I just started on it, and I really like it.  I just finished the chapter on when the Rolling Stones toured England with the Ronnettes, and Keith writes about how he was in love with Ronnie Spector.  She liked him too, but nothing happened because she was with Phil Spector at the time (Enough said).  Keith wrote about how Ronnie was practically held prisoner by Phil, and how he would take her down into the basement of his LA home and show her a coffin, and he told her that she would end up in that coffin if she ever left him.  I'm glad Keith wrote about that, because it reminds me not to feel sorry for Spector now that he's in prison.  I don't care how much great music that man made, he is an asshole.

Very nearly finished it. I thought his descriptions of his heroin addiction were fascinating. He never became ill as he only got good stuff and from what he says didn't mainline, so less risk of OD. he did cold turkey several times before eventually getting clean. he implies it helped him work through long recording sessions, but he does sleep a lot!

 

I just finished the book, and it was a great read from start to finish.  For those of you who play guitar, Keith gives some tips that you may find useful.  

 

Keith Richards is the personification of rock'n'roll.

BTW, I'm finally up to the part when Keith tries heroin:)

I'm looking forward to your comments:)

sleazy said:

I'm planning to get the book in the near future :):)

I'm planning to get the book in the near future :):)

The stories about London after the war were interesting.  I can't imagine living through something like that.

G.G.Plant said:

I held out until I could listen to Depp and the English dude read the book to me while I drive around in my truck. Man, does he ever slam Brian Jones. That's where I'm at. I liked the London Blitz childhood shit too.

Oh, and fuck Phil Spector anyway.

I held out until I could listen to Depp and the English dude read the book to me while I drive around in my truck. Man, does he ever slam Brian Jones. That's where I'm at. I liked the London Blitz childhood shit too.

Oh, and fuck Phil Spector anyway.

BTW, I just finished the next chapter in which Keith writes about the Stones' first American tour, and how he did end up sleeping with Ronnie Spector after all (Good for him!).

 

 

I've read it, and it's quite good. The writer Richards enlisted clearly captured Richards' "voice" throughout the text, sometimes even including a few repetitious verbal tics. Like many biographies of this type, the least well-known details of the subject's life - childhood - are among the most fascinating. Richards also presents himself as more of a serial monogamist than a womanizer, unlike Bill Wyman, whose book "Stone Alone" consists largely of a full accounting of every groupie he ever encountered and every dollar he made (or was cheated out of). For a book of this length, I came away from it thinking it could have been at least twice as long because the most interesting parts to me were Keith's comments on the Stones' own music and recording sessions, and many of these were just treated in passing or ignored completely. As I would have expected, he gives the recording of "Exile on Main Street" a lot of attention because of the major influence he had on that album, but I would have like to read more about many of the other songs. But maybe leaving you wanting more is the sign of a good book, and for the most part "Life" is top-notch.