Keith Richards - Life

Keef has finally decided to tell his own story and he does it in an informal, casual way. For most of the book, it sounds as if someone was transcribing a conversation with Richards. He jumps around a bit, he throws in odd asides (towards the end he starts giving recipes for his version of bangers and mash!), gets a little snarky now and again, occasionally sounds like a bit of an ass (but don’t we all when looking back at our lives?) and even gives a glimmer into songwriting.

He has some harsh words for Mick, but also some high praise, as he does with most of the characters in the book. He has had relationships of all types, and his friends and lovers are quite varied. Not a lot of dirt here, but I for one, didn’t know about his intimate relationship with Ronnie Spector, which is enough to make most human males jealous.

I would have liked a bit more about the music and recording, though he does explain some bits and pieces, such as learning to use the open G tuning (which has been used on many of their biggest hits, such as “Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up”) from banjo tuning! And he does go into his & Mick's songwriting techniques a little.

Overall, any fan should definitely own and enjoy, though don’t look for a lot of detailed info. Still, a fun read.