“Incredible shit”: The artist Keith Richards called Mozart and Bach combined
Over the years, The Rolling Stones have amassed an almost unimaginable level of success and acclaim, rightfully earning them a position among the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. The group have explored countless different musical themes and genre conventions over the course of The Stones’ illustrious career in music, but they always remained indisputably indebted to the blues. Particularly during the early period of the band, The Rolling Stones were disciples of old-school American blues music, and Keith Richards never lost that deep-rooted appreciation.
From the very early beginnings of The Rolling Stones, the band harboured an unparalleled adoration for Chicago blues music, with their first-ever tours largely composed of covering prominent songs from that scene. Although there were a few notable blues artists around London during this time, the Stones managed to take those influences in entirely new directions. Soon, the band had hopped aboard the beat movement and British Invasion scene, which came to dominate the mid-1960s, although their music was still invariably tied to old-school blues.
The Rolling Stones’ dedication to the blues has often drawn the band negative attention, as they were often accused of plagiarising or appropriating the blues music of forgotten Black artists, passing it off as their own work. This practice was particularly evident during the early period of the band, with the Stones “borrowing” a variety of classic blues, R&B, and soul tracks, most notably ‘The Last Time’, a song that is credited to songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, despite having been recorded by The Staple Singers a decade prior.
As a result, Richards’ band have a fairly controversial reputation among blues enthusiasts. Depending on who you ask, they are either responsible for a renewed relevance for the music genre or charlatans who exploited the sacred style for monetary gain. Either way, Keith Richards has always been outspoken about his love and appreciation of the genre, regularly paying tribute to the heroes that first caught his attention.
A complete list of Richards’ favourite blues artists could be as long as The Stones’ entire discography, but a particular favourite of his has always been Robert Johnson. During the 1930s, Johnson almost single-handedly laid the foundations for modern blues music, writing and recording a vast plethora of now iconic blues songs which would capture the attention of artists for decades after his untimely passing, Richards included.
Despite his legendary reputation among blues fanatics, Johnson remained a virtual unknown for much of his short life. Following his untimely and suspicious death at the age of only 27, his legacy was carried on by the musicians – like The Rolling Stones – who he had inspired. Speaking about the incredible influence provided by Johnson, Richards once said, “(I would have loved to have seen him live.) Just to see how he did it, man. Just one time. He was a flash.”
Although the pair never met, that did not stop Richards from discussing the blues icon with anybody who would listen. “I spoke to Son House about him,” he shared, namedropping another legend of blues music. “If Johnson had just been a little nicer to his chicks, knew how to play the ladies a little better, then he might have been there instead of Muddy [Brown].” One theory surrounding Johnson’s death is that he was poisoned after attempting to flirt with a married woman.
Nobody knows what would have happened to Johnson if he had been allowed to continue his incredible musical career, but Richards had his own theories. “I have the feeling he would have gone into a band thing,” the guitarist pondered, “When you listen to him, the cat’s got Bach going on down low and Mozart going up high. The cat was counterpointing and using incredible shit.”
Comparing Robert Johnson to two of the most respected and important composers of all time, in Bach and Mozart, speaks to the incredible influence and legacy bestowed upon Keith Richards by Robert Johnson. Without his pioneering blues music, rock and roll in general would have sounded very different, never mind the blues-heavy stylings of The Rolling Stones.
