So, this song came up on my itunes shuffle on the way home from work yesterday, and after listening to it on repeat several times to drown out the commotion of the packed subway station, I decided that another Keith Richards Appreciation post was in order.
The above is from Keith’s tour with his band The X-Pensive Winos, sometime in the 90s. (The original song is “Winsome” by Jamaican artist Half Pint, by the way. In case you didn’t know, Keef is all about that rasta life.)
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Confession: the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I went through a huge Keef phase, and there was this CD that I’d burned that I listened to literally every night as I fell asleep. It was all the Rolling Stones ballads that KR sings, which are surprisingly sentimental compared to the rest of the Stones canon. I wish I had it now…I can’t remember all the songs on it, but will list a select few as suggested listening.
Note: I’ve taken the liberty of choosing live performances so as to maximize the dichotomy between Keef’s craggy face/hairy chest and the content of the songs:
- The Worst
- The Nearness of You
- Slipping Away
- You Don’t Have To Mean It
- All About You
- Sleep Tonight – side note: couldn’t find a live performance, but you get to stare at the 80s-tastic cover of Dirty Work if you want.
I read somewhere (his autobiography, probably?) that Keith is naturally very restless/jumpy, and that he used drugs like heroin to “calm down.” After listening to these songs, seems like it did the trick, eh?
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Flip the Record 