Keith Richards

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Keith Richards is guitarist, songwriter and singer of The Rolling Stones. He was born in 1943 in Dartford, in the county of Kent. His grandfather, who toured England with a jazz big band, gave him his first guitar. Richards listened to Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, and later to Scotty Moore, Elvis's guitarist, and Chuck Berry, whose solos he learned to play for the most part. On a station platform he met his former schoolmate Mick Jagger again, with records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters under his arm. Together with Brian Jones they started The Rolling Stones in 1962.

Music and breakthrough

At the insistence of manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Jagger and Richards began writing songs themselves from 1963. In 1965 came (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, their first international number 1. According to Richards, the riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette recorder. From Aftermath (1966) the Stones' albums consisted mainly of their own work. Richards also sings himself, for example on Happy (1972), and made solo records such as Talk Is Cheap (1988) and Crosseyed Heart (2015).

Influence

Richards does not look for fast solos; his playing revolves around chords and rhythm. In the late 1960s he discovered open G tuning, in which he removes the lowest string and plays on five strings. That sound can be heard in Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar and Start Me Up. According to band members, the group does not follow the drummer, but Richards. His partnership with Jagger is among the most successful in pop history.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1988Talk Is Cheap
• 1992Main Offender
• 2015Crosseyed Heart

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 9: The Instrument^NL Reader

See also

• Main Offender