Keith Richards - Life
I think it's quite fitting that my first book review is about someone who, despite his amazingly crazy life, has become an idol and hero and inspiring figure for so many people just through his music. I grew up with the Rolling Stones. I'm signed up to every ticket email list possible as well as all their fan pages so that when they finally tour again (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE) I definitely get a ticket. I know it's morbid but they are getting old now and I really want to see them tour.
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have, either independently or colloboratively, written a song for every feeling I have ever had. I'd much rather listen to old music from the 60s than some of the trash that comes out now.
I guess from the outset of reading Richards's autobiography, I knew I was going to like. It's written in such a casual style that you really feel like he is talking to you; you see words written down that you can imagine him saying. Reading this book enhanced my personal connection to the Stones in so many ways, but even more so because Richards doesn't hide anything about his childhood. Jagger and Richards were both born in Dartford, Kent, which is not too far from me at all - I now feel a geographical allegiance to the band!
I read it in a couple of weeks because I enjoyed it so much. And it's weird because so much of the subject matter is out of my circle of understanding, like being a heroin addict or playing sell-out rock shows across the world, but I still found that I could really connect with the content. People say that when you meet people you admire they often don't live up to your expectations, but now I want to meet him and see them tour more than ever. Literally, this book gave me so much more knowledge about the Stones and showed how much there is out there in the world that I have yet to experience or even know about! The entire book felt completely genuine throughout. More than anything though, Richards's documentation of the creative process, meaning that the reader really knows where some of their favourite and most famous rock songs of all time have come from makes it an unbelievably rewarding read. This book makes the songs greater - I adore them all the more. A true idol, with such an exciting life it almost doesn't seem real.
If I ever get pets (I'd like dogs one day) I'm definitely going to call them Jagger and Keef.
