8 of my favourite rock and roll books

Life, by Keith Richards

Keith Richards’ Life is a book that is just as endlessly quotable as its author is off the page. It’s an amazing read, with the longest and strongest part of the book dealing with Richards’ childhood in war/post-war Britain – marked by poverty and bomb sirens – and the early years with the Rolling Stones. Richards’ stories about touring, drugs, partying, his passion for music and his love of guitars, and his memories of how the Stones started out are rich in detail, hugely entertaining, and full of insight.

The man is also brutally (some might say cruelly) honest when he shares his point of view of the past, people he’s met along the way, and which musicians he respects and does not respect. I definitely gained a new understanding of his on/off relationship with Jagger from this book – there’s a lot more love in that love/hate relationship…