Re: Keith Richards
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. OK, he's good, he's solid, with a great sound, but that good? Really? Ahead of so many others? 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.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
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