Entertainment For Lively Minds
Keith Richards, please retire...
A recent viewing of "Shine A Light", where Keefs every contribution is cranked in the sound mix every time the camera focuses on him, forces one to arrive at the conclusion that the old feller is a spent force.
While accepting that Keith has always been shambolic presence live (to say the least) the startling metallic squalls leaping from the ancient fingers these days are just appalling.
While Mick is still putting out (In an ex-sportsmaster "can you believe I'm nearly 70?" sort of way,) and Charlie n, Ronnie can deliver as well as ever (well most nights with Ronnie,) Keith is starting to resemble those ancient blues men he so admires, trotted out more for their historical value than for the quality of their art.
I dunno, maybe that tree did more damage than we thought.
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light shone on keef
indeed
he struts , he poses , he cat walks but he don't play much guitar
woody is clearly the man now
keef was a pretender on that show - suspect the arthritis has kicked in
tony
I've made a study of this recently
I know we covered this before in great detail but I've been revisiting it recently after listening to a load of Stones bootlegs made in the years 1971-74. Back then they still sounded splendid. Then something happened. Mick Taylor left - yes, the one with no image, the one with nothing to say - and from that day on they have never been quite on the money. Mick Taylor knitted them together as a live band. I'll go further. He *invented* them as a live band. Listen to him do just that in Brussels in 1973.
Marvellous...
Taylor at his best, and Charlie Watts... bloody brilliant drummer. Best hi-hat in the business.
i agree completely.
it's no coincidence that the purple patch of albums - Let it Bleed thru to Exile all have Mick Taylor on them. The Brussels Affair bootleg is a wonderful document of this, and Jaggers introductions of songs are hilarious too
"Keefs gonna sing fow yaw...this one is called 'appaioi"
As for Charlie...well yeah - he's good tonight, innee. Dammit, he's been good every night.
Mick Taylor
Only on 2 tracks of Let It Bleed - Country Honk and Live With Me. I see Beggars Banquet as part of purple patch also, which is of course pre-Mick Taylor. So not sure we can say he was the key factor. Mick also played on It's Only Rock 'N' Roll, his last Stones album and not one of their best, though it has it's moments. So there was also some decline with Taylor still in the band. But I guess live is a different matter and maybe that's where the real loss was felt if still at top of game live before he went. Meanwhile Keith's smack habit really affected things more and more. Never the same again after that of course.
yup - i don't have my copy of LIB
here, but i recall, alright, that it was Taylors 'intro' album and he's not on every song. True too - Beggars is worthy of inclusion in the purple patch.
I don't think Keiths smack habit affected them that much - he could still play quite well when messed up - a hell of a lot better than he does now when he's drunk...
the post was made on the other Stones thread back in April, and so this point isn't really my own, but I think Taylor, had he been treated as an equal in the band, would have caused them to raise their game. He wasn't treated as this, he was being sidelined, i'd suspect, during IORR and so this had the effect of
a) causing him to want to leave the band
b) Keith going back into his comfort zone where he wasn't challenged in the same way
They might be two of the reasons that IORR isn't one of their best!
Keith gone
My understanding is recording sessions for Exile were seriously disrupted by drug issue so much that seemed it would never get finished. A great album nevertheless. I am guessing this problem must have only got gradually worse in following years. I could be wrong. I suggest his performance on stage may have been a tad marred by him not being awake for some of it. Once he got clean other band troubles arose of course.
y'could well be right Sven
accounts I've read have veered towards the idea that it's more Keiths album, as Mick was too busy with Bianca etc. The sound being the vocals a lot lower down in the mix and the decadent air the pervades the record being almost solely down to the Riffmeister and the haze that enveloped him!
I've not listened to the Stones much past that. I have Some Girls and some of the recent albums, but the conventional wisdom always seemed to be that the post Exile albums needed a 'Caution - may contain traces of old rope' sticker!
MICK TAYLOR
Couldn't agree more, David. I think when Taylor left and they got Ron in, Keith knew the new lad wasn't as good so decided, instead of simply holding down those great riffs he'd do more lead playing. Big mistake - he's simply not a lead player, but the sad thing is: he thinks he is - Exhibit 1: Shine A Light. The Prosecution rests.
Old bluesmen
"Keith is starting to resemble those ancient blues men he so admires, trotted out more for their historical value than for the quality of their art."
Just out of interest who are you referring to here? Mississippi John Hurt was the archetypal rediscovered bluesman having recorded in the 20s and then completeley disappeared until the 60s, but when he returned all his finger picking skills were very definitely still intact. Rev Gary Davis was simililalry given a new lease of life in the north during the folk revival but he was arguably even better during the 60s than he was during the 40s and early 50s.
If you've heard Blues Singer by Buddy Guy released a couple of years ago then its clear he's still got it going on and check out all the videos of 82-year-old BB King from his many live shows this year on Youtube if you need any convincing of his continued brillliance, both vocally and on the guitar.
In fact I think the blues is really the only genre of music where the performers continually and consistently get better with age.
As for Keef, if he still enjoys doing it and people will still pay to watch him then I say good on him, I hope he plays til he drops - I know I would.
I've been listening to Buddy Guy for...
..Donkeys years, and while I think he's still playing pretty well, his golden days are well and truly over.
"In fact I think the blues is really the only genre of music where the performers continually and consistently get better with age."
I certainly hope so Niks, it's how I make my living.
Having said that, I've witnessed too many bluesmen pushed onto stages when they were at deaths door to fully agree with you.(R.L. Burnside for one, T Model Ford another.) No-one who saw the last few years of John Lee Hooker would say that he was "continually and consistently better".
As for B.B., I'm glad he's still around, but I think you're over-egging the briliance of it, in some ways he's become the Pavarrotti of the blues.
People would pay to see Keef even if he was just slobbering onto his 335, that's hardly the point, is it?
Mick Taylor
is the reason why 'Get Your Ya Yas Out'is my favourite Stones album - he is astonishing on Stray Cat Blues in particular
Years ago...
I went to see Mick Taylor at The Garage shortly after the Stones had played Wembley Stadium. The contrast could not have been more marked. Taylor - musical nous intact, humble, shy. Stones - sounded like a tribute band, aloof, remote. I met him after the show and it was immediately apparent why he didn't last the course... to be in the Stones requires a steely temperament and confidence to burn, but he came across to me as simply a shy man who loves to play guitar.
Let's face it..
..Mick T was way too good for the Stones, Keith has proved he's far happier with the cheeky-chappie clone they settled for.
Keef can't even be arsed singing backing vocals these days.
Out of his head
Later on may have been a different story, but Richards famously claimed that while he was a junkie he could still make "Exile on Main Street" and beat Mick Jagger at tennis. Which must have been very galling for the one with the child-bearing lips.
My favourite thing about "Shine A Light", seen at the cinema, was seeing Keith's craggy face and hands on an enormous scale. It was like a geological study.
Then again....
....his mate Ronnie Wood reckons he can return John McEnroe's serve, which I find hard to believe.
My wife..
..is a MASSIVE Stones fan, and she sat with her face covered like it was HORROR FILM for most of its length.
Keef
has turned into that roadie in waynes world. Del preston? Same guy as in withnail?
Del Paxton...
...was the jazzer in 'That Thing You Do'
Ralph Brown=Danny the dealer.
.."It is a camberwell carrot..etc"