Esquire interview
In an interview with Esquire, Richards talks about touring:
It’s probably the only drug left to us, the one that draws us back as much as anything—although there is something about playing with this bunch of guys. Is it habit? Is it just the length of time we’ve been doing it? But when we start rehearsing, I always find this incredible enthusiasm among them all—especially this tour. It’s been a great feeling from show one…I can handle the show. In the ’60s, it was 20 minutes, in and out. Now it’s two hours. I don’t come off as exhausted as I used to ten years ago, because I’ve learned more about how to pace a show. I don’t think about the physical aspects—I just expect it all to work. I’m blessed physically with stamina.
On The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper:
The Beatles sounded great when they were the Beatles. But there’s not a lot of roots in that music. I think they got carried away. Why not? If you’re the Beatles in the ’60s, you just get carried away—you forget what it is you wanted to do. You’re starting to do Sgt. Pepper. Some people think it’s a genius album, but I think it’s a mishmash of rubbish, kind of like Satanic Majesties—”Oh, if you can make a load of shit, so can we.
On his life:
Yeah, it’s been worth the price. To become a musician, that was the dream—just to get into a band. You didn’t care if you were stuck in the back strumming away. You know, I would have gladly done that. I wouldn’t have minded being a sideman, but things turned out another way. Maybe it was the haircut or something.
Keith Richards interview
Richards and Fallon discuss the first song Richards ever wrote on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
He locked us in a kitchen and said we couldn’t come out until we had a song. We came out with As Tears go By.
