Keith Richards by Victor Brockis
William Leith
28 February 2013
This is a detailed and hugely engrossing biography. If you liked Richards’s own book, it’s definitely worth reading as Bockris gets material from lots of sources. Though unauthorised, he talked to just about everybody, including Richards himself. A picture emerges of a man obsessed with his guitar; who became addicted to heroin probably because, for a while at least, it helped him concentrate on his guitar; a man who lives to write, perform and record music but who does not like the poncy world of celebrity. Bockris takes you inside the houses (Redlands in Sussex, Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, Nellcôte in France), into the studios and on the tours. Richards only ever missed one gig — at Mick Jagger’s wedding to Bianca.