ROLLING  STONES   Live 20 DVD Concert Set 1964 - 2006

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 Rolling Stones Biography

  Founding: 1960-1962

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were classmates at Dartford Maypole County Primary School. In 1960, the two became reacquainted while Richards was attending the Sidcup Art College and Jagger was a student at the London School of Economics. With mutual friend Dick Taylor (later of Pretty Things), they formed the band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.  Stones founders Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were also active in the nascent London R & B scene; Jones played with the Ramrods and Blues Inc., a band that featured Jagger, Richards and future Stones drummer Charlie Watts. In June 1962 the Stones lineup was Jagger, Richards, Stewart, Jones, Taylor, and drummer Tony Chapman. Taylor left the group, which renamed itself The Rolling Stones, after a Muddy Waters song.

 1962-1964

On 12 July 1962 the group played its first gig at the Marquee club in London, billed as "The Rollin' Stones". Line-up was Jagger, Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart on piano, Taylor on bass and Tony Chapman on drums. Jones intended the band to play primarily Chicago Blues, but Jagger and Richards brought the Rock n' Roll of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. After shifting formations Bassist Bill Wyman and Drummer Charlie Watts became the Stones' long standing rhythm section.

The Beatles recommended the Stones to future manager Andrew Loog Oldham, and encouraged Decca Records to sign the band. The Stones' popularity encouraged UK record companies to sign other Rhythm And Blues bands. Their first EP and first album contained mostly cover songs pulled from their live shows. After signing with Decca, the Stones began touring the UK and Europe. On the first tour of England the Stones were packaged with American stars including Ike and Tina Turner, Bo Diddley, The Ronettes, The Everly Brothers and Little Richard - the latter of whom taught Mick Jagger basics of showmanship.

The first tour also cemented the Stones' shift from a Rhythm and Blues band to more of a pop band, resulting in a drastic reduction in the number of blues songs the band played live. The Rolling Stones No. 2 (The Rolling Stones, Now! in the United States) (UK #1; US #5) again contained mainly cover tunes, but was augmented by the songs by Jagger/Richards. The band began a schedule of constant touring, and they recorded in America, at Chess Studios in Chicago and RCA Studios in Los Angeles.

On their first American tour in June 1964, the Stones appeared on national variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and the"The Hollywood Palace" where host Dean Martin made fun of the Stones' longish hair, which was considered provocative and rebellious.

 1965-1969

Jagger and Richards wrote their 1st UK no.1 with "The Last Time" in early 1965. The US version of that year's Out of Our Heads LP contained seven original songs including "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" which was the first of many number one hits for the Stones. With Aftermath (UK #1; US #2) (1966), was the first Stones album to have Jagger/Richards songs exclusively. Aftermath included the almost twelve-minute long "Going Home": the first extended jam on a chart-topping rock and roll album. 

In 1967 Jagger and Richards were arrested after a police raid on a party in Richards' home, and were subsequently convicted on 'trumped-up' drug-related charges.  A famous editorial in The Times, formerly a staunch bastion of the establishment, protested that the sentences were "...more severe sentence than would have been thought proper for any purely anonymous young sexy man" was shortly followed by the quashing of Richards' conviction on appeal, and Jagger's prison sentence being reduced to a conditional discharge. In May 1967, shortly prior to the Jagger/Richards trial, Brian Jones was arrested for the possession of cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine.  He escaped with a fine and probation, but was told he had to seek professional help.

The band recorded a new single, "We Love You", as a thank you for the loyalty shown by their fans during their trial. The record featured guest appearances on backing vocals from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and opens with the sounds of footsteps and a cell door banging shut. The promotional film for the song compared the Stones' persecution and trial to that of Oscar Wilde, portraying Jagger as Wilde receiving sentence from Richards' Marquess of Queensberry.

Work then commenced on a new psychedelic album, which Jagger envisioned as the group's equivalent of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  The record, which would eventually be released as Their Satanic Majesties Request (UK #3; US #2), was recorded in difficult circumstances with various members of the band living under the threat of imprisonment. Bill Wyman had one of his on the album, "In Another Land", written by him, sung by him, and even released as a B-side single under his own name. The front cover of the album bears a remarkable similarity to the montage of the Sgt. Pepper album, which gave ammunition to critics (including John Lennon) who accused the Stones of riding in The Beatles' slipstream. The first 25,000 copies of the record had a 3D sleeve.

The release in May 1968 of the single "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and, later that year, the album Beggars Banquet (UK #3; US #5), saw the band return to its blues roots aided by producer Jimmy Miller. Richards started using open tunings, most prominently a 5 string open-G tuning (with the lower 6th string removed)heard on the 1969 single "Honky Tonk Women", "Brown Sugar" (Sticky Fingers, 1971), "Tumbling Dice", "Happy", (Exile On Main Street, 1972), and "Start Me Up" (Tattoo You, 1981). Brian Jones became less involved with the band, and his inability to tour the US again due to visa troubles led to his removal from the band on June 8. His replacement was the twenty year-old guitarist Mick Taylor formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, who started sessions with the band immediately and even replaced Jones' contribution to "Honky Tonk Women". Jones retreated to his Cotchford Farm home in Sussex, where he died in his pool less than a month after his exit from the band.

Mick Taylor (left) with Keith Richards

 1969-1974

Despite Brian Jones' sudden death, the Hyde Park concert went ahead in front of an audience of 200,000 fans. The band's performance was captured by a Granada Television production team, later to be shown on British television as Stones in the Park. The band had just released the first recording with the new lineup, "Honky Tonk Women". It was released on 3 July 1969, coinciding with the death of Jones, and remains the band's last number 1 single in the UK. Let It Bleed (UK #1; US #3) followed in December and was rapidly hailed as another classic, featuring the "Gimme Shelter", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Midnight Rambler", and Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain".

In November, the band set off on their 1969 U.S. Tour. American audiences were no longer drowning out the music with their screaming but had become critical listeners. The tour culminated with the staging of the Altamont Free Concert, at the then-disused Altamont Speedway located about forty miles east of San Francisco. The concert was a chaotic disaster in part due to the hiring of a local chapter of the Hells Angels to undertake general security. Meredith Hunter, a young man, was stabbed and beaten to death by the Angels. The Altamont concert was documented in Albert and David Maysles' film Gimme Shelter.

The live recording Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! (UK #1; US #6) (1970) documented this tour. Considered by critic Lester Bangs the best live record ever, the Stones paid their dues to Chuck Berry with renditions of "Little Queenie" and "Carol", staples from their pub days in south London. 1969 saw the end of the band's 1963 contract with Decca Records when they formed their own record company.

Sticky Fingers (UK #1; US #1), released in March 1971 as the band's first album on their own Rolling Stones Records label containing one of their best known hits, "Brown Sugar", the country-influenced "Wild Horses", and a version of "Sister Morphine" on which Marianne Faithfull would be credited a co-writer. Mick Taylor collaborated on several songs with Jagger, partially because of Richards' substance addictions and resulting unreliability. However, all the songs were credited as usual to "Jagger/Richards".

As Keith Richards' problems with drugs deepened, Mick Jagger married the Nicaraguan political activist Bianca Perez Morena de Macias and began a jet-set lifestyle. Pressured by the UK Inland Revenue service for several years of unpaid income tax, the band moved abroad to the South of France. Richards rented a chateau, Villa Nellcôte, former headquarters for the local Nazi SS during the Second World War, and sublet rooms to the band members and entourage. Using The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio they continued recording the double album that was started in England and finished in Los Angeles, Exile on Main St. (UK #1; US #1) (1972). Given an A+ grade by critic Robert Christgau and disparaged by Lester Bangs - who reversed his opinion within months, Exile is now commonly accepted as one of their best albums. The film Cocksucker Blues, never officially released, documents the subsequent, highly publicised 1972 North American ("STP") Tour, with its retinue of jet set hangers-on. The band's early 1973 Pacific Tour saw them banned from playing in Japan and almost banned from Australia.

The Rolling Stones on tour, 1972.

In November 1972 the band began sessions in Kingston, Jamaica for their followup to Exile, Goats Head Soup (UK #1; US #1) (1973). The album would spawn the worldwide hit "Angie", but would prove to be the first in a string of decent selling but tepidly received studio albums. The sessions for Goats Head Soup would also spawn a number of outtakes, most notably an early version of the popular ballad "Waiting on a Friend" which would not be released until Tattoo You, eight years later. The making of the record was not helped by another legal battle over drugs, this one dating back to their stay in France. At Musicland studios in Munich to record the next album, 1974's It's Only Rock 'n Roll (UK #2; US #1), Jimmy Miller, who had drug abuse issues, was no longer producer as Jagger and Richards assumed production credits as "the Glimmer Twins". Both album and the single of the same name were hits, even without an immediate tour to promote them.

Nearing the end of 1974, Taylor had begun to get impatient because there had been no tours since October 1973. The band found itself in stalemate, with band members opting to spend their time abroad between recording sessions while Jagger was getting increasingly exasperated with Richards, whose behaviour was becoming more and more unpredictable. The other members of the band ended up paying for the fines and legal bills resulting from Richards' convictions, which also led to the entire band being denied entry to certain countries and meant missed out income for all. Taylor spent his time helping Jagger composing and recording songs in the studio while Richards was often absent. Jagger promised Taylor he would get recognition for his contributions in the form of official credits on tracks from Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock'n Roll. When this did not happen and it transpired that there was still no tour in sight by the end of 1974, with a recording session already booked in Munich to record another new album, Taylor quit The Rolling Stones. 

1974-1982

For Black and Blue (UK #2; US #1) (1976), The Stones used the recording sessions in Munich to audition replacements for Taylor. Guitarists as stylistically far-flung as Humble Pie lead Peter Frampton and ex-Yardbirds virtuoso Jeff Beck were auditioned. American session players Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel appeared on much of the album, but the band settled on Ron Wood who had recorded and played live with Richards and already contributed to the recording and writing of It's Only Rock 'n Roll. Woods eventually left The Faces to commit to the Stones in 1974. The 1975 Tour of the Americas featured stage props including a giant inflatable phallus and a rope on which Jagger would swing out over the audience.

Toronto's El Mocambo Club where Love You Live was recorded.

Although The Rolling Stones remained popular through the first half of the 1970s, music critics had grown increasingly dismissive of the band's output and record sales had failed to meet expectations. However, Keith Richards would have more serious concerns in 1977. Richards' addiction to heroin delayed his arrival in Toronto for a planned live recording session at the El Mocambo club. Jagger had chosen to record in Toronto to balance out a long overdue live album, 1977's Love You Live (UK #3; US #5) would be the Stones first live album since 1970's Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!. All the Stones had assembled and were waiting for Richards when they sent him a telegram asking him where he was. Richards and his family flew in from London and were caught by Canada customs with a burnt spoon and hash residue. A day later, armed with legal arrest warrants for Anita Pallenberg, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered "22 grams of heroin"in Richards' room. The initial charge was importing narcotics into Canada, which carried a minimum seven-year sentence upon conviction. Later the Crown prosecutor conceded Richards had procured the drugs after arrival. Despite the arrest, the band played two shows in Toronto, only to raise more controversy when the estranged and eventually divorced wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was seen partying with the band after the show. The case would drag on for over a year. Richards eventually received a suspended sentence and was ordered to play two free concerts for a local charity. This sparked one of Richards' first musical projects outside of the Stones (with more to come as Jagger's own solo interests dawned in the 1980s), as he and Wood formed a band, The New Barbarians, to perform at the shows. This motivated a final, concerted attempt to end his drug habit, which proved largely successful. It also coincided with the end of his relationship with Anita Pallenberg, which had become increasingly strained since the death of their third child (an infant son named Tara) and her own inability to curb her heroin addiction while Keith struggled to get clean.

While Richards was settling his legal and personal problems, Jagger continued his jet-set lifestyle. He was a regular at New York's Studio 54 disco club, often in the company of model Jerry Hall. His marriage to Bianca would end in 1977. By this time punk rock had become highly influential, and the Stones were increasingly criticised as being decadent, aging millionaires and their music considered by many to be either stagnant or irrelevant. The Clash vocalist Joe Strummer even went so far as to declare "no Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones" in their song "1977".

Charlie Watts Hannover

In 1978, the band recorded Some Girls (UK #2; US #1) including the disco-influenced "Miss You" (a hit single and a live staple) and the country ballad "Far Away Eyes". In part a response to punk, many songs were fast, basic guitar-driven rock 'n' roll. The group's subsequent US Tour 1978, though dogged by frequently sloppy drunken performances, was nevertheless a massive success. However the group did not tour Europe the following year, breaking the every-three-year touring routine of Europe in place since 1967.

Entering the 1980s on a renewed commercial high due to the success of Some Girls, the next album Emotional Rescue (UK #1; US #1), released in mid-1980. The recording of the album was reportedly plagued in turmoil, with Jagger and Richards' relationship reaching a new low. Richards, more sober than at any time during the previous ten years, had begun to assert more control in the studio again - more than Jagger had become used to, and a power struggle had ensued and clashes were rife. Though Emotional Rescue hit the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, it was panned by critics as a lackluster and inconsistent effort. Following a bogged (due to an extremely drunken Richards) press conference to announce its release, the group decided not to tour in support of the album and went on hiatus.

In early 1981 the group reconvened and decided they would tour the US that year, which would not however leave much time to write and record a new album to promote the tour as well as rehearse for it. That year's resulting album, Tattoo You (UK #2; US #1) featured "Start Me Up". Several songs on the album ("Waiting on a Friend" and "Tops") featured Mick Taylor's guitar playing, while jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins played on "Slave" and did an overdub on "Waiting on a Friend".

In mid-1981, the band rehearsed for its upcoming US tour at Studio Instrument Rentals (SIR) at West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, the site of the former Cheetah Club. During this time at SIR, the Stones recorded the music video "Start Me Up" in rehearsal studio #1. They also recorded the "Waiting On a Friend" video in the streets of Manhattan's East Village around the same time. The Stones' American Tour 1981 was their biggest, longest and most colourful stage production to date, playing indoor arenas and outdoor stadiums for over 3 months, and became the highest grossing tour of that year. Some shows were recorded and filmed, resulting in the 1982 live-album Still Life (American Concert 1981) (UK #4 / US #5), and in the 1982 Hal Ashby concert film The Rolling Stones: Let's Spend The Night Together.

In mid-1982, to commemorate their 20th anniversary as a band, the Stones' took their successful American stage show to Europe. European Tour 1982 was their first European tour in six years, and was joined by former Allman Brothers Band piano player Chuck Leavell who continues to play and record with the Stones to this day. By the end of the year they signed a new multi-million dollar recording deal with a new label, CBS Records.

 1983-1993

Throughout the early and mid 1980s the Jagger/Richards partnership continued to falter, and their records suffered. 1983's Undercover (UK #3; US #4) was Jagger's attempt to make The Rolling Stones' sound more compatible with current musical trends. Despite initial critical enthusiasm (Rolling Stone gave the album four and a half stars), its slick production, violent political and sexual content (including the controversial violent images in the video for "Undercover of the Night" and the slasher film-inspired lyrics of "Too Much Blood) were coolly received by fans. Because of this and the lack of a supporting tour Undercover sold below expectations. As well, Ron Wood had begun using increasing amounts of drugs.

When the Stones had signed their recording contract with CBS Records in 1982, Jagger had also signed a major solo record deal with them. This angered Richards who saw it as a lack of commitment to the band. Jagger recorded his first solo album (She's the Boss) in 1984. Bill Wyman put together a video compilation called Rewind with Jagger's help. CBS released a companion hits compilation from 1971-1984 called Rewind (UK #23 / US #86). In 1985 pianist, road manager and long-time friend Ian Stewart died of a heart attack. According to Richards, Stewart's death left the band without a moderating force that had helped hold the band together.

Jagger spent more time on his solo recordings than on the Stones', and much of the material on 1986's Dirty Work (UK #4; US #4) was authored by Keith Richards, with more contributions by Ron Wood than on previous Stones' albums. Jagger refused to tour in support of the record because of the poor health of Richards, Wood, and Watts. When the Stones were awarded a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Richards was critical of Jagger. By 1988, neither the quality nor the sales of Jagger's solo records, She's the Boss (UK #6; US #13) (1985) and Primitive Cool (UK #26; US #41) (1987)), lived up to expectations. Keith Richards' first solo record, Talk is Cheap (UK #37; US #24) (1988) garnered a much better reception from fans and critics.

In early 1989, The Rolling Stones, including Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood along with Ian Stewart (posthumously), were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jagger and Richards appeared to have developed a new understanding and appreciation for each other, and they recorded a new album as The Rolling Stones, which would eventually become Steel Wheels (UK #2; US #3). Widely heralded at the time as a return to form, the slick conventional-rock album included the hit singles "Mixed Emotions", "Rock And A Hard Place" and "Almost Hear You Sigh". As well, the album included the song "Continental Drift", which included playing by musicians from the Moroccan mountain village of Jajouka. This song was recorded by Brian Jones during the ill-fated 1967 trip to North Africa with Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg.

The subsequent US Steel Wheels Tour saw the Stones touring for the first time in seven years (since Europe 1982), and it was their biggest stage production to date. By the time the massive tour reached Europe in 1990, it had changed its name to the Urban Jungle Tour. Recordings made from the tour produced the 1991 live-album Flashpoint (UK #6; US #16). The live album also included two new songs recorded in 1991, the hit single "Highwire", and "Sex Drive". This tour was the last for Bill Wyman who, after years of deliberation and unwillingness to tour any longer, finally left the band in 1993. He then published Stone Alone, a frank autobiography.

 1993-1999

After Bill Wyman's departure, the band continued as a foursome, and in 1991, signed a new recording contract with Virgin Records. Virgin remastered and repackaged The Rolling Stones Records back catalog (Sticky Fingers through Steel Wheels sans the three live albums) and issued a new hits compilation in 1993 Jump Back (UK #16; US #30), which basically replaced the 1984 classic hits comp Rewind. Along with long time Stones piano player Chuck Leavell they set upon recording their next studio album in 1993. Charlie Watts was asked to choose a bass player, and he selected the respected session musician and Miles Davis and Sting sideman Darryl Jones, who appeared on the subsequent studio album Voodoo Lounge (UK #1; US #2) (1994) and played on the worldwide 1994-1995 Voodoo Lounge Tour, another massive stage production. Voodoo Lounge received praise from fans and critics, though it failed to achieve the acclaim or popularity of the Stones' 1970s records.

During the world tour they recorded various shows and rehearsals and the result was the 1995 album Stripped (UK #9 / US #9) which featured a cover of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" as well as other classic underplayed Stones songs like "Shine a Light", "Sweet Virginia" and "The Spider and the Fly".

The Rolling Stones ended the 1990s with their album Bridges to Babylon (UK #6; US #3) released in 1997 to mixed reviews. Darryl Jones was brought back and has remained with the band since. Despite its failed singles, Babylon sales were reasonably the same as previous records. However, the huge success was the Bridges to Babylon Tour which crossed Europe, North America and various other destinations. Once again a live album was culled from the tour, No Security (UK #67 / US #34), only this time all but two songs ("Live With Me" and "The Last Time") were never released on any previous live albums. In 1999 they staged the No Security Tour in the U.S. as well as continued and finished the Babylon tour in Europe.

2000-present

In 2002, The Rolling Stones released Forty Licks (UK #2; US #2) - a greatest hits album that spanned their career - that contained four new songs recorded with the latter day core band of Jagger, Richards, Watts, Wood, Leavell and Jones. The same year, Q magazine named The Rolling Stones as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", and the 2002-2003 Licks Tour gave people that chance. On 30 July 2003, the band headlined the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to help the city - which they had frequently used for pre-tour rehearsals - recover financially and psychologically from the effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic. It was attended by an estimated 490,000 people.

On 9 November 2003, the band played its first concert in Hong Kong as part of the Harbour Fest celebration, also in support of SARS. In November of 2003 the band exclusively licensed the right to sell their new 4-DVD boxed set, Four Flicks, recorded on their most recent world tour, to the U.S. Best Buy chain of stores. In response, other music retail chains (including Tower Records, Virgin Megastore and HMV) pulled all Rolling Stones CDs and related merchandise from their shelves and replaced them with signs explaining the situation.

On July 26, 2005, Jagger's birthday, the band announced the name of their new album, A Bigger Bang (UK #2; US #3), which was released September 6 to typically strong reviews, including a glowing write up in Rolling Stone (often noted for its consistent support of the group). The album included perhaps the most controversial song from the Stones in years, "Sweet Neo Con", a criticism of American Neoconservatism from Jagger. The song was reportedly almost dropped from the album due to objections from Richards, who prefers to avoid overtly political or topical songs, because he believes that such songs rarely stand the test of time.

The subsequent A Bigger Bang Tour began in August 2005, and visited North America, South America, East Asia in a mixture of venues. In February 2006 the group played the high-profile slot of half-time of Super Bowl XL. By the end of 2005, the tour had set a record of $162 million gross receipts, breaking the previous North American mark also set by the Stones in 1994. Later that month the band played to a massive crowd of 1.5 million (estimate) on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro in a free concert. After performances Down Under, Keith Richards went to the hospital on May 2006 for brain surgery after an apparent fall from a coconut tree on the island of Fiji, causing a six week postponement in the European leg of the tour.

The following month, it was reported that Ron Wood was entering rehab for a couple of weeks following increased recent alcohol abuse. The Stones returned to North America for another round of concerts in September 2006, and are expected to return to Europe in mid-2007. By November 2006, A Bigger Bang Tour had been declared the highest-grossing tour of all time, earning the band $437 million. The North American leg brought in the third-highest receipts ever ($138.5 million), trailing their own 2005 tour ($162 million) and U2 that same year ($138.9 million).  The Stones played Horsens, Denmark for 85,000 people, which was the highest amount of people on the scheduled part of the tour. They will play Copenhagen later this year.

In November 2006, the band released a tour diary entitled T.O.T.A '75 which chronicles earlier tours from up to thirty years ago. In December of the same year a commercial for a major credit card appeared using the Stones song I'm Free as the background music. In late October 2006, filmmaker Martin Scorsese filmed the Stones during several live performances at New York City's Beacon Theater, featuring an audience that included several world leaders for release as a documentary in 2007 (tentatively titled Shine a Light).  On March 24th 2007, the band announced a tour of Europe called the "Bigger Bang 2007" tour. June 12th 2007 will see the release of the Stones' second four-disc DVD set entitled The Biggest Bang, a seven hour document featuring the band's shows in Austin, Rio de Janeiro, Saitama, Japan, Shanghai, and Buenos Aires, as well as extras. Again, as with their first DVD set, the collection will be sold exclusively through Best Buy.

On March 27, 2007 Fox News Channel reported that the Stones have been confirmed as one of the artists taking part in the Live Earth concerts on July 7, 2007. However, the Stones will not perform because it would interfere with their concert in Rome on July 6. On June 10, 2007, Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie performed their first gig at a festival in 30 years, at the Isle of Wight Festival, to a crowd of 50,000. Keith Richards had a role on Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End as Captain Teague, Jack Sparrow's father and Keeper of the Pirate's Code.

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Kieth Richards Biography

Keith Richards

Kieth (born 18 December 1943) is an English guitarist, songwriter, singer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones in 1962. With songwriting partner and Stones lead vocalist Mick Jagger, he has written, recorded and published hundreds of songs including "Satisfaction", "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Miss You" and "Start Me Up". Though he has had a solo career and appears as a guest artist on the recordings of other artists, his association with the Stones has defined his musical career. As a guitarist Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm playing. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Richards #10 in its list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Early life

Richards, the only child of Bert Richards and Doris Dupree, was born at Livingstone Hospital, East Hill in Dartford, Kent. His father was a factory labourer slightly injured during World War II, and Richards' paternal grandparents were socialists and civic leaders. His maternal grandfather (Augustus Theodore Dupree) toured Britain as a jazz/big band musician who influenced his grandson's ambition to become a musician. Richards' mother also introduced Richards to the music of Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Richards attended Wilmington Grammar School for Boys, and then Sidcup Art College where he devoted more time to playing guitar than his proper studies. As an adolescent, Richards was a teddy boy who played in various skiffle groups as was common at the time. Richards left the College and moved into a flat with Jagger and Brian Jones, the Stones' other guitarist, in 1962. His parents subsequently divorced.

Musical career

Guitar playing

Richards has derived inspiration from Chuck Berry throughout his career. While The Rolling Stones were conceived as a rhythm and blues band, both Jagger and Richards were responsible for bringing the rock 'n' roll songs of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry to the band. With Stones founding member and guitarist Brian Jones, Richards developed a two-guitar style of interwoven leads and rhythms. Jones was replaced by the virtuoso guitarist Mick Taylor (1969 – 1974), who contributed to some of the group's most well-regarded records. Taylor's addition also led to a pronounced separation in the duties of lead and rhythm guitar. Taylor's replacement in 1975 was the more rhythmically-oriented Ron Wood. Richards says the pairing with Wood has resulted in his most musically satisfying years with in The Stones.

Richards often uses guitars with open tunings which allow for syncopated and ringing I-IV chording that can be heard on "Start Me Up" and "Street Fighting Man." A five-string variant of the open G (borrowed from Don Everly of the Everly Brothers) which uses GDGBD and is unencumbered by a rumbling, lower 6th string, is prominent on "Honky Tonk Women," "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up". Though he still uses standard tunings, Richards claimed that his adoption of open tunings in the late sixties led to a musical "rebirth". When Jones' declining contributions left Richards to record all guitar parts - including slide guitar. After Taylor and later Wood, both accomplished slide players, joined the band, Richards almost completely stopped playing slide .

Richards - who has over 1000 guitars, some of which he has not played but was simply given - is often associated with the Fender Telecaster, but his main guitar of late appears to be an ebony Gibson ES-355, and he has often played Fender Stratocasters. It is often hard to detect by ear what guitar he plays. In Guitar World he joked that no matter what make of guitar, he can make them sound the same. On The Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Richards recorded the first top ten hit to feature a guitar fuzz effect which has since become commonplace. Though in the 1970s and early 80s he used guitar effects frequently, since then he has rarely used effects. Richards considers the acoustic guitar as the basis for his playing, and many Stones hits including "Not Fade Away", "Satisfaction", "Street Fighting Man" and "Brown Sugar" feature acoustic guitar parts.

Richards' backing vocals appear on every Stones album. From 1969's Let It Bleed, most Stones' releases contained a Richards lead vocal. He has also contributed occasional bass and keyboard parts. Richards has always been active in record production for the Stones and for himself, often in tandem with Mick Jagger (as the Glimmer Twins) and outside producers.

Songwriting

Richards and Jagger began writing songs following the example of the Beatles' Lennon/McCartney and the encouragement of Stone's manager Oldham, who saw little future for a cover band. The Stones had many hits with Jagger/Richards-penned songs; 1965's "Satisfaction" was their first international #1 recording. Jagger/Richards songs reflected the influence of blues, R&B, and rock 'n' roll, and later incorporated soul, folk, pop, country, gospel, psychedelia, and the social commentary that Bob Dylan made prominent on Top 40 radio. Their work in the 1970s and beyond has incorporated elements of funk, disco, calypso, reggae, and punk. Since 1980 with "All About You", Richards has frequently written and recorded slow, torchy ballads.

With scattered exceptions, all Rolling Stones albums from 1966 onwards have consisted of songs credited to Jagger/Richards regardless of how much collaboration occurred. For solo recordings, Richards always credits a songwriting partner, frequently drummer and co-producer Steve Jordan.

Solo recordings

Richards released a solo single, "Run Rudolph Run", and toured with The New Barbarians in 1979, consisting of Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, bassist Stanley Clarke and Meters drummer Ziggy Modeliste. Nonetheless Richards resisted sustained ventures outside of the Stones. Consequently his solo recordings are fewer than those of Jagger, Charlie Watts, and even Ronnie Wood.

When Jagger refused to tour behind Dirty Work, Richards actively pursued solo work. He formed Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos in 1988 (first named Organized Crime) with Steve Jordan, who had drummed on the Stones' "Dirty Work" and on Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll, a documentary of Chuck Berry's 60th birthday concert organized, produced and hosted by Richards.

Besides Steve Jordan, the X-pensive Winos featured Sarah Dash, Waddy Wachtel, Ivan Neville, Charley Drayton and Bernie Worrell. Their first release, Talk Is Cheap produced no Top 40 hits, though it went gold and has remained a consistent seller. It spawned a brief U.S. tour - one of only two that Richards has done as a solo artist. The first tour is documented on the Virgin release Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988. In 1992 Main Offender was released, and the Winos toured again through North and South America as well as Europe.

Richards' solo career put him in the role of frontman, and the Hollywood Palladium concert video showed a more active stage persona than the Richards seen in the documentary of the Stones' 1969 American tour, Gimme Shelter. Jagger and Richards resumed working with the Stones in 1989, the year they released Steel Wheels.

Recordings with other artists

Richards rarely recorded or appeared outside of The Rolling Stones during the 1960s and 70s. Exceptions were Richards playing bass with John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell as The Dirty Mac for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV special, and Keith singing with Mick and several guests on The Beatles' TV broadcast of "All You Need Is Love". In the 1970s Richards played and helped produce John Phillips' solo recording Pay, Pack & Follow, (released in 2001). He also appeared on some of Ronnie Wood's solo recordings in the 1970s. From the 1980s on Richards has more frequently appeared as a guest artist. He duetted with country legend George Jones on the Bradley Barn Sessions, singing "Say it's not You" as an homage to deceased friend Gram Parsons, and on a Hank Williams tribute album Timeless ("You Win Again"). He has also appeared on veteran blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin's About Them Shoes, singing lead vocal on "Still a Fool". He contributed guitar and vocals, and co-produced Johnnie Johnson's release "Johnny B. Bad". In the early 1990s Richards played and produced a recording of Jamaican Rastafarians, The Wingless Angels releasing the collaboration on his own label, Mindless Records. He has also recorded with Tom Waits, playing guitar on several songs on Rain Dogs (1985), and playing on, singing and co-writing "That Feel" on Bone Machine (1992). Richards also played with Toots & the Maytals on the song Careless Ethiopians for their 2004 album True Love.

In 2006, Richards appeared in the video "God's Gonna Cut You Down" as a tribute to country legend Johnny Cash.

Rare and unreleased recordings

The Stones recently released Rarities 1971-2003 (2006), which includes sixteen rare and limited-issue recordings. Richards has described the released output of the Stones as the "tip of the iceberg." Many unreleased songs and studio jam sessions including their BBC recordings from the early 1960s are widely-bootlegged. Many bootlegs feature Richards singing, include the post-bust 1977 Canadian studio sessions, 1981 studio sessions, 1983 wedding tapes, among others. Since unreleased recordings often appear as post-career or posthumous releases - and also due to tangled legal complexities with past management - many of these recordings are available only as bootlegs - often as MP3 files on peer-to-peer sharing programs.

Public image and private life

Richards, who has been frank about his habits, has earned notoriety for his drug-related decadent outlaw image. Two famous arrests came ten years apart, the first in 1967 with Jagger and friends at Redlands, Richards' Sussex estate, which placed him in custody and trial before the court of public opinion and Her Majesty. The Times editorial "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" portrayed the trial as persecution and helped turn public sentiment against the conviction which was quashed after two days of imprisonment. The case also began a succession of drug arrests for Richards that continued until the late 1970s.

More threatening was the arrest in February 1977 at Toronto's Harbour Castle Hotel (Regina v. Richards) when Richards was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for "22 grams of heroin" and was charged with importing narcotics, an offence with a minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment according to the Criminal Code of Canada.

For the next three years, Richards lived under threat of criminal sanction as he sought medical treatment in the U.S. for heroin addiction. During this period, The Rolling Stones released their biggest-selling album (eight million copies), Some Girls, which included their last North American number-one pop chart single, "Miss You". After the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld Richards' original sentence, he paid his debt to society by performing two benefit concerts for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind at Oshawa Civic Auditorium on April 22, 1979. Both concerts featured The Rolling Stones and The New Barbarians, a band Ron Wood had formed to promote his album Gimmie Some Neck.

Later in 1979, Keith met future wife and model Patti Hansen. They married 18 December 1983, Richards's 40th birthday, and have two daughters, Theodora and Alexandra.

Richards continues cordial relations with Anita Pallenberg, the mother of his first three children, and often refers to having two wives, although he never officially married Pallenberg. Together they have a son, Marlon Richards (named after the actor Marlon Brando), and another daughter, Angela (nee Dandelion). Their third child, a boy Tara (named after Keith's close friend Tara Browne), died several weeks after his birth in 1976.

Recent news

Doris Richards, Keith's 91-year-old mother lost her battle with cancer and passed away in England on April 21, 2007. In an official statement released by a Richards representative, it was said Richards, her only child, kept a vigil by her bedside during her last days.

In an April 2007 interview with the British music magazine NME, Richards tells other musicians not to follow his example when it comes to drug use, claiming he is lucky to be alive after his years of substance abuse. However, when asked what is the strangest thing he has ever snorted, he said "The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.". Afterwards, Richards' manager pointed out that the statement was untrue and was "said in jest". Keith Richards released an official statement to refute the reported quote.

"The complete story is lost in the usual slanting. The truth of the matter is that I planted a sturdy English Oak. I took the lid off the box of ashes and he is now growing oak trees and would love me for it. I was trying to say how tight Bert and I were. That tight. I wouldn't take cocaine at this point in my life unless I wished to commit suicide."

Back stage at the March 12, 2007 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Richards was asked about another possible solo album and tour with the X-pensive Winos. He stated that "the guys are calling me up, I have a feeling something might be bubbling. Once again it's all up in the air, but I'd love to do it."

Richards at the Pirates 3 premiere

Richards made a cameo appearance as the father of Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp), Captain Teague in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Depp has stated that he based Sparrow's mannerisms on Richards. According to castmate Bill Nighy, Richards was so drunk on the set that director Gore Verbinski had to hold his shins steady while he filmed his scenes.

In September 2006, Richards claimed he has quit taking drugs, not for health reasons, but because they were not strong enough anymore.

In August 2006 Richards was granted a pardon by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee for a 1975 reckless driving citation.

On 27 April 2006, Richards, while vacationing in Fiji, suffered a head injury. On May 22, an official press release confirmed that Richards had returned to his home in Weston, Connecticut.The Rolling Stones announced a revised tour schedule on June 2, which included a brief statement from Richards apologising for "falling off his perch". The band will tour in Europe in 2007 to make up for some missed dates as a result of the accident. The 2007 tour will start in Belgium on June 5, 2007, as confirmed by Mick Jagger.

In his book Alien Rock: The Rock 'n' Roll Extraterrestrial Connection, Michael C. Luckman wrote that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards claimed to had experienced close encounters with UFOs.

 Mick Jagger Biography

Early life

Jagger was born into a middle-class family at Livingstone Hospital, East Hill, Dartford, Kent, England. His father, Basil Fanshawe ("Joe") Jagger (6 April 1913 – 11 November 2006), and his paternal grandfather, David Ernest Jagger, were both teachers; his mother, Eva Ensley Mary Scutts (13 April 1913 – 18 May 2000), an Australian immigrant to England, was an active member of the Conservative Party. Jagger was the older of two sons and was raised to follow in his father's career path. According to Jagger in the book According to the Rolling Stones, "I was always a singer. I always sang as a child. I was one of those kids who just liked to sing. Some kids sing in choirs; others like to show off in front of the mirror. I was in the church choir and I also loved listening to singers on the radio - the BBC or Radio Luxemburg - or watching them on TV and in the movies." Academically successful, he attended Dartford Grammar School where he passed 3 A-levels, before entering the London School of Economics on a scholarship. He studied for a degree in accounting and finance, but attended for less than a year and did not graduate, leaving to pursue a musical career. School legend has it that Jagger was asked to leave the London School of Economics after an incident in which he rode a motorcycle inside the library.

His decision to drop out of university in 1962 in favour of music was not approved by his mother and was reluctantly accepted by his father. Jagger has stated in interviews he could not blame his parents for their mistrust of his choice; even he doubted a life-long career in music was possible. He had two bands in his early years, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which played "skiffle" music; according to Jagger, this was "more like a coffee-house version of folk music."

As a student, Jagger frequented a London club called "the Firehouse". At the age of 19, Jagger began performing as a singer. Like Keith Richards and other members of The Rolling Stones, Jagger had no formal musical training and did not know how to read music. He frequented clubs such as the famous Marquee Club or The Ealing Club, and admired the same type of blues musicians that Brian Jones and Keith Richards favoured. "I had a number of friends who had their own record collections, so we used to go round to their houses and listen to them there... We played everything and anything - that's how you learn... It was all a bit like trainspotting," Jagger has said. Elmore James was one of the band's early favourites, as well as anything from Chess Records in Chicago.

While Jagger knew Keith Richards as a schoolmate, the songwriters reunited when Richards saw Jagger with a blues record under his arm and asked him where he had purchased it. The two, combined with Jones, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, and Charlie Watts, formed the Rolling Stones, basing their name on the Muddy Waters tune "Rollin' Stone." Stewart was dropped from the band for not fitting the image desired by manager Andrew Loog Oldham, but still toured with the band as a pianist until his death in 1985. It was Oldham who insisted that Jagger call himself "Mick" rather than "Mike", a name he continued to use among friends; for example, John Lennon calls him Michael in the 1968 film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

 The Rolling Stones

Jagger was not an immediate success as lead singer of The Rolling Stones. By his own admission, he was a stiff and awkward school boy in front of an audience, but in the same way the Stones learned how to play and write songs – through imitating other artists – Jagger developed a stage presence. When the Stones began to play live gigs throughout England with other artists, such as Ike and Tina Turner, Jagger learned from other singers how to work an audience and quickly developed his own unique style. As his songwriting and recording career emerged, Richards became his main collaborator, which cemented a close friendship. Brian Jones became more of an isolated figure in the band, as he was unable to contribute to the songwriting process.

 International success

After the band's acrimonious split with their second manager, Allen B. Klein, Jagger took control of their business affairs and has managed them ever since in collaboration with his friend and colleague, Prince Rupert Löwenstein. Decades after the band's creation, The Rolling Stones continue to perform and to court controversy. The release of their 2005 album A Bigger Bang included the song "Sweet Neo Con" in which Jagger's lyrics openly attack the presidency of George W. Bush. In February 2006, they appeared during the Super Bowl broadcast, and Jagger was asked to omit words that had sexual connotations from two songs which would be heard by a vast family audience. He did not comply with this request, but his microphone was momentarily dipped. The Stones went on to make their first visit to Puerto Rico, playing to a sell-out audience of 20,000 at the new Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Tickets to the concert were being sold for up to $1,000, more than twice the top published price of $460. On 8 April 2006, the Stones performed in Shanghai, their first ever show in mainland China. Jagger has also signed on to appear regularly as himself in a television sitcom based on the theme of a small group of inept thieves who want to rob him. The sitcom's working title was Let's Rob Mick Jagger but was later renamed The Knights of Prosperity; on January 3, 2007 Jagger guest starred in the premiere episode.

 Stage presence and mannerisms

Often regarded one of the greatest front men in the history of rock and roll, Jagger has a stage presence that is largely inimitable. A tireless performer, he frequently runs and skips across the stage while singing. From the late sixties through the mid-seventies he often appeared to be possessed by the music. One feature that has become prevalent within the last decade is his tendency to prance from one end of the stage to other. Even in his sixties, Jagger can't seem to stand still on stage.

His interaction with and acknowledgement of the other members of The Rolling Stones is usually limited. However, he occasionally gets Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood into playful headlocks. Direct interaction with individual audience members is also usually limited to the occasional high five when he passes from the b-stage to the main stage and visa versa.

During concerts, items such as clothing that are thrown onto the stage by members of the audience are usually kicked off. He frequently changes his upper body clothing during concerts, but usually keeps the same trousers on throughout the show.

 Acting and film production

Jagger also has an acting career, most notably in Nicolas Roeg's Performance (1968) and as Australian bushranger Ned Kelly (1970). In the early 1980s, Jagger was cast as a main character in Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, however numerous delays in the film's notoriously difficult production resulted in him being unable to continue due to schedule conflicts with a band tour; some of the footage of his work is shown in the documentary Burden of Dreams. More recently he appeared as a persistent heavy in Freejack (1992) and in art films such as Bent (1997) and The Man From Elysian Fields (2002).

In 1995, Mick Jagger founded Jagged Films with Victoria Pearman, "to start my own projects instead of just going in other people's and being involved peripherally or doing music".Its first release was the World War II drama Enigma in 2001.

In late February, 2007 Paramount Pictures announced that Jagger will be teaming up with Academy-Award-winning director Martin Scorsese to co-Produce a new film titled "The Long Player."

 Criticism and controversy

Jagger has come under fire throughout most his career but the majority has come from music industry insiders and fans, as opposed to opponents of rock and roll.

The most damning contention is related to the Stones' Altamont Free Concert at Altamont Speedway in California. By some accounts, the Hells Angels were hired to be security by the Rolling Stones on recommendation from the Grateful Dead for $500 and free beer, a story Dick Carter, the speedway owner and Ralph 'Sonny' Barger Angels' Oakland chapter head both vehemently denied. According to Stones' road manager Sam Cutler, "the only agreement there ever was...the Angels would make sure nobody interfered with the generators, but that was the extent of it. But there was no 'They're going to be the police force' or anything like that. That's all bollocks."  Whatever the case, the presence of the Angels became extremely controversial as they injured several fans, killing one – Meredith Hunter, an eighteen-year-old black man. It was also suggested that the Angels supplied drugs at the concert.

Rumours held that the Stones, and Jagger in particular, not only did not try to stop the violence, but encouraged it, by singing "Sympathy for the Devil" while Hunter died. This is actually an urban legend, as "Sympathy for the Devil" was played four songs prior to the stabbing of Meredith Hunter; the Stones were actually playing "Under My Thumb" during Hunter's death. Nevertheless, due to media pressure, they dropped "Sympathy for the Devil" from most of their 1970s US live set lists. Other unfounded rumours circulated that Jagger, despite his blues-based band and songs such as "Brown Sugar" and "Sweet Black Angel" (the latter being a tribute to Black Panther Party activist Angela Davis), was racist and did not want a black fan at his concert. However, concert tapes clearly show Jagger trying to calm the audience and end the violence; he has also been a vocal anti-racist.

 Private life and public image

Relationships

Mick Jagger has become well known over the years for his high profile relationships, such as that with Chrissie Shrimpton from 1963 to 1966 or with Marianne Faithfull from 1966 to 1970. He has seven children by four different women, and has been the subject of many scandals over the years.

Mick Jagger's first child was born when he was 27. The mother, fellow singer Marsha Hunt, gave birth to daughter Karis Jagger on 4 November 1970. The couple were not married and did not remain together for long after the birth as Jagger became acquainted with activist Bianca Morena de Macias.

In May 1971, Jagger married de Macias, later known as Bianca Jagger. Bianca, born in Managua, Nicaragua, in 1945, was a social and political activist who had studied Political Science and French Literature, and was virtually unknown before her marriage to Jagger. Later that same year, Bianca gave birth to her first child and Jagger's second. Jade Jagger, born on 21 October 1971, lived with her parents in France and London. With Bianca, Jagger entered the world of high international celebrity, as evidenced by the jet set hangers-on to their 1972 American Tour and afterwards. They were regulars among the high-flyers that frequented Studio 54, the then red hot disco in Manhattan. Mick and Bianca separated in 1979 and divorced in 1980.

After he separated from Bianca Jagger, Jagger became involved with English-American supermodel Jerry Hall in the late 1970s. Jerry Hall was rumoured to be the 'other woman' who broke up the marriage between Mick and Bianca while she was engaged to Bryan Ferry at the time. Hall became Jagger's companion and Ferry wrote the song "Cry, Cry, Cry" about her. In 1984, Hall gave birth to the couple's first child, Elizabeth Scarlett Jagger. Elizabeth was born on 2 March 1984, in London and became known as 'Lizzy'. Hall had appeared on several of his album covers, and they had planned to marry. Partners Hall and Jagger then had their second child together, James Leroy Augustin Jagger in 1985. It was also this year that Jagger famously claimed that marrying Hall would give him 'claustrophobia'. However, despite this claim the two were married in 1990 while holidaying in Bali. This marriage has since been disputed since it was not properly conducted and may not have been legally valid. Nevertheless, Jagger and Hall soon after had a third child together, Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger. Their youngest child, son Gabriel Luke Beauregard was born in 1997. Jerry Hall separated from Mick Jagger in 1999 after model Luciana Gimenez claimed she was pregnant with Jagger's child. She further filed for divorce when a DNA test proved this to be true. It had been rumoured an affair took place between the two earlier although nothing had come of it. Luciana and Jagger's son Lucas Jagger was born in 1999.

While attempting to divorce Mick Jagger, it was found that Jerry Hall had never actually been married to Jagger at all. Their Hindu wedding on a beach in Bali was, in fact, not recognised under English Law, therefore eliminating the possibility of divorce. Instead Hall had the marriage annulled in 1999, officially ending the 22-year partnership.

In 1997 The Stones released Bridges To Babylon & embarked on another extremely successful world tour, which came to an end in September 1998. In November 1998 we saw the release of yet another live Stones album, entitled No Security. Then, in January 1999 the Stones began yet another tour in Oakland, California, which is set to take them across the US playing arena sized venues & eventually land them back in Europe in May 1999.

 Watch The Rolling Stones Live

                             1964 - 2006