IT’S ONLY ROCK ’N ROLL…

Speaking to TG’S Paul Elliott in 1992, Keith Richards discussed the Rolling Stones, the blues, and using his Telecaster as a weapon

Classic Stones

“We had that roll going, from Beggarsbanquet (1968) through to Exileonmainst. (1972). It was almost a sense of cramming it all in while we could. With Exile, we didn’t just go to France to make a record. We took the family, everything – it was like Moses and the Red Sea. We ended up cutting the record in my basement, so I was living on top of the factory. It was a great album to make, and since there was nothing else to do but work, it became a double album.”

Falling asleep on stage

“There’s a reason why I rarely use wah-wah pedals anymore. Fooltocry is a slow song, and I’d been up a few nights, and playing this pedal just put me to sleep. But it also woke me up. When you put your foot down on one of those things, it goes, ‘ WAAAHHH!’ Suddenly I’m waking up to this screeching sound. And I realize it’s me making it. You can put that down to overwork.”

The power of the Telecaster

“This guy was on my turf (a fan jumped on stage at a Stones show in Hampton, Virginia in 1981), and I don’t know what his intentions [were]. It could be just to say, ‘Mick, I love you.’ Or he could put a knife in his back. It was a good shot. I just caught him with that Telecaster – wallop! And what really impressed me was that the guitar didn’t go out of tune.”

The blues

“Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf – all those guys were gents. It seemed to me that what they saw in us were some little babies coming home to roost. Electric blues can touch you in so many ways. And Muddy Waters was still playing as powerfully as he ever was ’til the day he died.”

Longevity

“I need to play. And if your music’s any good, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do it all the way down the road.”

My legacy

“What you leave behind is the records. Robert Johnson, Mozart – they’re dead and gone but the spirit is there forever, and that to me is the most interesting thing about recording. If it’s done right, it’s there forever. It’s immortal.”