Customer Reviews

Keith Richards

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Satisfaction isn't the rehashed bio that some would call it. Instead it approaches the subject of Keith Richards from a different perspective. It gives a good picture of the working class background he came from, especially as his hometown of Dartford was hit hard by the German bombers in WW2. Richards emerges as a bit of a mother's boy, alienated from his taciturn father, and not particularly interested in school. Music was a large part of his family from his mother's side, and as hard as it is to imagine, Richards was also a soloist as a boy at Westminster Abbey. So there's a good background of his childhood and youth.

As Richards met Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, the theme begins, of Richards being the most important part of what became the Rolling Stones. Certainly the author presents a strong argument; for all the influences he has had, such as Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry, Keith Richards crafted a sound with the Rolling Stones that became unique, and it's impossible to imagine another guitar player who could create such a sound. Much is written here of Richards' (and Jagger's) single-minded dedication as well, to adapt as necessary to success but never losing the fundamental core of what the band was all about.

The darker side of Richards is explored as well, and certainly Sandford pulls no punches in showing what happens to young men who come into a ton of money. Richards' drug use nearly wrecked the group in the 1970's, and unlike other writers Sandford rightly stays away from glamourizing any of this. After reading through this one is amazed that Richards is alive and well in 2005.

On the downside, the book does tend to cover familiar ground in the second half. Sandford also has written a book on Mick Jagger, but it's hard to tell since he is given so little credit or mention to the singer here. As much as Richards crafted the sound of the group, Jagger is just as vital to the group, it should go without saying.

It's interesting to read that while Richards was at the height of his rock and roll lifestyle, with the drugs, his house burning down, the cars he crashed fairly regularly, he still was a homebody who would go to his mother's for shepherd's pie and bangers and mash. The man who wrote "Sympathy For The Devil" also has become an old English uncle type in his 60's, and Sandford does a good job describing Keith's change into an elder statesman.

Overall a good read with some new perspectives.

Keith Richards is a hard person to tie down into a biography, with his rollercoaster life and career. And not having access to him makes "biographing" even more difficult. Christopher Sandford's meandering focus and lack of new material make this an unsatisfying rock'n'roll experience.

Keith Richards was the pirate bad boy of the Rolling Stones. Without the outright sex appeal of Mick Jagger or the angel-faced nastiness of Brian Jones, Richards carved a niche by being himself -- strong, kind of shy, and devoted to making music. He rose to prominence as the brilliant guitar player and songwriter, ran off with Jones' much-abused girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, had two children, got hooked on heroin and finally turned his life around so he wouldn't lost it.

"Satisfaction" is anything but. Most of the information in "Satisfaction" is recycled from other books. And about halfway through the book, Sandford seems to get bored with his subject, writing a bunch of stuff about Bianca, Mick, and the other Stones, before meandering back to Keith, Anita and Patti Hansen. Not to mention that small errors pepper the text (Brian Jones had two illegitimate children who were older than Julian).

Most annoyingly, Sandford soft-pedals a lot of the controversy and news swirling around the Stones. He avoids talking much about the then-shocking music and statements they made, or the many small ways they tried to rub the anti-rock crowd the wrong way. It's like he doesn't want to admit that they were rock's bad boys at the time.

He does give good insights into different parts of Keith's life, such as his prematurely hard-edged son Marlon, or the appeal of ex-model/actress Anita Pallenberg. But his insights also seem recycled; it's as though he has difficulty understanding what motivates any of the people he writes about. His writing itself is dull and spiritless, almost patronizing, and the anecdotes tend to be either brief or garbled.

Keith Richards was better profiled in Victor Bockris's biographer. In this biography, you can't get no "Satisfaction"...

As a collector of "all things Keith", from books to his guitar picks, this book was a big disappointment. It rehashed things I have known for many years and I sincerely wish I had not paid so much for this book. But it does fill my cabinet with another piece of Keith.
At the very end of the book, there was one thing which I did not know previously. If money is an issue with you at this time, please do not spend it here.

"Satisfaction" is a well-written biography of rocker Keith Richards, one of the bad boys of the rock `n' roll pantheon, and certainly one of today's vintage rockers of note. Sandford presents Richards' bio in an often witty, engaging fashion, providing numerous quotes and anecdotes for Richards and well as fellow bandmates Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ron Wood (not much is written about drummer Charlie Watts or bassist Bill Wyman). Moreover, if you're looking for the muck and mire of their careers, plenty of it is here, especially all the sordid details for the half dozen busts of Keith Richards in the 1960s and `70s. Although I've read numerous rock biographies, I haven't read any other Keith Richards' bio; therefore, I can't compare this one to those. But, standing on its own, Sandford's is probably considered good to very good. The only fault of the book is that I had a hard time finding the attribution of the book's many quotations. The back of the book has a section for chapter sources and notes, but I had a terrible time finding who said what and when and according to what article, book or whatever. Of course, this sort of problem only irritates writers. So, all in all, this book is definitely worth reading, if for no other reason than by the end you may think Richards is truly the King of Rock!

Sandford is generally an excellent rock biographer - thorough, perceptive, even intuitive, and writes sublimely, with wit, intelligence and dry humor. Having deftly handled a biography of Mick Jagger, covering the fascinating life of Keith Richards should be as simple as rolling out of bed; I mean, half of it has already been written.

Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. Keith did not grant personal access, and apparently his people tried to block access to others with interesting stories to tell as well, and so what we get is less personally insightful than we would have liked. In the end, the book comes off as a third-person review of Keith's life, told at a distance from events. This does not make it incomplete or without value - although there are some stories that are described differently in other books and biographies both about Keith and others (especially Woody's autobio) - but it becomes a one-volume retelling of the material as gleaned from other books, magazines, newspapers, and the like. The deep drilling into Richards' personality, which would be heavy lifting for anyone, is missing except insofar as various songs are discussed as insights into what Keef was thinking at the time.

That said, again, Sandford writes beautifully. I did not think the umpteenth retelling of the Stones' growing up and the band forming could ever be made interesting again, or the tragedy that was Brian Jones made readable again, and yet this book does it and then some. The highs and lows are all covered, including every drug bust, and through it all the author's respect, admiration, even reverence for his subject are evident. And of course, the story ends on a high note, with Keith as the ultimate rock and roll survivor, the embodiment of what rock IS, happy amid family, books, and limitless wealth in Connecticut, having lived life his way without compromise.

No book on Keith Richards coming in at under 2000 pages will ever be complete or the final word. This one isn't either, though what Keith was concerned about revealing to Sandford, an admirer, is hard to guess. It remains an entertaining and engaging read.

Finally a book that shows Keith exists past the headlines. A good in-depth read of the makings of Keith Richard's and what makes him tic. If you are interested in how Keith created, then was forced to live in the persona he created in the 60's, read this book.

This book is based mainly on here say not much input from keith.Christopher Sandford seems to be spicing up the actual events as i have read conflicting biographies, if you believe everything you read then apparently most of the stones are gay and Brian Jones was a braindead stoner who new little about writing songs and only wanted to be a pop star...............................................absolute BOLLOCKS