Book Description
"The World's Blackest White Man." "The World's Most Elegantly Wasted Human Being." "The Human Riff." These descriptions are all part of the myth surrounding the legendary songwriter and rhythm guitarist of the Rolling Stones. A veteran observer of the rock scene on both sides of the Atlantic, Kris Needs has interviewed Keith Richards regularly for 25 years. Drawing on archives, interviews, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the Stones' discography, he reveals the complex man behind the myth, from blues-infatuated working class kid to world-renowned musician nearly ruined by heroin to present-day elder statesman of rock who continues to find personal redemption in music. Dozens of photographs and interviews with the legend himself make this the most up-to-date biography of the "Soul of the Stones."
Customer Reviews:
GOOD READ FOR KEITHS LATER YEARS.......2007-07-18
THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD BOOKS ON THE STONES EARLY YEARS. THIS IS ONE OF THE BETTER BOOKS FOR THE 90S AND FORWARD. VERY READABLE.
Years of exclusive interviews .......2006-04-13
Interviews with rock musician Keith Richards himself rounds out a fine biography of the man in the unusual KEITH RICHARDS: BEFORE THEY MAKE ME RUN. Needs first met Richards at a drug trial in 1977 so has years of exclusive interviews to draw upon in his survey of a changing, eventful life. These interviews contribute vastly to an upbeat coverage which traces Keith's love of music: the core of his being.
Keef Madness.......2006-03-12
The best book on Keith. It captures the soul of the man. As for the facts review. I don't agree. For example this is the only source that gives the name of the jewler that made The Famous RING, but also the circumstances round the gift. Great book! A must read if you are a Stones fan.
Try a Little Harder.......2004-10-20
Kris Needs has a nice writing style, and bubbles with a lot of enthusiasm for Keith, so it's too bad he hasn't been paying better attention: The book is full of glaring inaccuracies that you don't even need to be a particularly intent Stones fan or Keith devotee to notice. If you were having trouble finding a competent researcher, editor and/or proofreader, Kris, all you had to do was call me!
strangely inspiring.......2004-09-14
A fascinating look at what makes Kieth Richards tick. Needs is very knowledgable about his subject, but what really made this book compelling was the insight into Kieth's personality and the contrast between his very real bad boy image and his creativity and compassion. The author makes no bones about being a charter member of the "Keef" fan club but after reading this book I'm inclined to join him.
Customer Reviews:
Misses The Point.......2007-04-04
In the last few years rock music biographies have come of age and many are well researched, full of insight and show a real and objective understanding of the artist in question. Victor Bockris' study of one of the most important icons of the 1960's unfortunately falls far short of what I've come to expect.
The book reads like a lazy retread of thirty years of news clippings and has very little insight into what actually made the Stones become the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world. He's good at knitting together a constant series of quotes and old interviews into a below average narrative but seems to be unable to actually have any real understanding of the people behind the words.
With less than a quarter of the book dedicated to the years when the Stones actually had some validity and almost half of it dedicated to the incredibly tedious 'heroin' years Bockris misses the whole point of why a book about Keith Richards should be written. One unproductive junkie is just like any other and I don't need nearly two hundred repetitive pages to get the message. As another reviewer has rightly pointed out, the author seems to have an unnatural admiration of Keith's heroin addiction and completely fails to comment on the fact that it neatly coincides with the band's rapid creative decline.
I can only hope that the next four hundred page book on one of popular music's most influential guitar players will have three hundred of them covering the period of 1964 to 1971 with the remainder dealing with the following thirty six years when the Rolling Sones simply ceased to have any relevance.
GET IT GET IT GET IT.......2005-09-21
I doubt Keith could tell his OWN story this well (in fact I doubt it very much). This book really seems to give the whole picture. It is well worth the expense.
Particular highlights: (1) VERY detailed information about Keith's drug use history. It is amazing the man is still alive; (2) VERY detailed info. about Ron Wood, his own problems and his role in the Stones; (3) Very detailed info. about Keith's solo career. I just wonder why the Winos broke up. Anyway, if you are a fan of Keith or the Stones you simply can't pass this book up.
Conflicted but good.......2003-02-11
Victor Bockris appears to be, to some degree, the king of the classic rock biographies. In this book, he turns his eye toward Rolling Stone Keith Richards, and his tumultuous life in and out of the band, as well as those around him like Anita Pallenberg and Mick Jagger.
Merely as a biography, this is pretty good. Bockris intersperses the ordinary biographical info with appropriate quotes from Keith, Anita, Mick, and many other people. He accentuates the good and the bad in Keith, the stuff about him that even he didn't know, and his attitude toward the public, his son, his wife, and so on.
And some parts of it don't really seem to work. For example, the information on Anita talks about how brilliant and strong she was, and emphasizes that she could have handled Brian Jones on her own. But she kept getting hit by Brian, and later Keith; she doesn't seem to have been able to handle it. And intellectually, her quotes include things like, "She was really, like, totally self-obsessed." Really totally? Maybe it was the heroin. And Bockris seems a little enamored of Keith's time as a junkie, because we hear a lot more about that side of his life than any other part of it.
The photos are definitely a disappointment. There is one per chapter, and usually it's a rather dull shot of Keith looking pensive, or just walking, or sitting, or signing things, or something of the sort. There are a couple of Anita or Mick, but not of many other people (for example, where is Marianne Faithfull? Bianca Jagger? Marlon? Dandelion?). As a result it's slightly difficult to form a clear picture of some of the interactions.
"Keith Richards: The Biography" is a pretty good rock-star bio, focusing more on the life of the subject than what the groupies said about him. Certainly for fans of the Rolling Stones and classic rock.
If your a Stones fan, you can NOT pass this book up.......2002-01-24
Great account of Keith's entire life as told by the man himself. The book gives a vivid account of Keith's musical beginnings, development and maturation as a musician and songwriter. Discusses his many musical influences, relationships with women, highs and lows with the stones and his 10+ year battles with heroin. The guy lives and breathes music 24/7, he is non-stop. By the end of the book I got a profound sense of someone who is a truly dedicated musician. It leaves no doubt why he has become a musical influence himself. You will not be disappointed with this book. A job very well done.
Rock on Keith!.......2001-12-13
This book, a great writing by Victor Bockris, is as raw and great as Keith Richards' early Stones recordings. Anyone who is any kind of stones fan should read it. Bockris shows a talent in not only interviewing artists, but in putting their rock star attitude to the paper. When one finds out over the course of the book kow great Richards' musical genius is, they will buy at least one Stones album as a result. This is the definitve story of Keith's life and times as the World's Most Elegantly Wasted Human Being.
Book Description
This first-person, emotional account of a child protection service worker in New York State gives the reader an intimate look at all aspects of handling child abuse cases: interviewing parents who have been accused of abusing their children, talking to abused children removed from their parents' guardianship, working with an uncaring system ironically designed with the best of intentions, and keeping up with the mounds of paperwork each case generates. Lucid and disturbing, eloquent and passionate, Tender Mercies is a must-read for professionals and laypeople alike!
Customer Reviews:
Pretty good but not for students.......2007-03-02
I gave this book 4 stars because it was a very good, easy read. The author did a great job, and Keith Richards does a good job of being honest about portraying the image of how the social workers real life is in this field. It doesn't give a lot of detail on the cases themselves and I wouldn't recommend it to students because it doesn't make the field sound too great. I'd recommend it to people just to enjoy but as far as case studies ..Nah. I think anyone could read this book. I wished it had more detail about the cases themselves though.
Still a pretty good read
Book Description
An invaluable collection of primary sources, presented clearly and concisely, demonstrating why Richard III remained an enigma for so long.
Average customer rating:
|
Keith Richards: In His Own Words (In Their Own Words (Scholastic Hardcover))
Keith Richards ,
Mick St. Michael , and
Mick St Michael
Manufacturer: Omnibus Pr
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ASIN: 071193634X |
Customer Reviews:
He Should Be Knighted.......2000-12-01
Too often billed as the scruffy-haired, swashbuckling sidekick to Mick Jagger, Keith gets a bum rap. This man is the resident philosopher of the Rolling Stones. Ask him a question and you get an unadulterated answer. For instance: What about the Beatles and their experience with the Mahareshi? "Hey that was their gig but I have to draw the line on swamis." In his own words, glitter rock 'n' roll came to Keith whether he wanted it or not. He is a man who simply loves his craft. Were he not a star, he would still be happy playing for tip-jar money. This is a man who on unencumbered Friday night has bangers and mash and plays dominoes with his dad. This is man of no fragile glamour rock ego. "I think photography is magic. It's even made me look good a couple of times." As for his reputation as reckless drug pirate: "I never turned blue in someone else's bathroom," he says, "that's the height of bad manners." Even behind the basset hound face of age, Keith hangs on to those youthful characteristics that have kept his cylinders firing for lo these many years. He still has his heroes. High in those ranks is none other that another charter member to the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band - Charlie Watts. "Without Charlie there would be no Stones," he says. So, Keith Richards. Wit and charm. Seem like an oxymoron. Hardly, make yourself "Happy" and don't deprive yourself of the "Satisfaction" that this little book gives.
Customer Reviews:
Slumping in the shadows.......2005-02-05
Don't you just hate it when a biographer researches, investigates, does all the right things -- and churns out a boring, rushed-feeling book? Me too. So it is with Stanley Booth and "Keith: Standing in the Shadows," a biography that has been stripped down to the barest bones of Keith Richards' life.
The main focus of the book is Keith as Rolling Stone -- his childhood is handled in relatively few pages, and the book kicks in as he meets Mick Jagger for the first time. From there it follows Richards from a rather stormy middle-class youth to life as one of the biggest rock stars in the world. And, additionally, into the depths of addiction and self-destruction, and how he managed to crawl out before it could kill him.
But the problem is that Booth seems to be getting a bit TOO respectful of Richards, and doesn't dip more than a toe into Richards' personal life. His destructive, loving, dynamic relationship with Anita Pallenberg is put on the sidelines, as is his marriage to Patti Hansen and the death of his third child. The poor kid doesn't merit more than one sentence, despite the devastation it caused his parents.
The problem is, the stay-out-of-personal-lives approach does not work in the biography of an artist -- several songs were written about events in Richards' life. For example, Booth doesn't bother to note that Linda Keith was anything other than Richards' girlfriend du jour, but he apparently wrote "Ruby Tuesday" about her and considered her his first love. His music and personal life can't be easily separated.
That hands-off approach ruins most of the book -- while it has some interesting anecdotes, like the first tape of "Satisfaction" ever made, it feels as though Booth is just showing us a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. Where is the rest? He never tells us, only gives us a few tantalizing glimpses and not a great deal more.
What is more, Booth displays a rather boring writing style here. Richards' life has been a colorful and sometimes explosive one, but it sounds positively dull here -- the most exciting parts of the whole book are when Richards himself is being quoted. Those anecdotes make the book come alive in places.
Stanley Booth's business-only approach to Keith Richards causes a major stumble in what could have been a really good book. But the end result is very, very dull.
ah, stanley stanley stanley ... !.......2004-02-12
As someone who's had a very high-calibre Thing for Keith all my conscious life - and who's been praising Stanley Booth to the skies ever since I first got ahold of his "True Adventures of the Rolling Stones" - all I can say is: Stanley honey, I feel really bad for you! You sound so bitter and downhearted in this book, and that comes through stronger than your resonance with your subject, and stronger than your talent.
I know being ripped off & cannibalized hurts. But you know you can do way way better than this, and you know Keith deserves way better than this. And even if you don't know it, Keith's and your (yes your!) loyal admirers deserve better too.
Two of the stars are for the handful of new quotes and vignettes you put in this work for us to cherish. The other two are to encourage you to write the thing the way you know you can. You wrote the best book ever about the Stones. This book reads like the start of a rough outline of the best book ever about Keith - and that's the book I'm waiting for.
Keith's Life.......2004-02-06
Stanley Booth's biography of Keith Richards is a pretty good book. It is well researched, it's well written, and it says a lot about Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones. One of the things that make particularly interesting (for those who are interested in Keith Richards anyway)is that Booth knows Keith personally and some of Keith's quotes are taken from personal conversations.
However, the book like many other biographies of Keith and the Stones does not pay much attention to what is really important about Richards--that is, he is one of the greatest rock composers and one of the great music composers of the century.
He wrote, either by himself of with Jagger, some 500 songs. Several of which have defined the terms, the syntax and the grammar of rock.
Yet, biographers pay little if any attention to this simple and quite remarkable fact. I have never read any serious, detailed account of Keith's style. He's the riff master, yes, but what does that mean? Keith often said that he's a juggler rather than a musician. Because he claims that all is doing is playing around with the same notes. Great. But has anybody paid any attention to this? That is to how certain musical patterns emerge from Keith's compositions? To how these patterns have generated various rock classics over the years? To how Keith's use of the open tuning has influenced the way he writes his songs?
My impression is that this biography of Keith, like several others, focus more on the superficial features of Keith's persona and much less on what's really relevant: Keith's music . It's really a pity.
Keith Is Rock.......2001-05-07
Stanley Booth is overqualified, to say the very least, to write this biography of Keith Richards, the muscle behind the music of the Rolling Stones; having toured with the band in 1969, he chronicled the events leading up to their December, 1969 brush with darkness at Altamont. His focus here is not on the whole band, but on the Keith himself, the Human Riff, "the world's blackest white man" and the creator of such rock classics as "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Happy." This book draws heavily from previously published material - that's a drawback; however, said material is superior in almost every respect to just about anything else you'll find about the place, concerning rock music, American culture, sex, drugs, religion, and politics. Booth, a Southern boy, obviously loves how this Englishman took to his own heart the Mississippi Delta blues of black American musicians, and made it into something...else. Booth is not incapable of being critical towards his subject; he is unsparing in his criticisms of Keith's bull-in-a-china-shop lifestyle, his drug addictions and self-denial concerning his addiction problems, but mostly, this book celebrates the life, music, and adventures of the greatest living symbol of rock's defiant spirit.
not bad, not good enough........2000-03-25
Stanley Booth bases his capability of writing keith richards' life on the fact that he 'lived in social intercourse with him'. although he manages to create few moments of intimacy, his book is more like a glance on the stones career through richards' eyes, rather than a true biography of keith. if you like to read the story of the stones, you would find Booth's previous book - 'the true adventures of the stones' - more complete. if you are interested in keith's biography, Victor bockris' book ( 'keith richards - the biography') is more focused. most of 'standing in the shadows' is based on conversations with keith. when not recycled, some of the quotes are valuable for those who, like me, find keith richards interesting.
Average customer rating:
- Valuable Memoir of Neo-Beat Author Richard Brautigan
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Downstream from Trout Fishing in America: A Memoir of Richard Brautigan
Keith Abbott
Manufacturer: Capra Press
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Listening to Richard Brautigan
ASIN: 0884962938 |
Customer Reviews:
Valuable Memoir of Neo-Beat Author Richard Brautigan.......1997-11-14
Keith Abbott was a friend and, as much as anyone could be, a confidant of the late neo-beat author, Richard Brautigan. This is one of surprisingly few biographical and/or critical works on this unique American writer. Lately there seems to be a mini-renaissance of interest in Brautigan's work. Internet sites, notably Jen Leibhart's, " The Brautigan Pages" will provide the interested surfer with contacts of other aficionados. This writer has received e-mail from Finland and Germany where Brautigan's work is becoming known (again?).
I know of only two other works dedicated exclusively tothis author, Terence Malley's "Richard Brautigan", a 1972 publication in Warner's "Writers for the Seventies" series and Marc Chenetier's 1983 more inclusive "Richard Brautigan".
The Abbott book is far more personal and, for thiswriter, more interesting. It is the only work that makes a serious effort at a biographical approach to this enigmatic writer.
It may be some time before Brautigan's significance as a man of letters can be agreed upon but the recent resurgence of interest suggests that he will not fall into obscurity.
By the way you can e-mail Jen Leibhart at jen@cnct.com.
So until some enterprising writer attempts a true literary biography Keith Abbott's book will fill this unjust gap in American letters.
Book Description
The epic, rollicking, up-and-down life of Muddy Waters, who went from Mississippi farmhand to musical legend, who invented electric blues and created the template for the rock-and-roll band and its wild lifestyle, is brought into sharp focus in this widely acclaimed biography. - A book praised equally for its stylishness, its richly entertaining narrative, and its impeccable scholarship. - As a filmmaker, Robert Gordon directed the PBS American Masters documentary Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied and the award-winning blues documentary All Day and All Night, featuring B. B. King and Rufus Thomas.
Customer Reviews:
Chicago Blues and Mississippi Mud.......2007-06-23
Combining life history with a social history of Chicago's blues scene of the late 1940s through early 80s, Gordon's book is a highly readable and carefully documented biography. He uses a great variety of published and unpublished sources as well as his own interviews with Muddy's family members, friends, and fellow musicians to provide an excellent understanding of Muddy Waters' contributions to Chicago's blues scene. Because this is a biography, the focus is necessarily on Waters' influences on other musicians. These contributions are important as the guitarist, singer, and songwriter had a huge impact on the music. Gordon demonstrates how some of the major influence that Muddy Waters had on the blues was through an indirect route -- via England. He vividly demonstrates how the music of Muddy Waters was a major inspiration for the British Blues-Rock music of the 1960s, showing, in turn, how this affected Muddy Waters' own career. This is an important part of the story, and its emphasis is very relevant to Muddy Waters' life history. However, I would have liked a bit more discussion of Muddy Waters' relationship to other blues players throughout his career. This information can be gleaned out of a reading of other blues musicians' biographies, so it's not necessarily a major problem with this fine book. In fact, the way this book sparks the reader's curiousity about other Chicago players may be another strength to this well-told story.
Impressive Research.......2006-12-29
Gordon did his homework in writing this book, and I was glad to see that he tried to grasp Muddy as a man, not just as a music icon or a stereotypical rags-to-riches story. I feel as though I was given a full look at Muddy Waters, warts and all.
The one problem I have with the book is the writing style. The endless grand similes were brutal; I found myself wincing at some of them. I suppose the self-indulgent, flowery style fits the idea of writing about an artistic subject, but the similes seemed like a crutch. "Show, don't tell" is one of a writer's best adages. Grand similes, to me, scream "shortcut." Like a rusty dagger thrust between two ribs, then twisted so that the oxidized edge of the blade could be felt grabbing flesh and grinding against moist bone, it bugged me.
That one criticism aside, I, as an amateur historian, author, and blues musician, applaud Mr. Gordon's efforts and highly recommend that you read this book to understand one of the key people in American music.
The Birth of the Chicago Blues............2006-02-07
From the first line to the last, Robert Gordon transports you back in time....to the birth of a legend, a culture and a way of life.
This book is absolute excellence. I very highly recommend it to the deep blues fan as well as the novice.
Well Documented Biography.......2005-04-14
How can one document the life of someone who spent the first 30+ years of his life as a poor, peasant cotton farmer? It's not easy to get a good biography on such an individual, but blues fans and historians have for years been tracking down information on the life of Muddy Waters for decades, and in this book that information is compiled in a well written, informative biography.
This book explores Muddy's life on the plantation, his early interest in music, his love life, his family life, his desire to become a famous blues musician, his travels, his successes and his failures.
The author is blunt. Obviously an admirer of Muddy Waters, the author does not hide the more shameful behavior of the great musician. Coming out of this book, I admire Muddy Waters as a musician and band leader. As a friend, a father, a husband, a person he is a disappointment.
A mix of good & bad traits........2005-03-24
Mr. Gordon's bio of Chicago Blues icon Muddy Waters (given name McKinley Morganfield) is a good narrative of a fascinating life that, unfortunately, falls short of the work the man deserved. Gordon fails to explore, and barely mentions, the impact of Waters' commercial success on the racial climate of the 60s & 70s.
The index is very weak, omitting several topics that appear in the text.
Gordon's work is entertaining, but serves mainly to demonstrate that a solid, scholarly biography of the great bluesman still remains to be written.
Customer Reviews:
Huge Keef Fan in CA.......2002-05-28
I am probably one of Keith's biggest fans, so I have read everything I can get my hands on about him. This book is currently out of print, and I am so glad I have a copy of it. It has fabulous pictures of Keith, Anita, Marlon and of course the rest of the Stones. I believe this book is more 'real' than the Victor Bockris book (although I liked that one as well) since Ms. Charone actually lived at Redlands for a while. She pulls no punches. I'ts the good, bad and busted. Snatch it up while you can. A must for any Stones fan.
Classic rock and roll bio........1999-04-08
I read this book more than fifteen years ago and still rate it among the best biographies I've read, in no small part due to the fact that Keith is the quintessential rock star. A really good read, but it may prompt you cut your own hair, throw televisions off of balconies, and buy every Stones album you can find.
good.......1998-05-24
If you are a fan of the "Some Girls" album, this is the book to read, since the author was there when some of the album was recorded (and writes about it in this book). This biography was done with Keith's consent, too, so the author spent time with Keith, and witnessed and writes about many interesting things (like Keith actually shooting up heroin in front of her, for one).
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Keith Richards: Satisfaction
Keith Richards
S.T.P.: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones
Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones
The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones
