For Another Man’s Keith Richards cover story, writer Adam Higginbotham revisited his meeting with the Rolling Stone one February afternoon in 2008 at the Carlyle Hotel, NYC. With his eagerly awaited autobiography Life still in the research phase at
For Another Man’s Keith Richards cover story, writer Adam Higginbotham revisited his meeting with the Rolling Stone one February afternoon in 2008 at the Carlyle Hotel, NYC. With his eagerly awaited autobiography Life still in the research phase at the time, Richards’ head was full of lost gems from his 45 years on the rock’n’roll frontline: taking a three-day road trip with John Lennon; KO’ing a hapless stage invader; and stoned skiing in Switzerland. Here, the living legend gives five top secrets to living life the Keef way. For the full cover story see Another Man ‘The Altered States Issue’, out now…
1. The secret to getting old
“Realising that there’s no difference between being a young guy, being a baby – you’re still learning the game. I don’t feel any different now than I did when I was 20. I mean, I realise that there are certain limitations, that I know a lot more, but – hey, the next day is still just the next day. It don’t matter how old you are.”
2. The secret to writing the greatest guitar riffs in rock history
“You put your hands on an instrument, and – I mean, I really don’t like to think about it. I like to look at my fingers and say, ‘I don’t believe you’re doing this – keep going!’ You don’t create things, you accept them. And all you want is for that feeling to continue – your mind is disconnected from what you’re doing.”
3. The secret to not believing in your own public image
“You don’t have much to do with forging a public image. It’s forged for you by the media, and by time. And you suddenly realise that you’ve got one. I always wanted to be a chameleon; now it’s all skulls and pirates. The image becomes a bit of a ball and chain – you get stuck with it, but then you realise that maybe that’s who you are, and it’s not such a put-on as you sometimes feel…”
4. The secret to staying up for nine days straight
“I’ve got a lot of energy – I mean, sure, I had a little help. I used to like pure, pure cocaine – which is a very smooth thing – it’s got nothing to do with the street shit other people take. I was very Peruvian about it – it was like chewing the leaf. I never took anything without researching what it was. I’ve got to admit that sometimes I probably overdid it, but that was the nature of my game at the time. I don’t feel proud about staying up for nine days. I certainly don’t recommend it – for anyone.”
5. The secret to a great shepherd’s pie
“Whether you use lamb or beef, it doesn’t matter. My mate, who’s now the long-lost, great (former Stones security guard) Big Joe Seabrook, taught me the one final trick is to put it in some extra sliced fresh onion just before you put it in the oven. And I find that works – and shove it up your arse, Mrs Beeton!”
Text by Adam Higginbotham
Life: Keith Richards is out on October 26, published by Little, Brown Books. Part of the Another Man story originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of Blender magazine.
Adam Higginbotham is a British journalist living in New York. He has been the US correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and editor-in-chief of The Face. His work has appeared in GQ, Wired, The Observer and Details, where he is Contributing Editor.
