Life by Keith Richards - Book Review

In this blog, I am going to be reviewing Life, which is the autobiography of the legendary guitarist, Keith Richards. Keith Richards is the lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones which is one of the most successful bands of all time, having sold more than 240 million records worldwide. The Stones are known for their guitar based music and they pioneered the gritty heavier sound that became the basis of hard rock that was to follow through. 

One of the reasons Keith Richards is considered one of the greatest guitarist of all time is that he had great sense of feel. In songs like Gimme Shelter which is about the Vietnam war, he uses only three chords and yet delivers what is perhaps the most ominous and mysterious intro in rock music. Other classic Stones songs such as (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and Jumping Jack Flash are driven by prominent guitar riffs only consisting of three notes and yet they are considered among the greatest riffs ever made. Richards is known as "rock's greatest creator of riffs".

Life chronicles Keith Richards’s journey from staring at an unknown future in a small town in England to filling arenas and touching millions with his music . He gives emphasis mainly on his career with The Rolling Stones, chronicling the chance meeting he had with his friend from school Mick Jagger, that eventually changed his life forever. During their early days, they used to perform covers of blues songs in small pubs around London, however their producer didn't see a career for them as cover artists and hence pushed Jagger and Richards to write songs together. Today, the Jagger-Richards songwriting combination is one of the most successful of all time. Richards also explains that the duo's collaborative nature and spontaneous creativity made the Jagger-Richards songwriting one of the most successful in history. 

Furthermore, one of my favorite things in the book is that Keith Richards also gave an insight to the foundation of his influential style of guitar playing. For guitarists like me, this was really amazing. He mentions his discovery of alternate tuning and how elated he was when he realized that this opened endless possibilities to writing songs. 

He also writes of the hedonistic life of excess of rockstars. He developed a heroin addiction that was extremely hard to get over. He would clean up for the tours but inevitably go back to them. He finally stopped when he realized the numerous arrests and raids by the police were taking a huge toll on him and his family. He also delves into his relationship with Mick jagger and wistfully writes that although they used to be tight friends at first, their relationship had deteriorated over the years. However, he still believes that Mick Jagger is the greatest frontman in show business. 

What was interesting for me was the fact that during their early days, the Stones would do extra gigs just to get enough money to be able to buy a new guitar or to get the attention of the record labels. This is poles apart from their status now due to their hardworking and passion for music. Although each band member is close to 80 now, they are still going to tour this year, showing their dedication and commitment. 

In conclusion, Life by Keith Richards is a fascinating chronicle of Keith’s rollercoaster ride to becoming an all-time legend, his musical genius, the dangerous life he lived and most importantly, his everlasting love for music. I highly recommend it for all the Rolling Stones fans😀