"Wicked as it Seems"

Just finished a Christmas present book. Life, which is the autobiography of Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. It was wonderful. I like the brutal honesty you can find in an 'ography; I'm a Studs Terkel fan. This is really cut down to the bone honest. Yes, it's got colored glasses on such that if you are not a Mick fan you really wont be by the end of it, but I got so much more out of it. The early discussion of how Little Richard would get ready to perform is worth the price of admission. Keith's take on Marianne Faithful, the tax exile years, receiving knighthoods, the death of Brain Jones, Altamont, and more just give you more reasons to read it.

The stuff with Mick seemed like it got blown up out of proportion to me. Yes, he says, they don't talk anymore, and even collaborating on new music is done thru a 3rd party, and he lays a lot of it on Mick, even when he's blaming his own part of the problem on drugs, and then Mick taking advantage of that. But throughout all of it, he points out time and time again, that while they might not exactly be friends anymore, they're mates; brothers. They are about to celebrate 50 years of being in a band together. A band that has taken some breaks, suffered some losses, and may not have the same relevancy on popular culture as it used to, but still a Rock and Roll band of the old school.