Keith Richards - The Classic Interview

RC contributor Kris Needs picked a great (second) time to interview Keith Richards. 1983 saw The Human Riff out of his debilitating heroin addiction alive, and on the cusp of embarking upon what he later termed ‘World War Three’ with Mick Jagger. The Stones’ recording sessions had seen them essentially split into two camps: Jagger wanting to keep the group up with popular trends; Richards, the ‘beating heart’, preferring to stay true to their roots. This growing tension is touched upon almost as soon as the interview starts and, from thereon in, there’s plenty to interest the Stones fan – not least the tale that Ronnie Wood fancied Boy George until George turned out to be a man, or Richards’ dissection of the contemporary music scene. The 20-plus years recording quality isn’t great, and there are a number of meandering moments that show just why interviews should be edited (the bottle of Jack Daniels probably helped contribute to that). For the most part, however, Stones fans will love it, for a one-time listen at least. Richards is the consummate gentleman: it’s not every day that an interviewer gets invited back for a nightcap at the end of the day.