There are many reasons why I would want to read “Life,” the new memoir by Keith Richards. I’ve been Rolling Stones fan since I was a kid back in Cincinnati and I first heard “Satisfaction” and “Last Time” on WSAI-AM, our local top-forty station. As a guitar player and songwriter, Keith is probably my number one musical inspiration. And of course the news reports and Stones press releases about his drug-fueled exploits have always been fascinating.
I actually made it through to the end of this 547-page tome. This is unusual because with the exception of the great Russian novelists, classics, and a few others, I have no patience to wade through 547 pages of anything. Most often I get a novel and read the first fifty pages to get a feeling for how the author writes, and then I’m bored. So the first thing I can say about “Life” is that it is surprisingly well written. It’s hard to say how much of this is attributable to James Fox, who does not receive credit on the cover, only on the title page. My guess is that the writing is Keith’s. He deftly moves back and forth in time, throws in asides, adds colorful commentary, and glides through his story with a combination of detail and big strokes that reflects how he approaches his music.
The guitar and songwriting info is useful for any musician. The drug advice and escapades become tedious, and I have to admit that after 1980 or so I started to scan paragraphs and skip the redundant drug discussions.
But for me the most interesting theme of “Life” is that it is about a creative and business partnership: Keith and Mick Jagger, the Glimmer Twins. This is the theme that anyone can relate to. Most everyone has a job with co-workers, or is married, or is involved in some type of long-term partnership. Keith and Mick (and of course Charlie) have hung together for nearly fifty years, which is an extraordinary record. According to Keith, the relationship between himself and Mick was solid until the beginning of the 1980s, when Mick became “unbearable.” Memoirs tend to be self-serving, and from “Life” one should not expect anything different, but I had hoped for more insight from Keith. For their estrangement he basically lays the blame on Mick, whom he accuses of Lead Vocalist Syndrome (LVS) and of wanting to jump on every passing musical trend, such as disco. Mick is shallow; Mick is endlessly calculating.
Keith could have seen Mick’s side. As the 1980s approached the Stones were a multimillion-dollar global enterprise and Mick was at his performing peak. Yet Mick’s songwriting and musical partner was mired in drug addiction and endless bouts with the law. It is reasonable to think that Mick would not know from one day to the next whether wild & crazy Keef would get busted and be incarcerated, or simply drop dead. And for years Keith had had trouble getting visas for tours. Would it not be unreasonable for Mick to hedge his bets and develop his solo career, even if it seemed to be nothing more than a reproduction Stones? Keith bitterly accuses Mick of disloyalty, but an argument could be made that Mick was as loyal as any human could be expected to be.
Mick is not the only one who can be calculating. I was interested to see that in the endless revelations of nearly every aspect of Keith’s private life, he did not discuss his famous teeth. There are photos from the seventies showing Keith and his rotten teeth, and then suddenly he’s got brand-new, white, shiny choppers. I guess that being a heroin addict is cool; wearing dentures at the age of forty is not so cool.
As for music, there was a time in the early 1960s when the Stones were at the very cutting edge of pop music. They bridged black and white musical universes. They pushed the envelope and blazed new trails, both culturally and musically. With the advent of the hated disco musical form in the mid-1970s (which also helped launch punk rock), the Stones began to lose their spot on at the edge. They slowly became traditionalists. To Keith this was fine. Mick saw it differently. He wanted the Stones to remain identified with the avant-garde. Mick was responsible for “Miss You,” the disco-influenced song from “Some Girls” that was a huge hit and helped maintain the Stones’ position as cultural nomads. The restless Mick is always shopping around for new sounds and new styles. To Keith this is evidence of a shallow artistic ethic, but perhaps it’s a continuation of what the Stones were always about.
“Life” is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a man who has against all odds remained a towering musical talent. Luckily, most readers won’t be able to directly relate to the chaotic lifestyle and drug culture (sometimes it seems as though Keef and his entourage are living on Mars), but his journey both as a creative individual and as a collaborator with his partners speaks to us all.
"Life" by Keith Richards