mixtape monday #1 (like a rolling stone)

Mixtape Mondays is an idea thought up by my friend Aaron over at his amazing blog, Grayshades, which I shall now commence to to shamelessly steal. (I did ask first.)




I think my favourite story from Keith Richard's autobiography so far is the introductory bit, about his near-incarceration for drug possession in Alabama that he got out of with the help of a defense attorney who'd worked with JFK, an idealistic prosecutor who didn't want to put him away, 200 Stones fans outside the courthouse, and an absolutely wasted judge with a bottle of whiskey in his sock. It really illustrates the "Rolling Stones Travelling Circus" idea.

Also the part about how John Lennon was a lightweight. That bit's funny.

My favourite thing about the book, though, is the little bits he's added in from his notebooks throughout the narrative. Here's the best one so far, scrawled in his own writing and scanned in:

"I forgot to mention that to play the blues was like a jailbreak out of those meticulous bars with the notes crammed in like prisoners. Like sad faces."

Keith Richards is the coolest dude ever. I already suspected that might be true, but this book proves it. The best part about Keith is how much he loves the music. You watch the Rolling Stones on stage, or listening to one of their recordings like in this video, and he's always completely engrossed in it, completely blissed out.

There's a lot of poetry in those notes. A lot of wit and talent with words. And the amazing thing is all the songs he still wants to write, all the ideas he mentions that he has yet to finish building. He's also kind of a sarcastic jerk when it comes to anything he doesn't like, but I appreciate that, because his sarcasm is funny.

And y'know, I had the chance to go and meet him at a book signing last week, and I did the right thing and went to work instead. And I'm still a little sad about this, but I'm getting over it because sitting behind a desk in a Waterstones in the posh district of the city isn't exactly Keith Richards' natural habitat.

In my writing biography, I mention that one of my biggest influences is my dad's record collection. I mythologize music and musicians; I have a whole pantheon of rock'n'roll gods that I believe in more than anything in real life. This is one of my strangest traits. I romanticize everything and get all caught up in nostalgia for things I've never had, and that's how I define myself most.

It's easy to romanticize rock musicians.*

Keith Richards is more than just an amazing guitar player: he's a folkloric figure. The Rolling Stones play the blues, and the blues is a storytelling tradition, of the oral variety. It's filled with superstitions, crossroads, and devils. The stereotypical blues character is an old black man on his porch in the south, with his guitar and a neverending supply of stories. It doesn't matter if those stories ever happened or not - the truth is in the telling.

In his book, Richards inhabits that character perfectly, stepping seamlessly into the role of storyteller with the conversational tone. But he also straddles the line into one of the blues' favourite characters, the trickster. He's been in love with this music and culture most of his life. He knows what he's doing.





*If you don't believe me, watch the incredible Dylan-inspired film I'm Not There.