Ronnie Wood To Show Off Artwork At London Exhibit

Ronnie Wood To Show Off Artwork At London Exhibit

Rocker Ronnie Wood is preparing to show off his painting skills at an exhibition dedicated to his artwork next month (Nov11).

The Rolling Stones star will showcase 100 of his pieces at London venue The Gallery In Cork Street, and he's delighted the public will have the chance to see his creations.

He tells Britain's Observer newspaper, "People don't know that I'm an artist. Playing music as part of a team effort is wonderful, but to express individuality as an artist is very personal. Art is more powerful, a more personal statement."

Ronnie Wood's Faces, Time and Places exhibit runs from 7 - 12 November (11).

Rolling Stones 'No Spare Parts' single: release dates for digital, vinyl formats

Carla Hay

Universal Music has now announced the U.S./Canadian release dates for "No Spare Parts," the single taken from the 2011 remastered reissue of the Rolling Stones' 1978 album "Some Girls."

"No Spare Parts" will be released in the digital format the week of November 14, 2011, and on 7-inch vinyl on November 25, 2011.

As previously reported, "No Spare Parts" is one of the previously unreleased bonus tracks on the "Some Girls" album remastered reissue, which goes on sale on November 21, 2011.

Here's the official press release from Universal Music:

LTD EDITION 7" VINYL TO CELEBRATE RECORD STORE DAY'S "BLACK FRIDAY"

Universal Music Group has announced that The Rolling Stones will issue the previously unreleased track "No Spare Parts" on exclusive limited edition 7" vinyl to mark Record Store Day's "Black Friday", Friday, November 25. A digital download version of the single will be available the week commencing November 14.

"No Spare Parts" is one of twelve bonus tracks that have been unearthed for inclusion on the forthcoming deluxe and super deluxe reissue of The Rolling Stones' Some Girls – widely regarded as one of the band's greatest albums. Some Girls will be released on November 21.

"No Spare Parts" captures the daring and diverse spirit of the album's legendary sessions. Recorded in Paris in 1978, the song tells the story of a trip from Los Angeles to San Antonio, Texas featuring Mick Jagger on electric piano, Keith Richards on acoustic piano, Ronnie Wood on pedal steel guitar, Charlie Watts on drums and Bill Wyman on bass. With a country guitar twang, subtle groove, and soulful storytelling, it's a powerful and poignant acoustic tune from The Rolling Stones, and an essential addition to any fan's catalogue.

The limited edition 7" version of the single will also include Some Girls album track "Before They Make Me Run" on the B-side.

Other never-heard-before tracks featured on the Some Girls reissue will include "We Had It All", "I Love You Too Much" and "Don't Be A Stranger."

The Rolling Stones in 1978, pictured from left to right: Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman

Credits:

Michael Putland

Related Topics

• Rolling Stones
• Some Girls
• no spare parts
• Record store day
• Black Friday
• Universal Music

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Rolling Stones concert film 'Some Girls Live in Texas': complete review

Carla Hay

Whether or not you saw the Rolling Stones perform on their 1978 tour, the concert film “Some Girls Live in Texas '78” is probably the best band-authorized visual document of what a show on that tour was like. It captures the Rolling Stones in an interesting transition phase. Having moved on from the teenybopper hysteria of their concerts in the 1960s, and the androgynous and cheeky glam of their early-to-mid-1970s concerts, the Stones decided to go back to basics on their 1978 tour, before they morphed into the corporate-sponsored, elaborate-spectacle stadium band of the 1980s and 1990s.

Unlike the concert film “Ladies and Gentlemen … The Rolling Stones,” which had murky lighting, barely showed the audience, and had cameras that frequently stayed in one place for too long, “Some Girls Live in Texas ’78” often shows the audience in close-ups and reacting to the band. The lighting on stage is much brighter, and there are multiple cameras that capture a wider range of the stage — all of which give viewers more of a comprehensive feel to what is going on during the show.

As previously reported, “Some Girls Live in Texas '78” is set to be released worldwide on DVD and Blu-ray on November 21, 2011, the same day that the Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" album will be reissued with previously unreleased bonus tracks. The movie was filmed in Forth Worth, Texas, on July 18, 1978, during the band’s tour to promote the Rolling Stones’ 1978 album “Some Girls.” Shot on 16 mm film, the movie has been restored to high definition with 5.1 audio. For a limited time in select countries, “Some Girls Live in Texas '78” was released in cinemas, beginning in October 2011. The DVD/Blu-ray releases include an August 2011 interview with lead singer Mick Jagger giving his thoughts on the concert and his memories of 1978. (Click here to read a complete transcript of the interview.)

As if to make a bold statement that the Rolling Stones weren’t turning into a nostalgia act churning out a predictable “greatest hits” show, about half of the songs in the concert’s set list were from the “Some Girls” album. And almost none of the Rolling Stones’ hits from the ‘60s were performed at this concert. (See the set list at the end of this review.)

It was during the mid-to-late ‘70s that Jagger began to have the image of being a trendy jetsetter who wanted to experiment with sounds not normally associated with the Rolling Stones, while Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards remained a staunch traditionalist who did not want the band to stray too far from its roots. The contrast between Jagger’s and Richards’ personalities can clearly be seen in this concert film, with the most obvious manifestation being in the stage clothes that they wear. At the beginning of the concert, Jagger is clad in what was a trendy outfit at the time: red leather cap, red-and-white striped shirt, yellow jacket, red socks and white shoes. (As Jagger was prone to do in those days, he eventually stripped off his jacket and shirt and performed bare-chested.) Richards is wearing a basic black jacket and jeans.

On stage together, Jagger, Richards and the rest of the band have chemistry that is pure magic. The rhythm section — drummer Charlie Watts and bass player Bill Wyman — are as tight as ever. Richards’ playing is solid, and he really shines when some of the songs have extended jams, such as the band’s cover version of the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me).”

Ronnie Wood, who replaced guitarist Mick Taylor in the Stones in 1975, is treated like the new member of the gang who still has to go through some hazing, as Jagger often playfully slaps Wood on the face and bottom during songs like “Star Star” and “Happy.” Jagger even jokingly whips Wood with his shirt on “Brown Sugar,” and feels up Wood’s crotch during “Tumbling Dice.” Wood sometimes acts like a younger brother looking for an older brother’s approval, as he offers the cigarette that he’s smoking to Jagger a couple of times during the show.

Jagger, of course, commands the stage, and he shows his musical versatility by playing keyboards on “Far Away Eyes” and guitar on “When the Whip Comes Down” and “Miss You.” And lest anyone forget that this is Jagger the sex symbol performing, there are plenty of camera close-ups of his tight pants as he “shakes what his mama gave him.” After a blistering version of “Shattered,” Jagger told the audience, “I’m afraid if the band is lacking slightly in energy, it’s because we spent all of last night fucking. But we do our best.”

There was no need to apologize. As any who sees a lot of rock concerts can tell you, the Rolling Stones can never be accused of being a lethargic band on stage. The highlights of this concert are when the Stones let loose in extended versions of the original studio songs, such as on “Shattered,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Star Star” and “Miss You.”

The concert is not perfect, though. The one noticeable omission in “Some Girls Live in Texas ‘78” is that drummer Charlie Watts does not get any close-ups in this movie. And people know by now that going to a Stones concert is not about hearing Jagger sing on-key. People like to experience Rolling Stones concerts for the band’s showmanship, the great Rolling Stones songs that have the ability to make people feel a certain way, and the indescribable energy that is unique to being at a Rolling Stones show.

On “Happy” (with Richards on lead vocals), Jagger chimes in with some growling in his backup singing, which people will either like or dislike, but the overall performance of the song is still one of the high points of the concert. At other performances of “Happy,” Jagger lets Richards handle pretty much all of the vocals, but that did not happen at this concert, as Jagger stays in the spotlight with Richards for the majority of the song.

By the time the band launches into “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (the last song of the show and one of the best parts of the concert), the crowd is so fully fired up that the audience loves it when Jagger playfully throws a few buckets of water into the crowd. It’s reminder of how the Stones are masters of that old showbiz adage: “Always leave them wanting more.”

Here is the set list of “Some Girls Live in Texas ’78.”

1. Let It Rock
2. All Down The Line
3. Honky Tonk Women
4. Star Star
5. When the Whip Comes Down
6. Beast of Burden
7. Miss You
8. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
9. Shattered
10. Respectable
11. Far Away Eyes
12. Love in Vain
13. Tumbling Dice
14. Happy
15. Sweet Little Sixteen
16. Brown Sugar
17. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
    

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Mick Jagger on 'Some Girls Live in Texas' concert: complete interview transcript

Carla Hay

“Some Girls Live in Texas ‘78” is a Rolling Stones concert film that is set for a worldwide release on DVD and Blu-ray on November 21, 2011. The movie was filmed in Forth Worth, Texas, on July 18, 1978, during the band’s tour to promote the Rolling Stones’ 1978 album “Some Girls.” The DVD/Blu-ray releases include an August 2011 interview (conducted by journalist Paul Sexton) with lead singer Mick Jagger giving his thoughts on the concert and his memories of 1978. Here is the complete transcript of the interview:

Your chosen subject for today is 1978.

[He laughs] My special subject.

Do you remember the tour poster behind you, from 1978?

I do. I think it was Charlie [Watts] and me [who chose the poster]. I think it was very fashionable at the time to try these propaganda posters.

Do you remember the T-shirt you were wearing in this particular show in Forth Worth? The “Destroy” T-shirt.

It must have been that sort of “punk” thing. I must have bought that in one of these sorts of shops. I went to these shops, like really cheap shops. So instead of having, as designer do, I went to these cheap shops and bought a load of trashy stuff. And I do have designers do some things, but I mixed it up between these cheap things and some really nasty, horrible [outfits] … All of these things. I joke in retrospect. But there were some nasty plastic leatherette hats and some nasty, cheap colored jackets, mixed up with some kind of good things. So I think that though this looked very simple here and very laid-back, I think the ones outdoors were a bit more flamboyant, because I think outdoors, they used to [do those concerts] in the day, so you had to wear those super-bright colors or else you really disappeared.

This was the era when punk was supposedly coming in to boot guys like you out. Do you remember thinking it being a big deal at the time?

Inevitably, you live in the time that you’re in, and you couldn’t have possibly avoided the whole thing: the feeling of that year and the years before. So I think it’s more in the playing than the writing. Maybe. I don’t know. I think a bit of both.

But having said that, you can say that and then you turn around and go, “Yeah, but you did this country song. You did a straight country song.” And then this dance tune, which is “Miss You,” which has nothing to do with punk; it couldn’t be more different.

But see, all of these things were going on at the same time, which made this particular era, musically, very interesting. What you’ve got going on is this punk thing, which is rather short-lived. It’s almost coming to an end, I think, by the end of 1978. And you’ve got the beginnings of rap, which is going on in New York, specifically. And then you have the kind of New Wave, if you want to call it, if you want. Whatever.

So in New York, you’ve got this mixture of things going on in a very small area. I was there quite a lot. So then you’ve got CBGB’s, and you’ve got some rap going on in Brooklyn.

You’ve got dance music starting to go into the total mainstream. There was lots of gay dance music. There was lots of Latin dance music. And then there’s a kind of synthesis of it going on, particularly in New York.

In other places, there’s a complete separation of it, where people are going, “I hate that, and I love this. This is my music, and I hate that,” whereas in New York, you had a more kind of tolerant idea of it. So you have one group being very inspired by another.

Do you remember how “Miss You” came about?

I was writing a tune with Billy Preston, who was playing the drums. I was just on my own in this rehearsal room, I think. And Billy Preston was playing the drums. And he was playing this four on the floor, dance beat thing. And I hadn’t really thought of it like that when I was writing. I don’t think I really thought of it like that.

But Billy was playing this four on the floor thing. So when Charlie walked in, he heard Billy playing that. I think that’s how I remember it. Maybe Charlie will remember it differently. But then Charlie and I just carried on playing the four on the floor. It’s not a new beat by any means. Everyone said it was disco. It wasn’t really. The only think disco about it was the four on the floor thing. And the rest of it was completely Rolling Stones.

There was a slight element of rap in there, the way I kind of delivered it. So obviously, I’d been listening a bit to that, to Sugarhill Gang. Rap then wasn’t like rap now. It was much more gentle. And when Dr. Dre did a remix of “Miss You,” I’d forgot what I’d actually done vocally. And then when I listened to the Dr. Dre remix, I realized what I was kind of doing, that kind of delivery that at the time was considered sort of talking.

And also, you had that element was in “Shattered” also. It’s like a kind of a punk beat with this guitar riff that Keith [Richards] does. And what I do is this sort of semi-rap thing. It’s half-talking. So obviously, I was very influenced by that. I think this record [“Some Girls”] is a good synthesis of all those things that were going on at the same time.

Were you specifically influenced as a writer by disco, because you used to go to a lot of clubs yourself around that time?

Rock people, particularly, I thought that they hated disco and everything, but I don’t really know why. It was a bit of “This is my music.” They didn’t react to it well. I never really understood that kind of thing.

There was very awful disco music. There was awful rock music and awful every kind of music. And there were also very good disco songs … which have always stood the test of time. They were fantastic. We all know what they are.

And all these things, the crap, fall by the wayside. And what was really good lasts. But it was actually a really good era for dance music, looking back on it.

In regards to building the set list for this Fort Worth show, there are eight songs [from the “Some Girls” album] in a row, which is different from the way you usually do a show. When you do that [play several songs in a row from the same album] in a show, are those the ones you look forward to the most?

You might be. It depends how good you are playing them and how settled you are. You might approach them with some trepidation, because those are the ones you tend to mess up. You have to concentrate. You can see on “Shattered,” the concentration on everyone’s faces to go with the changes [in the song]. I don’t know if the audience sees it, but I can see it this, “Yeah, OK. You better make these changes right because if you screw up.” And if you screw the ending up, you’ve had it, you know? Even if Charlie plays one beat too many, it’s definitely wrong. [He laughs.]

So I can say the new songs, you want to get them right. They were obviously very good to play on stage: a lot of uptempo numbers. Very, very fast and “get on with it.” Short and sweet as well. And stuff like “Just My Imagination” being a cover version, people knew it, so that helped as well.

The tour that the Fort Worth show was a part of was the Rolling Stones’ first American tour in three years … And it was a mixture of [venues]. You did indoors shows in arenas and stadiums as well.

And it was quite a short tour. We counted up the days just now. You said there were 40 [concert dates]. I don’t think it was that many. It was something like 20-something-odd shows. And they were a mixture of gigs. This one [the Fort Worth show] is [in] an arena.

And there were theaters. There was the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, which we’ve played since then. And there were some stadium shows, like three or four stadiums: Soldiers Field in Chicago, the stadium in Anaheim. And there were regular arenas, mostly arenas.

It’s a formula that you can do. The only thing about doing is that it’s quite tricky to adjust from one thing to another on a regular basis. And to be honest, you need different songs for different gigs. You can’t always play these same songs. If you’ve got a set list, you’ve got to have a big fount of songs to change it up. I’m not sure if we did on this tour, but if you go into a theater, you don’t want to do the same [songs].

If you do it [perform the same set list for a tour], it tends not to quite work so well. It’s hard to do. You go from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta to a 90,000-seat stadium. It’s very different. Your attitude to the audience is different. You go into the Fox Theatre doing what you do in Anaheim [at the stadium], and you look absolutely stupid. You have to really pull back so the audience can see your eyes, and you can see their eyes. [He laughs.] It’s a completely different feeling. So it’s quite hard doing a tour, but it keeps you interested. Otherwise, if you keep doing arenas, arenas, arenas, it can become a bit repetitive.

One of the things that struck me about watching the show is that it’s a very workman-like performance by the band.

It’s quite intense though, the performance. It’s quite concentrated. On the other hand, you can see everyone concentrating and trying to get everything right. It’s not sloppy. Everyone’s having fun, but they’re concentrating. Some bits seem very throwaway, which is kind of good.

The other thing about this era is that it was just after Keith had his drugs bust. Was there a feeling of uncertainty about the future of the band at that time for you?

It was very uncertain, yeah. In my “Miss You” story with Billy Preston, I think Keith was in jail at that point, and I was writing this. Billy was there. We were supposed to be playing a gig in Toronto, and Keith was actually in jail. So I was just writing this song.

So it was very uncertain. It was also difficult because the Americans are very difficult about visas and things. So if you have a drug bust, your position as a working musician becomes very tricky.

Another thing about the show is there’s almost a complete lack of any apparent security. It’s just you out in front of the stage and moving around, as you were beginning to do. It’s just you and the crowd.

You’ll find that some places would be very, very full of security, depending on the building. So this building was obviously very relaxed. It could have been … It was a very relaxed building. You go to another building, it would be like paranoia beyond. And if you had filmed that …

But maybe for the filming, we’d got rid of security, because it never looks good. They get in the way. And the security, they see a camera, and also everyone’s affected by cameras, including security people. I mean, they want to be in the shot. So I think probably [concert promoter] Bill Graham, being clever, probably got rid of the security … I think that’s probably how it worked.

And I also noticed that at the end of the show, you — as I’m sure was a very affectionate gesture — also chucked a couple of buckets of water over the crowd.

Yeah. They were very hot. I used to put it on myself. Do I put it on myself [in the 1978 Forth Worth show]?

I don’t think so.

I don’t? I spare myself. I’m very kind. I’m very kind so I don’t have to get covered in water. Yeah, well, you know, as long as you don’t throw it straight at one person, it’s all right. [He laughs.] It’s a bit mean if you get it wrong and it goes all on one person.

It was a hot July night.

Exactly.

And I must ask you about the cover art for the “Some Girls” album, which was very striking and quite controversial as well.

Yeah, so the cover is like a parody of a wig ad that they were having in women’s magazines. It had that thing. I think it was Peter Corriston who did it. So when you opened it, when it was a 12-inch thing, the faces changed. And it had our faces where the women’s faces were.

But on the original version of it, we had kind of old-fashioned pictures of Hollywood film stars. I think Doris Day was one of them, Joan Crawford and so on. And then we got into some copyright problems with that. Stupidly, nobody in those days was very good at lawyering, and they didn’t get the right permission from the artists. Of course, some people wouldn’t have minded at all.

And then we got into problems and had to change the cover. [He laughs.] It was a big hassle. It was good fun. The cover was really a good cover. We loved it, but unfortunately, we had to change it halfway through. It became slightly disappointing to Charlie and myself, but it still looked funny.

So when you think back on 1978 and this tour and this concert in particular, is it with a lot of affection?

Yeah, I think the album really stands up. It’s a great album, in my opinion, “humbly,” he said. And as you said before, we played quite a lot of it on this show. It’s really new and fresh to you. We hadn’t done it obviously more than a few times. And so you see it just starting to take shape. So I think it’s really interesting.

Mick Jagger at the SuperHeavy record release party in New York City, on September 21, 2011

Credits:

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Video: "Some Girls Live in Texas '78" clip: The Rolling Stones perform "Miss You"

Video: "Some Girls Live in Texas '78" clip: The Rolling Stones perform "Miss You"

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SONG BY SONG OF ''SOME GIRLS''.!

'Some Girls' 2011 reissue: full review, including previously unreleased tracks

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Carla Hay

The Rolling Stones’ 1978 album “Some Girls” is described by many critics as the last great album the band ever made. Although many fans would find that opinion debatable, there’s hardly any dispute that “Some Girls” is one of the best albums the Rolling Stones ever made. So with all the Rolling Stones albums that have been repackaged and re-released over the years, it’s always hugely intriguing when the reissues come with bonus tracks of previously unreleased or hard-to-find songs.

Such is the case with the 2011 reissue of “Some Girls,” which Universal Music will release worldwide on November 21, the same day that the Rolling Stones concert film "Some Girls Live in Texas '78" will be released on DVD and Blu-ray. The "Some Girl" album reissue's bonus tracks were mostly uncompleted songs written in the late 1970s and completed (under the direction of producer Don Was) in 2011. (Universal Music released a remastered reissue of “Some Girls” in 2009, but it did not have any bonus tracks.) I previously reported details on the 2011 “Some Girls” reissue, including what the bonus tracks would be and the formats available for the reissue. I received an advance copy of the 2011 reissue of “Some Girls,” and I’m happy to report that the bonus tracks alone make the reissue worth buying.

Rolling Stones fans already know what the original “Some Girls” album sounds like (or at least heard most of the original album’s 10 songs, including the hits “Miss You” and “Beast of Burden”). If anyone is not yet familiar with the album, there are countless places to find the original “Some Girls” album. There are also countless reviews of the original “Some Girls” album, so there’s no need to rehash here what the 10 songs on the original album sound like. This is a review of the 12 bonus tracks on the 2011 “Some Girls” reissue.

Claudine
(Total running time: 3:42)

This song is a classic example of the Rolling Stones paying tribute to the sound pioneered by Chuck Berry. It has the same rollicking feel of many of Chuck Berry’s classics, and the music sounds like something that could have been written in the 1950s. The lyrics for “Claudine” were reportedly inspired by Claudine Longet, a former wife of Andy Williams, who was convicted of misdemeanor criminal negligence for the 1976 fatal shooting of her Olympic skier boyfriend Valdimir “Spider” Sabich. With lines like “There’s blood in the chalet, blood in snow; she washed her hands of the whole damn show,” the Stones infuse a touch of macabre irony. It’s an interesting contrast to the upbeat music of the song.

So Young
(Total running time: 3:18)

“So Young” (which sounds like a musical cousin to George Thorogood’s song “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”) is exactly what it implies from the title: It’s an ode to chasing jailbait — or at least a song about a female who is young enough to be considered trouble for the narrator lusting after her. The bootlegged (unfinished demo) version of the song has Jagger mumbling a lot of the lyrics. This version definitely has finished lyrics, which tell the tale of an older man who meets a girl “at the arcades” and woos her. An example: “I took her down to Barney’s, bought her a brand-new set of boots … She was terminally cute.” The song’s title may be repeated too much in the song for some people’s tastes, but it’s an overall solid tune — just not outstanding.

Do You Think I Really Care?
(Total running time: 4:22)
Mick Jagger was spending a lot of time in New York City when this song was written, and it shows in the lyrics to this mid-tempo song that has country-rock leanings. There are references to the subway, the D train, 57th and Broadway, Max’s Kansas City and the Long Island Expressway. The finished version that appears on the reissue has Jagger clearly enunciating the lyrics (in the bootlegged demo, Jagger’s voice trails off a few times), and the finished version has much slicker production. The main chorus is: “Do you think that I really care for a girl who’s never there?”

When You’re Gone
(Total running time: 3:51)
A definite highlight on this set of bonus tracks, “When You’re Gone” is a foot-stomping, bluesy breakup song with the harmonica playing a prominent role. The lyrics to this song cut like a knife. An example: “I don’t want to think about you when you’re gone. I don’t want to hear your voice talk on the phone. All those notes and those cards, I’ll throw them in the yard. I’ll put them in the trash where they belong.”

No Spare Parts
(Total running time: 4:30)
This twangy, Rolling Stones country song is another high point of the collection. The lyrics tell the story of trip from Los Angeles to the Texas city of San Antonio. Gram Parsons, who heavily influenced the country-flavored songs on the Stones’ 1972 album “Exile in Main Street,” would have been very proud of “No Spare Parts.”

Don’t Be a Stranger
(Total running time: 4:06)
It’s not a reggae song, but it has a reggae vibe. “Don’t Be a Stranger” is another mid-tempo number that has a simple and catchy chorus. The melodies have a sing-song, lilting quality to it that match the carefree, inviting spirit of the lyrics. For example, the opening lines are: “I haven’t seen your face for years. I thought you had just disappeared. Don’t you worry. What are friends for? You can call me up most anytime. I never go to bed ‘til 5. Don’t be stranger. Just knock on my door … Don’t be a stranger, a stranger no more.”

We Had It All
(Total running time: 2:54)
This melancholy ballad with Keith Richards on vocals is one of the best tracks in this collection. With lyrics that mourn a lost love, the piano and slide guitar on this tune are emotionally effective without being overbearing. It doesn’t sound like Richards re-recorded the vocals for this release, since his current singing voice is much lower and deeper than how his singing voice was he sounded when he recorded the demo this song back in the 1970s. The production team wisely chose to keep this song simple for the official release, instead of doing something crazy like add more guitars or (God forbid) violins.

Tallahassee Lassie
(Total running time: 2:37)
Clearly inspired by 1950s rock and roll but with a more modern edge, “Tallahassee Lassie” is another Rolling Stones song whose demo has been bootlegged over the years. This new and improved version has a more equal balance between Jagger’s vocals and the musical instruments. (In the demo, Jagger’s voice was overwhelmed by the instruments.) The finished version of this song has more punch to it, and it’s one of the tunes on this bonus set that reminds people of the attitude and swagger that made the Rolling Stones famous.

I Love You Too Much
(Total running time: 3:10)
While some of the songs on this bonus set are nods to country music or 1950s rock, “I Love You Too Much” sounds like it could have fit right in with the more 1970s-sounding songs “When the Whip Comes Down” and “Respectable” that are on the original “Some Girls” album. Richard’s backup vocals are very prominent. And although the song’s title is repeated a few too many times, there are some memorable lyrics, such as “You got me dizzy like a martini lunch.” And it should be noted that this version of “I Love You Too Much” is a vast improvement over the demo. The demo sounded like drunken rambling on a truly unfinished song. In this official version, the song has coherent lyrics and tighter musicianship.

Keep Away Blues
(Total running time: 4:20)
It’s common knowledge that the Rolling Stones started out as a blues band, and this song is a fierce tribute to their roots. Out of all the bonus tracks on this reissue, Jagger gives perhaps his best vocal performance on “Keep Away Blues.” The harmonica playing on this track also stands out without overshadowing Jagger’s vocals. On this song, Jagger is clearly having fun with the lyrics, as he portrays a superficial narcissist who wants people to think he’s wealthier and hipper than he really is: “My shirt’s made in England. My shoes in Rome. You know I’m coming. Smell my cologne. Keep up, baby. Keep up with the times. Better watch out — you’ll be left lagging far behind.”

You Win Again
(Total running time: 3:00)
This country ballad could be the less-talkative musical sibling of “Far Away Eyes,” which is another country ballad from the original “Some Girls” album. The slide guitar and Richards’ background vocals nicely complement Jagger’s vocals, which soar in the killer chorus: “This heart of mine could never say what everybody knows but me. Just trusting you was my great sin. I just can’t go on. You win again.” Put it this way: “You Win Again” is the type of song that has “honky tonk saloon” written all over it.

Petrol Blues
(Total running time: 1:35)
If Robert Johnson’s instrument of choice had been a piano instead of a guitar and he was lamenting a gas-fuel crisis, he might have come up with a song that sounds kind of like “Petrol Blues.” There are no guitars on this short song, but the piano playing is prominent throughout the tune. The lyrics are political without being preachy (“Please, Mr. President, say it isn’t so. I’m going to have to sell my Cadillac I just paid for. I talked to Standard Oil. They say they got plenty but they say they ain’t gonna part … I even called up Texaco. They got plenty left. They got plenty to go. Hey, Mr. President. Say it isn’t so. Why do I have to sell my Cadillac I just paid for?”)

The Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" album
Continue reading on Examiner.com 'Some Girls' 2011 reissue: full review, including previously unreleased tracks - National Rolling Stones | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/rolling-stones-in-national/some-girls-2011-reissue-full-review-including-previously-unreleased-tracks?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1cGO464Q6

ONLY LOVE FOR KEEF.!

London mayor Boris Johnson opens up about his fascination with Keith Richards

Carla Hay

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, wants everyone to know that he is a big fan of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Johnson writes about his longtime fascination with Richards in his memoir "Boris Johnson’s Life of London: The People Who Made the City That Made the World," which is being published in the U.K. by Harper Press on October 27, 2011.

As previously reported, in December 2010, Johnson wrote an open letter saying that Richards deserves to get a knighthood. (Apparently, Johnson is not knowledgeable enough about Richards, because Richards has said in many interviews and in his memoir "Life" that he would refuse any royal title because he mistrusts the U.K. government and British royalty.)

The Telegraph published an excerpt from "Boris Johnson's Life of London." Here is what Johnson says in the book about meeting Richards at the 2011 GQ Men of the Year Awards:

For years I have snuffled on his spoor, but never come across a trace of the man himself; until not so long ago, when fate dealt me the most incredible slice of luck.

I was due to attend a ceremony in Covent Garden, where the objective was to make a short speech in honour of the noble and learned Lord Coe and to give him a prize. When I reached the Royal Opera House, the road was jammed with huge limos, glossy black Bentleys and Maybachs. Within was taking place the most important and mystic rite of the national cult of celebrity. It was the GQ Man of the Year Award.

“I am sorry I am so late,” I apologised to an impossibly tall, thin, and yet somehow curvaceous, hostess who appeared at my side. “When am I on?”

“Not long now,” she said. “You’re speaking after Keith Richards.”

He was there to receive his Writer of the Year award, and his speech was short, droll, modest, and as soon as he had gyrated back to his seat, I knew that this was it. This was my moment. Quickly I did my own turn on stage, and then with some pushfulness, I persuaded Keith’s agent to let me station myself by his side. “Just five minutes, just three,” I pleaded.

At last, Keith came back from having his photo taken and there took place a vicious contest for the honour of sitting next to him.

After decades of hoping, I found myself sitting inches from the kohl-eyed demigod, and I noticed that though his face was as lined as Auden’s, his teeth were American in their whiteness. We began with some small talk about how much I had enjoyed his book Life, and about his grandparents, and what it was like growing up in wartime Dartford, where a doodlebug explosion had lobbed a brick on to his cot.

But the crowd around us was jostling and jabbering ever more insistently, assorted supplicants descended like harpies, begging him to sign their napkins, their £20 notes, their left breasts, etc and I knew that I must blurt it out.

“Er, Keith,” I stumbled.

“Mr Ma-yor”, he said, in his courtly way.

“I’ve got this theory that, er…” and I gasped out the story, as told by Joe Walsh, the god-gifted guitarist of the Eagles: Walsh revealed that he had never even heard Muddy Waters until he went to hear a Stones concert, right?

“That’s right,” said Keith, nodding.

And so, I went on, you could argue that the Stones were critical in the history of rock’n’roll – by now I was half-shouting – because they gave back the blues to America!

“I’ll go with that,” said Keith with infinite affability. And I’ll go with it, too, Keith.

Boris Johnson and Keith Richards at the after-party following the 14th annual GQ Men of the Year Awards in London, on September 6, 2011

Credits:

Getty Images

SUPER COOL.!

Tom Waits describes recording with Keith Richards again: 'He killed me'

Carla Hay

Tom Waits has admitted that it was nerve-racking and "a little weird" for him when he reunited on an album with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Richards makes a guest appearance on Waits' 2011 album "Bad as Me," which is set for a U.S./Canadian release on October 24. The two musicians' previous studio collaborations were on Waits' 1985 album "Rain Dogs" and on the song "That Feel" from Waits' 1992 album "Bone Machine."

Waits tells Pitchfork.com:

"I was talking to the record company and they say, 'Any guests you want on the record?' And I said, 'What about Keith Richards?' I was just joking, but somebody went ahead and called him. And then he said, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'Now we're really in trouble.'

“I was really nervous. He came with about 600 guitars in a semi-truck. And a butler. We were in these huge studios in New York, like ‘The Poseidon Adventure.’ Huge, high ceilings in these rooms like football fields.

“They'd fill these things up with orchestras and we were in there with five guys. It felt a little weird. He killed me. I was really knocked out that he played on all those things.”

Tom Waits (pictured at left) and Keith Richards (pictured at right)
Continue reading on Examiner.com Tom Waits describes recording with Keith Richards again: 'He killed me' - National Rolling Stones | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/rolling-stones-in-national/tom-waits-describes-recording-with-keith-richards-again-he-killed-me#ixzz1c6v3xpB4

Rolling Stone's Ronnie Wood makes fine art debut

by Mike Common. Published Wed 19 Oct 2011 13:24, Last updated: 2011-10-27

Ronnie Wood at work in the studio

Ronnie Wood is making his debut into the world of fine art this month, with a selection of his own works being unveiled in retail art galleries across the country. Locally, Wood’s work will be on offer, for those able to afford the price tag, in Liverpool at Wall to Wall within The Home Quarter on Hanover Street from Saturday the 22nd of October.

Entitled ‘The Famous Flame Suite’, Wood’s first set of limited edition art works are sure to stoke the fire in the bellies of both art critics and music fans. His flame filled portrayals of fellow Rolling Stones bring together the two artistic worlds that dominate Wood’s personality combining his love of painting with his well established musical legacy. While ‘The Stones on Stage - Got Me Rockin’, sticks with the same theme, it chooses to focus in on the Stone’s on stage action with leading man, the legendary peacock strutter, Mick Jagger doing his thing up front.

Wood is no novice, having first started painting at the tender age of 12, he was trained at Ealing College of Art, before embarking on his meteoritical music career starting with the Jeff Beck Group, The Faces and then finally The Rolling Stones.

Glyn Washington, managing director of Washington Green Fine Art says, “He picked up a paintbrush way before he picked up a guitar and began his life long journey with art almost as soon as he could hold a pencil. This innate artistic pulse that ran through Wood’s veins and was first refined and honed at art college; evolved and grew into a five decade love affair with canvas, which has seen Wood constantly seeking, evolving and pushing back the boundaries in his art.”

Wood says, “when I get inspired I get almost possessed and I just have to paint.” Unsurprisingly his studio in London’s east end and his homes in London and Ireland are said to be filled with ‘works in progress’. Wood says, “There is no kind of therapy like the one you have from starting and seeing a picture through to the end."

Ronnie counts Schiele, Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh, William Orpen and Pablo Picasso amoung his influences and they have obviously served him well as his art has won numerous fans, with former US President Bill Clinton one of several well known collectors of his original art works. The Rolling Stone has also received critical acclaim with his solo exhibitions around the world from North and South America, to the Far East and throughout Europe.

KEITH RICHARDS PERFORMED ONSTAGE.!

KEITH RICHARDS AND JOHNNY DEPP PERFORMED ONSTAGE.!

Johnny Depp and Rolling Stone Keith Richards performed impromptu set onstage at 'Rum Diary' premiere

Gatecrasher

Thursday, October 27th 2011, 4:00 AM

Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage

Heeeeere's Johnny! Johnny Depp got down and funky onstage with Rolling Stone Keith Richards.

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Johnny Depp was a man of notes - not words - on Tuesday night.

The silver-screen stud was practically mute at the premiere of "The Rum Diary" at the Museum of Modern Art, but he let his freak flag fly at the party that followed - with a little help from his "Pirates of the Caribbean" muse, Rolling Stone Keith Richards.

Depp declined to do print press interviews before the premiere, when the night's emcee, film critic Elvis Mitchell, asked if he wanted to say a few words before the move began. Depp deadpanned: "I'm okay for right now."

The star of the Hunter S. Thompson tale loosened up considerably after arriving at the Playboy-sponsored after-party at Hiro Ballroom in the Maritime Hotel.

A source at the soiree says Depp and his security entered through the back door of the Chelsea venue and headed to the balcony level of the nightspot.

The elevated area had been turned into a VIP zone. In it was Depp's co-star Amber Heard, who had waxed poetic about her leading man's "talent and passion" on the red carpet.

"He hung [out] up there nearly the whole night," says the insider, who tells us actor Paul Bettany and his wife, actress Jennifer Connolly, were among those who talked to the actor.

Depp spent much of the night chatting at the bar with rocker pal Richards, 67, who attended with daughters Alexandra, 25, and Theodora, 26.

The actor also watched from the balcony as his JD Band - which has a song on the "Rum Diary" sound track - entertained the crowd.

Depp must have liked what he heard. At the end of the set, security guards walked him and Richards down to the stage for an impromptu performance.

As partygoers rushed forward with phone cameras to record the moment, the JD Band's lead singer cracked that the crowd only "gives a s- now that Johnny's up here."

Our source says Depp donned a guitar but receded to the stage's rear so Richards could take the lead on "Key to the Highway." The song was first recorded by blues pianist Charlie Segar in 1940 and covered later by the Stones and Eric Clapton.

At the song's end, our source says, Depp and Richards, both sporting sunglasses, embraced and jumped off the stage into the crowd, and then headed back to the VIP area.

Not everyone caught the performance. Another insider says Alexandra Richards took off before her dad hit the stage, possibly because the show wasn't planned in advance.

That source says as she walked away from the Hiro, an autograph-seeker recognized her and held out a plastic bag.

"Here's some weed for your dad," our source says the fan told Alexandra. But the the Stone's progeny just shot the guy "a weird look" and ignored his offering.

Contact Gatecrasher:
Frank DiGiacomo: fdigiacomo@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2011/10/27/2011-10-27_johnny_depp_and_rolling_stone_keith_richards_performed_impromptu_set_onstage_at_.html#ixzz1byVD5aDe

BILL WYMAN'S RHYTHM KINGS, 2011 UK TOUR.!

Events » Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings - UK tour 2011

Thursday 27th October 2011

2011 UK TOUR! Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings 2011 UK tour dates have been announced, with the tour starting in October and touring the UK until December. Mary Wilson, legendary star of The Original Supremes, will join Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, as a special guest on their UK tour this autumn. The tour begins in October, ends in December and calls at 37 theatres across the country.

Tour tickets NOW ON SALE!

"Delivery is immaculate... a dream team of musicians" Q Magazine

"Every song is carefully picked, finely honed and exquisitely crafted" Classic Rock

“High precision jazz-blues-pop, superbly performed by top R&B veterans.” Mojo

For the Back In The UK Tour, Mary will be joining the Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings band, which will include Bill Wyman, Georgie Fame, Albert Lee, Beverley Skeete, Geraint Watkins, Graham Broad, Terry Taylor, Frank Mead and Nick Payn.

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings UK tour 2011

Monday, October 17, 2011
Grand Theatre, Swansea
Box office: 01792 475715
Online: www.swanseagrand.co.uk

Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Southport Theatre, Southport
Box office: 0844 847 2380
Online: www.southporttheatre.org.uk

Wednesday, October 19, 2011
De Montfort Hall, Leicester
Box office: 0116 233 3111
Online: www.demontforthall.co.uk

Friday, October 21, 2011
Dorking Halls, Dorking
Box office: 01306 881717
Online: www.dorkinghalls.co.uk

Saturday, October 22, 2011
Venue Cymru, Llandudno
Box office: 01492 872000
Online: www.venuecymru.co.uk

Sunday, October 23, 2011
Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes
Box office: 0844 871 7652
Online: www.ambassadortickets.com/Milton-Keynes-Theatre

Monday, October 24, 2011
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Box office: 0161 907 9000
Online: www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Town Hall, Birmingham
Box office: 0121 780 3333
Online: www.thsh.co.uk

Thursday, October 27, 2011
King's Lynn Corn Exchange, King's Lynn
Box office: 01553 764864
Online: www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk

Friday, October 28, 2011 - **NEW DATE ADDED**
Sturmer Hall, Haverhill
Box office: 01440 705368
Online: www.sturmerhall.com

Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Sage, Gateshead
Box office: 0191 443 4661
Online: www.thesagegateshead.org

Sunday, October 30, 2011
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Box office: 0844 871 7647
Online: www.ambassadortickets.com/Theatre-Royal-Glasgow

Monday, October 31, 2011
Concert Hall, Perth
Box office: 01738 621 031
Online: www.horsecross.co.uk/about/perth-concert-hall

Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Aberdeen Music Hall, Aberdeen
Box office: 01224 641122
Online: www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

Thursday, November 3, 2011
Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield
Box office: 0114 2789789
Online: www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk

Friday, November 4, 2011
Hull City Hall, Hull
Box office: 01482 226 655
Online: www.hullcc.gov.uk/hullcityhall

Saturday, November 5, 2011
Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate
Box office: 0845 1308 840
Online: www.harrogateinternationalcentre.co.uk

Sunday, November 6, 2011
Buxton Opera House, Buxton
Box office: 0845 1272190
Online: www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Monday, November 7, 2011 - **NEW DATE ADDED**
Town Hall, Birmingham
Box office: 0121 780 3333
Online: www.thsh.co.uk

Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Anvil, Basingstoke
Box office: 01256 844244
Online: www.anvilarts.org.uk

Thursday, November 10, 2011
G-Live, Guildford
Online: www.glive.co.uk

Friday, November 11, 2011
Lighthouse, Poole
Box office: 0844 406 8666
Online: www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Saturday, November 12, 2011
Theatre Royal, Norwich
Box office: 01603 630000
Online: www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

Sunday, November 13, 2011
Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury
Box office: 0844 871 7607
Online: www.ambassadortickets.com/aylesbury

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Colston Hall, Bristol
Box office: 0117 922 3686
Online: www.colstonhall.org

Wednesday, November 16, 2011
City Hall, Salisbury
Box office: 01722 434434
Online: www.cityhallsalisbury.co.uk

Friday, November 18, 2011
Cadogan Hall, London
Box office: 0207 730 4500
Online: www.cadoganhall.com

Saturday, November 19, 2011
Cadogan Hall, London
Box office: 0207 730 4500
Online: www.cadoganhall.com

Sunday, November 20, 2011
Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Box office: 01752 230440
Online: www.theatreroyal.com

Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Margate Winter Gardens, Margate
Box office: 01843 296111
Online: www.margatewintergardens.co.uk

Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Brighton Dome, Brighton
Box office: 01273 709709
Online: www.brightondome.org

Friday, November 25, 2011
Malvern Forum Theatre, Malvern
Box office: 01684 892277
Online: www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

Saturday, November 26, 2011
Floral Pavilion, New Brighton
Box office: 0151 666 0000
Online: www.floralpavilion.com

Sunday, November 27, 2011
St. George's Hall, Bradford
Box office: 01274 432 000
Online: www.bradford-theatres.co.uk

Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Box office: 01223 357851
Online: www.cornex.co.uk/ccm/portal

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Box office: 01702 351135
Online: www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk

Thursday, December 1, 2011
Ipswich Regent, Ipswich
Box office: 01473 433100
Online: www.ipswichregent.com

Friday, December 2, 2011
Watford Colosseum, Watford
Box office: 0845 0753993
Online: www.watfordcolosseum.co.uk

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THE INTERVIEW WITH KEITH RICHARDS.!

He sits on a sofa, sipping from a plastic cup, answering a few questions about the life—"I've led so many lives....Which life are you talking about?"—that has led him here.

What remains for you to achieve?

"I've never tried to achieve anything. I achieved everything I wanted to achieve by being in the Rolling Stones and making records. That was the only real goal in my life, ever, but since that happened so quickly, like a laser beam...I think the next goal was not to become one-hit wonders. I mean, after that, no real goal, except to sort of keep on going. I mean, what does an entertainer do, basically? You get onstage and make other people feel happy. Make them feel good. Turn them on."

Is that the word you prefer? "Entertainer" more than "musician"?

<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>

"I wouldn't want to impress them with musicianship. I want them there because they want to be there and because they know that they're going to have a damn good time. I wouldn't take it any higher than that."

And what's the joy or fulfilment in achieving that?

"Well, you'd have to be there, pal. To know what it's like to be on a Stones stage with an audience. The exchange of energy that goes on. It's immeasurable. In fact they don't have meters to do it."

What does physically making music give to you?

"Well, it's better than drugs."

People may listen to that, coming from you.

"And the fact that I've written a lot of music on drugs doesn't negate that statement. I mean, give me a guitar, give me a piano, give me a broom and string, I wouldn't get bored anywhere. I could break out of jail on that stuff and still be in jail. It's a freedom nobody can take from you."

Is there anything you still need to prove?

"To prove? I was innocent! Of everything!"

···

Richards likes to play guitar every single day. Maybe an hour or so. "Afternoons, evenings. Pick around, play some Robert Johnson blues, hopefully make an incredible beautiful mistake which will lead me into another area. I do it for me. You know, I'm a selfish son of a bitch. I do it because it turns me on." (As for the mornings...here's more than you wanted to know about how each bright new twenty-first-century-Keith-Richards day begins: "First we have the bowel movement. Cool, that's that out of the way. Seen a friend off to the coast. And then you see what's on the agenda....")

It's a routine (the guitar playing, not the other one) that was disrupted while he was working on his million-selling autobiography, Life. "I hardly played at all for two years," he says. After our conversation, he is due in the studio with drummer Steve Jordan, his partner in his sometime other band, the X-Pensive Winos. "I'm sort of basically recovering from the book, and this is my therapy at the moment," he explains. "In the process of doing it, my chops are coming back." So far, they've got six songs that may or may not turn into an album. "Songwriting's a weird game. I never intended to become one—I fell into this by mistake, and I can't get out of it. It fascinates me. I like to point out the rawer points of life." That chuckle. "I work the seamier side of life."

And, I note, it's been good to him.

He nods. A sly grin. "There's a lot of seam," he says.

When I ask Richards what he thinks his talent has been, his initial answer relates to his key role in the Rolling Stones. "The ability to work with a team," he says. "To focus a bunch of musicians...to generate enthusiasm even in the face of adversity." I press him further about his individual gift. "You know, I'm a mere balladeer," he demurs. "A minstrel. I mean, when I consider what my job is, it's maybe an even older profession than what they call the oldest profession. I'm sure somebody sung a song before the first whore walked out there."

In his book, one gets the sense that, in recent decades, he considers all the periods when the Rolling Stones are not in action to be time in some kind of waiting room. He doesn't dispute this. "Yeah," he laughs. "A lot of it's purgatory. Luckily I have a few other distractions: 'Oh, I'm in purgatory—come on, honey, let's go to bed.' " For now, the group is preparing an expanded version of its late-'70s high point, Some Girls. And he holds out hopes of escaping purgatory soon: "Next year is sort of up for grabs," says Richards. "It's almost an overwhelming power—it'll be fifty years. So there's that sort of pressure. If I can pull them together, I'm there."

The extraordinary dynamic between Richards and Mick Jagger—dysfunctional, magical, cruel, loving, dismissive—runs through Life. Richards is so hard on his partner, particularly in the later years, that I think a lot of readers, myself included, were surprised to find themselves feeling sorry for Jagger.

"Oh, now, I can understand that," says Richards. "Life's life. I really don't want to go into it anymore, because what is in the book is in the book, and the fact is that Mick and I still talk and are still working together. So maybe that was another balance that needed to be sorted out. Mick and me, two guys divided by love."

One issue seems to have bubbled on in the press since publication—with, most recently, Pete Townshend speaking out to say that he has observed the scorned anatomy in question and that Richards had his facts wrong about Jagger's genitalia. So I ask: Is it ultimately gentlemanly to deride a friend's penis size?

"Between friends I think anything's allowed," replies Richards. "I mean, I've never seen it. I only heard." I begin to speak again, and then Richards gives me the look. He is jolly, jokey, witty, amiable company until you decline a clear hint to gently withdraw from a subject. Then he gazes right at you, and his voice changes, in a way that clearly seems to convey: I'm being nice and charming to you here, but don't push your luck, sonny boy, because I've spat out people a hundred times smarter than you. "But I ain't going there anymore," he says firmly. I nod, and he adds, "It was a joke. Between friends a joke's a joke, and if you can't take a joke..."

···

What do you know now that you didn't know at 40?

"I didn't know I'd make 68."

Do you get a sense of how people imagine you now?

"It's weird. It changed, because of the book mainly. There's always going to be 'Keef'—you know, the one that closed down the liquor stores because he threatened to dry out. And in a way, I've always felt honored by turning into a sort of cartoon. An icon sort of character. And I'm interested in building him up."

Because it's fun, or flattering, or useful?

"Well, it's fun, and you're not going to get away from it. The image is a ball and chain, and you've got to live with it. And, yeah, that is part of me. Old Keef. You know. The drug one. But since the book came out there's 'Actually he can talk.... He's read a book or two.' I don't particularly care whether people know that or not. But it's a nice counterbalance to 'Keef.' Presidents speak to me now."

How do you want people to remember you?

"I want everybody to have a great laugh. Don't be sorry. About myself I have no great illusions. I know what I am. I know what I'm good at. I know what I ain't. I'm always hoping to surprise myself. But I do have a love of music and I do love to communicate it, and that's the best I can do, really. And I can raise a good family, too."

Are there any words you wish wouldn't appear in your obituary?

"No, they can write as long as they want. 'That fucking asshole...' I'd love to hear what they say."

···

Even Keith Richards has made certain concessions to the passage of time. This afternoon the plastic cup in his hand is filled with nothing more than orange soda. "I don't drink till the sun goes down," he says. "I cut back. Extremely. You see, it was other people that were worried about my drinking—not me. Other people, including wifey." He chuckles. "So then I straightened up and they're, 'Well, you're no different....' "

And when the sun goes down?

"A shot of vodka and whatever. A martini. More than anything, wine with dinner. It'd be so uncivilized not to have a glass of wine with dinner."

He starts telling me, almost shyly, about the pleasure he gets from his grandchildren, as though he is surprised to have found himself in a place where this is such an important part of his life. "I'm eternally grateful to be here to enjoy that bit," he says. (Nonetheless, anyone who imagines that he is no longer Keith Richards in the moments when he is Grandpa Keith will be reassured by an intimate detail he shares of the kind of time they spend together: "They're well-trained...empty the ashtray...")

Just before I leave, I mention to him The New Yorker's succinct description of his book: "A slurry romp through the life of a man who knew every pleasure, denied himself nothing, and never paid the price".

"So far," he agrees. "I'm waiting for the check. But I'll gladly pay it. And I'll give you a tip on top. It was worth it."

···

Do you still carry a knife?

"Yeah. Not with me today. It's gone in for sharpening."

An abridged version of this story appears in the November 2011 issue of GQ

Read More http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/201111/survivors-music-portfolio-keith-richards-rolling-stones#ixzz1bpkZqzC8