amalgamation, a mangling and a dangling, and a tangling thing. His discovery of open tunings revolutionized his playing and the Stones' sound. His relationship with Mick Jagger gets substantial coverage. Richards doesn't hold back: He describes their creative chemistry with surprising tenderness."; "It's really a shame that internet memes have turned Keith Richards into a caricature instead of portraying him for what he is - a hard-working, genius of a man fully dedicated to the highest standard of music he can achieve. Written with the assistance of James Fox, this is an in-depth account starting from Keith's boyhood and his maternal grandfather's musical influence on him, through the rise of The Rolling Stones band, through marriage, children, drug use, and always through the steadying, obsessive influence that music had on him."