Keith Richards Essay PDF

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Katie McKersie B00682338 KEITH RICHARDS Biography Keith Richards is best known as a guitarist and founder of the Rolling Stones as well as a singer-songwriter for them. He was born in 1943 in Danford, Kent, England. He is an only child and his former grandfather was the one who introduced him to his first guitar. Richards did not have the most clean life as a guitarist. Him and Jagger enjoyed the hard rock partying lifestyle. They had their home searched multiple times for drugs and other questionable substances, which they had to face with many arrests. However, these sentences were dropped on appeal. By the 1970’s Richard had developed a serious heroin habit. In 1977, he was busted with a large amount of cocaine in possession. Despite these struggles, Richard had no problem getting back to a normal lifestyle playing music. The Rolling Stone magazine ranked him fourth on the list of 100 best guitarists in 2011 (Wikipedia, 2018). Clearly his time with the Rolling Stones has been a success. Richards was known as a bandleader with the Rolling Stones. At first the band mostly recorded cover songs of other rock n roll artists but quickly moved into the debut of their albums. The band first released a cover version of Bobby Womack’s, it’s all over now, which hit the British charts. Following this was their career with many hit albums and songs that the whole world went crazy over. In the mid to late 1980’s is when the group split as they all wanted to focus on their solo efforts. They then regrouped later on with the single Steel Wheels, which Richards and Jagger wrote mostly together. Later on in 2016 the Rolling Stones made history and played a free concert for 500, 000 people in Havana, Cuba where their music had previously been banned. This then started a South America tour. In terms of record production, since the 1980s Richards has done numerous productions with other artists, including: Aretha Franklin, Johnnie Johnston, and Ronnie Spector as well as some of his own albums. Richards first solo released was a cover in 1978 of Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run”. Shortly after this, Richards formed the “X-Pensive Winos” with Steve Jordan, Ian Neville, Charley Drayton, Bobby Keys and Waddy Wachtel. (Biography, 2018) Style of Music Richards main genres of music include, rock, blues, blues rock, rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Him and the other guitarists of the Rolling Stones; Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood are known for their guitar interplay of rhythm and lead. Chris Spedding states that Richards guitar playing is direct, incisive and unpretentious. He mostly plays the acoustic guitar as he believes playing the electric guitar would make him lose his touch with the acoustic guitar. In terms of the Rolling Stones, Richards fit right in with their type of music as they are rooted in blues and early rock and roll. Richards found a lot of inspiration from Chuck Berry and his talented American Rock n Roll music. (Biography, 2018)

Guitars/Equipment Used The Rolling Stones best-known guitar is the “Micawber” which Richards played. It is an early fifties butterscotch Fender Telecaster turned to an open G with the 6th string removed. Richards usually removed the 6th string off of all his guitars as he claimed they just got in the way and the bass guitar usually covered the sound needed. Richards also played the 1960s Harmony Meteor H70, the 1962 Epiphone Casino, and the 1959 Gibsons Les Paul Standard. (Ground Guitar, 2018) Personal Opinion Richards was a great guitarist, but he could never perform on his own. He always had to be with at least one of his band members while going on tour. I really like the Rolling Stones as a band together. However, Keith Richards on his own is not that great. I enjoy his blues solos and a lot of his guitar work but they do not jump out to me as incredible or amazing like some other guitarists solos. Although I do like how he plays with a lot of feeling and he plays more emotional and silent songs. This is a good change from the heavy rock and metal that I am used to listening to. The songs that stick out to me most for this are Wild Horses and Angie. The lyrics I find of these songs are cheesy but they are some of Richards finest guitar work. I also like that Richards can play with a lot of energy. Although he is not the greatest solo player, he still brings up the energy of the bad as a whole, which replicates to the audience. Some of my other favourite tracks of Richards are: Gimme Shelter, Jumpin Jack Flash and Sympathy for the Devil.

References Keith Richards. (2018). Retrieved April 9, 2018, from Wikipedia website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Richards Keith Richards Biography. (2016, March 28). Retrieved April 9, 2018, from Biography website: https://www.biography.com/people/keith-richards-454710 Keith Richards Guitar and Gear. (2017). Retrieved April 9, 2018, from Ground Guitar website: https://www.groundguitar.com/keith-richards-guitars-and-gear/...