FREE WHAT WOULD KEITH RICHARDS DO?: DAILY AFFIRMATIONS FROM A ROCK N ROLL SURVIVOR PDF Jessica Pallington West | 240 pages | 19 May 2009 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781596916142 | English | New York, United States Keith Richards - Musician - Music database - Radio Swiss Jazz This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. Him and his rain. J esus would be mortified, and well he should. After all, if you'd sacrificed your mortal shell to save mankind only to have rock 'n' roll's infamously intemperate guitarist inserted where your name usually is, you'd have a right to What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor upset. But wait. Could there be something to this? Something beyond the bald stab at blasphemy? Is it possible that behind the famous Richards' wrinkled wall of sin, behind the decades of legal hassle, wanton substance abuse, multiple brushes with death and prodigious dispensation of profanity, that wisdom lurks? A design not only for living but What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor living as a decent, forgiving and genuinely caring human being? Could Richards show us a way? Richards himself would cringe at the suggestion. Daily Affirmations from a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor : "As a symbol of staying power, the words, wisdom, and philosophy of Richards can be used as an example of to improve your own life in times of confusion Through them, it's quite possible Keith Richards can save your life. Or at least save your ass. Yes, ungentle readers, it would seem to be true: A good life can include both grace and Jack Daniels. From the man who never said no to anything, West uncovers a gospel of strangely compelling affirmation. West boils the notoriously loose-tongued Richards down to his most bon of mots, and lays them side by side with those of Aristotle, Plato, Saint Augustine!?! The result is a fairly um sobering case that the Rolling Stones' year-old guitarist, a man so buffeted by trouble and impervious to chemical indulgences that he was once allied with cockroaches as the creatures most likely to survive a nuclear holocaust "Poor old cockroaches," quipped Richardsis a virtual walking testament to the transcendent human spirit. After all, it's one thing to float above the muck of human vice and pass judgment from a great holy height. Any guru can do that. It's quite another to have plunged headlong — as Richards has, both intentionally and inadvertently, countless times — into the slop and surfaced with a line like this: "I've never had a problem with drugs. I've only had a problem with policemen. Unlike the pronouncements of other men of consummate wisdom, let's say Plato or Groucho Marx, Richards tends What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor resonate most when considered in the context of his astoundingly disaster-prone life. He's survived fires at least threewalked away from car crashes perhaps a half-dozenpunchouts by idol Chuck Berry twopolice busts at least a dozen and various falls from coconut trees and library ladders one each. That last tumble nearly resulted in death beneath a pile of encyclopedias. Although West arranges Richards' words according to categories religion, America, drugs, Mick, fame, etc. So there is stuff to heed here, even for those of us who have never lived in former Nazi-owned chateaus, been clocked by Chuck Berry, snorted our father's ashes, totalled a half-dozen or so Bentleys or engaged in protracted public bitch-slapping sessions with Elton John. If God gave Keith Richards one of the most resilient constitutions in human history, it would seem to be for the purpose of gradually accruing a spotlit survivor's big- picture perspective — to be a rolling stone that gathers no moss but does accumulate a certain awareness of just how lucky he's been. No apologies, mind you, just awareness: "If I knew what the other original sin was, I'd do it. To one interviewer trolling for survival tips, Richards pronounced: "I do what I do. Don't try this at home. It's the living that's hard. Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www. Report an error. Journalistic Standards. About The Star. More Entertainment. Top Stories. About Contact Us Feedback. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Privacy Policy Terms of use Accessibility. The Tao Of Keith - The Links www. Keith Richards born 18 Decembersometimes credited as Keith Richardis an English musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer - songwriter and author, best known as a guitarist and founder member of the rock band the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine credited Richards for "rock's greatest single body of riffs" on guitar and ranked him 4th on its list of best guitarists. He is the only child of Doris M. Richards' paternal grandparents, Ernie and Eliza Richards, were socialists and civic leaders, whom he credited as "more or less creat ing the Walthamstow Labour Party", whilst Eliza also became mayor of the Municipal Borough of Walthamstow in London in Finally Dupree told Richards, that if Richards could reach the guitar then he could have it. Richards then devised all manner of ways of reaching the guitar, putting books and cushions on a chair and finally got the guitar and his grandfather let him have it. He worked on the number 'like mad' and then his grandfather let him keep the guitar. He called it 'the prize of the century'. Richards attended Wentworth Primary School with Mick Jagger and was his neighbour untilwhen the family moved. At this point Richards had learned most of Chuck Berry 's solos. The Blues Boys folded when Brian Jones, after sharing thoughts on their joint interest in the blues music, invited Mick and Keith to the Bricklayers Arms pub, where they then met Ian Stewart. His parents divorced about the same time, resulting in his staying close to his mother and remaining estranged from his father until After the Rolling Stones signed to Decca Records in their band manager, Andrew Loog Oldhamdropped the s from Richards' surname believing that "Keith Richard", in his words, "looked more pop". Stewart said Richards was the Rolling Stones' bandleader, and Richards says his job is "oiling the machinery". Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood say that while most bands follow the drummer, the Rolling Stones, Wyman says, have "no way of 'not' following" Richards. Chris Spedding calls Richards' guitar playing "direct, incisive and unpretentious". In the late s Jones' declining contributions What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor Richards to record all guitar parts on many tracks, including slide guitar. Jones' replacement Mick Taylor played guitar with the Rolling Stones from to Taylor's virtuosity on lead guitar led to a pronounced separation between lead and rhythm guitar roles, most notably onstage. A break in touring during — allowed Richards to focus on open tunings. Richards primarily used open tunings for fingered chording developing a distinctive style of syncopated and ringing I-IV chording heard on "Street Fighting Man" and "Start Me Up". Richards often removes the lowest string from his guitar, playing with only five strings, as the lower string just "gets in the way" of Richards' own playing, letting the band's bass player pick up those notes. Richards regards acoustic guitar as the basis for his playing, [26] believing that the limitations of electric guitar would cause him to "lose that touch" if he stopped playing an acoustic. All guitars on the studio versions of "Street Fighting Man" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" feature acoustic guitars overloaded to a cassette recorder, then reamped through a loudspeaker in What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor studio. During the Rolling Stones' tour the Richards-sung "Happy" entered into their concert What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor, and since then has sung lead vocals on one or two songs each concert [29] [30] in order to give Jagger time to change his What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor. Recordings of Richards playing other instruments besides guitar are not unusual. He played bass guitar on several Rolling Stones' studio recordings, including "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Happy"as well What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor for his side project, The Dirty Mac. Richards also played percussion on select Rolling Stones tracks, such as the floor tom on "Jumpin' Jack Flash"tambourine on "Infamy" [33] and bicycle spokes on "Continental Drift" Richards and Jagger began their songwriting partnership in at the insistence of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who saw no long career in playing covers. Richards recalls: "We were writing these terrible pop songs that were becoming top ten hits They had nothing to do with us, except we wrote 'em. Richards has stated that the "Satisfaction" riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed. Their work in the s and beyond has incorporated elements of funk, disco, reggae and punk. In his solo career, Richards has often shared co- writing credits with drummer and co-producer Steve Jordan. Richards has said, "I've always What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock n Roll Survivor songs written by two people are better than those written by one. You get another angle on it.