Keith Richards

Interesting video regarding the 5 string.
https://youtu.be/5AXETu9wnCE

Yes, interesting. Something I never knew about his guitar approach. I wonder if this is just for the studio or if he does this in concert as well. I've never noticed it in films. But then, in the Stones concert films I've seen, at least half the time the camera is on Mick and his antics. When they do show Keith and Ron, it seems the focus is on their faces, with their expressions and cigarettes as they play, and very little on the actually playing - and then, not closely enough to count the number of strings. I wonder.

I also wonder why, in Rolling Stone's most recent edition of their periodic list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time," Keith was #4. :disbelief: OK, he's good, he's solid, with a great sound, but that good? :confused: Really? :confused: Ahead of so many others? :confused: I mean ... is he even better than Nils Lofgren, who offered this adulation:

I remember being in junior high school, hearing "Satisfaction" and being freaked out by what it did to me. It's a combination of the riff and the chords moving underneath it. Keith wrote two-and three-note themes that were more powerful than any great solo. He played the vibrato rhythm and the lead guitar in "Gimme Shelter." I don't think anyone has ever created a mood that dark and sinister. There is a clarity between those two guitars that leaves this ominous space for Mick Jagger to sing through. Nobody does alternate tunings better than Keith. I remember playing the chorus to "Beast of Burden." I'm like, "These are the right chords, but they don't sound anything like Keith." He had some cool tuning, a beautiful chord so well-tuned that it sings. That is the core of every great guitar part on a Rolling Stones record. Keith finds the tuning that allows the work – the fretting, muting strings – to get out of the way of what he's feeling.

I went to see Keith with the X-Pensive Winos. In the dressing room, Keith started practicing a Chuck Berry riff. I'd never in my life heard it sound like that. I love Chuck Berry. But this was better. Not technically – there was an emotional content that spoke to me. What Chuck is to Keith, Keith is to me. - By Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band

Key Tracks: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Gimme Shelter"

Well, RS likes to mix things up now and then. Their recent list of 100 Greatest Albums is a real mind-blower. But fear not - Hendrix is still #1, then Clapton, then Page. :cool:

Apparently Keith learned the 'open G' tuning from Taj Mahal (or Ry Cooder) when the Stones were staying at Stills' house in Laurel Canyon (back in the day). Keith has made a living off it since.

I don't play electrics anymore, but I do still occasionally play Keef's greatest hits on my duolian.

I fell for a click bait news story about Bob Dylan caling the Stones the best band ever. I guess I should read it again.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dyl...olling-stones/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by catmandu2

Apparently Keith learned the 'open G' tuning from Taj Mahal

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Has there been a dicussion about tht mandolin sound in the Taj Mahal Folkways version of Bourgeois Blues?

He plays that tuning pretty much always. Very few exceptions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB8zPNRzSgQ

[QUOTEhttps://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dyl...olling-stones/[/QUOTE]

This appraisal of the Stones bugs me a bit. I am sure Mr. Dylan knows that the Stones re-invented themselves as the orphaned children of poor sharecropers from the American south.

Ya I don't know that Keith has worked in standard tuning at all since Let it Bleed. His guitar work isn't exceedingly technical - his essence is rhythm - after all it's only rock 'n roll. I think he and mick produced many of the best rockin guitar songs..

My guitar teacher often referred the guitar sounds of the Rolling Stones. What can be said in a few words?
Saturated without being cluttered, laid back, powerful momentum with out ever hurrying.
How much of a role does open G on a 5 string play on their sound?

"Start Me Up" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" aren't the same in standard tuning. Not even close. When I first played my Emando (JBbouvier) 5-string upon unpacking, the Stones "Sad, Sad, Sad" just came ringing out beautifully. I think the "saturated without being cluttered" description has a ton to do with the voicing in addition to the guitar and amp tones.

The British invasion sure did have good electronics and engineers.