Just started listening to it as it people seem to like it. Only listened to the first bit so far, about him getting arrested with a boat load of drugs in the south in '75. Good story but…
Johnny Depp is reading it and he sucks at it…
I had no idea the Rolling Stones were considered so counter culture at the time.
Just started listening to it as it people seem to like it. Only listened to the first bit so far, about him getting arrested with a boat load of drugs in the south in '75. Good story but…
Johnny Depp is reading it and he sucks at it…
I had no idea the Rolling Stones were considered so counter culture at the time.
The Stones? they were the bad boys back then, at least until the Pistols came along and redefined “bad”…
I read it a few years ago. My issue was - How does someone who spent most of his adult life high on something, have such good recollection of all those events?
I read it a few years ago. My issue was - How does someone who spent most of his adult life high on something, have such good recollection of all those events?
I just started it but the first story must have taken place about 40 years from his recounting it. I know i can’t really remember much of anything from that long ago. Sometimes it kind of disturbs me that I have very few memories from even 20 years ago.
But like everything I’m sure there is a lot of variability in how well different people remember things, and there’s always the phenomenon that a story gets better with each telling 
I read it a few years ago. My issue was - How does someone who spent most of his adult life high on something, have such good recollection of all those events?
It’s baked in?
I’ve met Keith Richards twice
The first time, I didn’t even realize it was him
When we were kids on the Mean Streets of Haddonfield back in the 70s, while riding our bikes around, we would often stop at 7-Eleven. there was one right where Haddonfield and Cherry Hill met. One day, while sitting on the curb, sipping root beer Slurpees and flipping through MAD Magazine, while our collective pile of Schwinn StingRays took up the front half of two parking spaces, this crazy looking glittery hobo zombie came wandering up. He clearly wasn’t used to walking outside, even with his aviator sunglasses on. The sunlight seemed to weigh on him, like a stiff wind pushing him backwards . He walked past us, dodging our bikes, and in his best Keef voice, he said “Afternoon boys” and with a hoarse chuckle he went in. A few minutes later he came back out, empty handed, made a quick call on the pay phone , then began calmly pacing, clearly waiting for someone. We were kinda freaked out by this, thinking a robbery might be going down soon, so we finished our drinks, untangled the ape-hangers of our StingRays and got out of there
It was only a few years ago, that I heard the whole story
See, this was when Keith was getting off heroin and renting a house in Cherry Hill to dry out
Apparently, Keith had come to 7-Eleven to get some smokes, but only had a $100 bill and no ID, so the cashier wouldn’t break it for him. Mick came by, they got the smokes, then went to a nearby bar for the afternoon
Yes, because seeing Keith Richards - in real life - scared the shit out of me, I missed meeting Mick Jagger as well by 5 minutes
The second time, was many years later. I can even remember the exact date - July 13, 1985
I worked backstage at Live Aid by getting a pass from the promoter because they where short on people , and catering on Saturday … basically, working the food line
Saturday morning, while I was lost someplace backstage at JFK Stadium, and just using my sharky nose to find the scent of *anything *cooking and man my assigned station, I heard that same gravelly but playful voice ask “You have a smoke, mate?” I happened to have a pack of Camels on me, and a Zippo from the yacht club I worked when was exiled in Florida. I lit it for him, he said thanks and strolled along on his merry way
I didn’t see Ronnie Wood or Bob Dylan, though
Also that day:
I made a grilled chicken sandwich for Madonna
I told Jim Kerr his shirt was on backwards; he didn’t care
I helped deliver Jimmy Page’s bar to his trailer - yes, enough for an* entire* bar, for a visit lasting 6 hours; his nickname was “The Toad”
I had no idea the Rolling Stones were considered so counter culture at the time.
Reminds me of a clip I saw last week, still makes me laugh. Bowie nails it.
I read the bio a few years ago. It’s amazing that Richards is still alive.
I was listening to this episode of NPRs “Sound Opinions” over the weekend
http://www.soundopinions.org/show/644
Jim and Greg offer up a classic album dissection for Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones, a recording that’s still shrouded in mystique over 45 years later. Jim says that even after loving this album for decades,“he has yet to plumb the surfaceâ€of the double album. He adds, that the genre-blurring album reflects“the American music canon, the weirder things in Grandma’s attic.â€
Exile on Main St. is the band’s 10th studio album. In many ways, its dark, murky sound makes it a bit of an outlier in their extensive catalog. That often imitated sound was a product of being recorded in the basement of Keith Richards’s villa in France. Jim and Greg explore the recording process, the sound and the influence on what Greg calls“The Post-Exile generationsâ€from the New York Dolls to the White Stripes.
I had no idea the Rolling Stones were considered so counter culture at the time.
Me neither. I was born in early 60s so more a child of late 70s and Stones were pretty normal by then. I learned how counter cultural they were during late 60s watching Crossfire Hurricane on Netflix. That was interesting, but I didn’t really enjoy watching it, and I thought Keith was a jerk.
I also watched Keith Richards, Under the Influence on Netflix. I liked Keith in this one which is pretty recent documentary and seemed to think he had become a charming old man. I liked the way he laughed at everything.
Awesome stories. Thanks for sharing. Visiting the 7-Eleven was a big thing for me about a half hour south of you in Jersey in the 70s as well. Most of what I recall about many movies of the era is colored by my recollection of Mad Magazine spoofs. In particular the Walking Tall movies, which seem to be on TV a lot lately. When I see them I watch a bit and think, “no, nothing like the book.”
What was your impression of Madonna?
(Yes I am embarrassed that that is the one question I ask of you after that story.)
Awesome stories. Thanks for sharing. Visiting the 7-Eleven was a big thing for me about a half hour south of you in Jersey in the 70s as well. Most of what I recall about many movies of the era is colored by my recollection of Mad Magazine spoofs. In particular the Walking Tall movies, which seem to be on TV a lot lately. When I see them I watch a bit and think, “no, nothing like the book.”
We recently went to see the new Murder on the Orient Express, which I only remembered from the original being in the same issue as Godfather Part II
What was your impression of Madonna?
(Yes I am embarrassed that that is the one question I ask of you after that story.)
She wasn’t a diva yet, and was pretty cool … I remember she smelled nice, even after working out like that
RandMart - those were a couple of great stories…
I read the book when it came out; great memories going all the way to his time in, what were they called - SeaCadets? Singular personality and no mistake, one of the great tunesmiths of all time. Stretches of the book highlight a nasty self-centered, narcissist, though, and it was all could do to remember that: 1.he’s Keith Richards and 2.things were different then. Rock stars ruled the earth and no one was more above it all than Keith. And I agree, it’s hard to believe he survived everything he’s done to his body…
I’m planning on sticking with it for the stories but Depp’s reading is really hard to take, it’s just so flat. Makes you realize that there’s a talent to reading an audiobook just like anything else.
Great stories.
My takeaway from reading the book when it came out was that he was bluntly honest about himself and made no apologies for the things he did and how he treated people. I’ve never played guitar but I did like how he got into some of the technical aspects of playing and songwriting.
My favorite story though is how he came up with “Happy” (one of my all-time favorite Stones songs) in a matter of about four hours while on a multi-day binge, writing and recording it with whoever happened to be in the studio that day and none of the other Stones present. Another one is when recording “Live With Me” (another great song), he and Bill Wyman got into an argument over the opening bass riff and Wyman left in a huff, so Keith recorded it himself and also did the entire bass track on the final version that made it to the album.
I’m planning on sticking with it for the stories but Depp’s reading is really hard to take, it’s just so flat. Makes you realize that there’s a talent to reading an audiobook just like anything else.
Depp’s talent is questionable … from what I’ve heard, dude doesn’t even learn lines anymore; he’s fed them through an earpiece
I think the audiobook was recorded while Depp was still on the upside of Jack Sparrow , which was more or less based on Keith Richards … who even ended up as Jack Sparrow’s dad in the 3rd film
Interesting that Depp’s biggest performances have been inspired by two of the most legendary druggies in modern history
I’m planning on sticking with it for the stories but Depp’s reading is really hard to take, it’s just so flat. Makes you realize that there’s a talent to reading an audiobook just like anything else.
Depp’s talent is questionable … from what I’ve heard, dude doesn’t even learn lines anymore; he’s fed them through an earpiece
I think the audiobook was recorded while Depp was still on the upside of Jack Sparrow , which was more or less based on Keith Richards … who even ended up as Jack Sparrow’s dad in the 3rd film
Interesting that Depp’s biggest performances have been inspired by two of the most legendary druggies in modern history
There’s two readers listed so I’m hoping they just switch to the other one at some point. Depp really is awful. Other than doing a good British accent, which I have no idea if he is doing the appropriate ones for the region that’s being referenced, I don’t think he got this gig on talent. I suspect it was because he’s friends with Richards.
I’m planning on sticking with it for the stories but Depp’s reading is really hard to take, it’s just so flat. Makes you realize that there’s a talent to reading an audiobook just like anything else.
I listened to the audio a few years back and was not put off by Depp as much as you apparently were. Flat would be the opposite of my description, at least as I can recall. He was clearly trying to do an impression of Keef but didn’t quite pull it off. If I also remember correctly, he only read a few chapters, the rest being by someone much better, with Richards reading two or three.
I’m planning on sticking with it for the stories but Depp’s reading is really hard to take, it’s just so flat. Makes you realize that there’s a talent to reading an audiobook just like anything else.
I listened to the audio a few years back and was not put off by Depp as much as you apparently were. Flat would be the opposite of my description, at least as I can recall. He was clearly trying to do an impression of Keef but didn’t quite pull it off. If I also remember correctly, he only read a few chapters, the rest being by someone much better, with Richards reading two or three.
I’m unfortunately a snob about this sort of stuff, when I know it can be done better it grates on me. Result is I find a lot of mediocre artistic efforts not enjoyable. I really wish I could just enjoy a wider range of books, movies, etc.
I read the bio a few years ago. It’s amazing that Richards is still alive.
the two things i’ve heard about keef in this respect, over the years, are:
his primary gift wasn’t necessarily that he could do more drugs than everyone else, per se. it’s that he could get messed up, and still perform. other guys would get too bent to play, but no matter what kind of shape he was in, you strap on keith’s guitar and point him to the stage, and he’ll remember his chords and knock out a set. ditto when all the others are hungover and sleeping in, he’s at the studio on time to record. apparently he had one of the more remarkable work ethics in rock, in the earlier days.
his big rule about drugs was that he always did really great gear. never scrimp on quality. find the very best dealer in town and pay a premium for his very best gear. there’s probably some wisdom to that, too.
Interesting that Depp’s biggest performances have been inspired by two of the most legendary druggies in modern history
Chocolate lovers beg to differ.
