Keith Richards critiques the drumming of Keith Moon
One of the most celebrated guitarists in rock music history, Keith Richards is recognised just as much for his actions outside of The Rolling Stones as he is for exploits in the studio. From trashed hotel rooms to various arrests for drug possession, the extra-curricular activities of Richards are incredibly well documented. It seems one of his favourite pastimes is voicing his opinion on his rock and roll peers – something that has often caused controversy.
Over the years, Richards has used press interviews and memoirs to voice his dislike for certain fellow musicians. When you are the guitarist for The Rolling Stones, people want to talk to you, so perhaps slagging people off was a way for Richards to keep himself from growing bored with the interview process. Regardless of motive, everybody from Bruce Springsteen to Duran Duran has come under fire from the blues rock guitarist, seemingly indiscriminately.
An unexpected victim of Richards’ sharp tongue was legendary Who drummer Keith Moon. The progenitor of the ‘wild drummer’ image, Moon is perhaps one of the only positions to rival the unpredictable image of Richards. In addition to his love for exploding kickdrums and destroying hotel rooms, Moon was a genuine master of the sticks. Although the guitar-heavy mod rock of The Who often relegated Moon’s drumming to the background, his talent was undeniable – well, it was undeniable to everybody except Keith Richards.
Back in 2015, Richards took aim at the late Who drummer in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “I mean, I always thought [Roger] Daltrey was all flash. And I love Pete Townshend, but I always thought The Who were a crazy band, anyway. You would say to [Keith] Moon, if you were in a session with him, ‘Just give me a swing’, and he [couldn’t] … He was an incredible drummer, but only with Pete Townshend.”
Continuing, the Stones guitarist said, “He could play to Pete like nobody else in the world. But if somebody threw him into a session with somebody else, it was a disaster. There’s nothing wrong with that; sometimes you’ve got that one paintbrush, and you rock it.”
More recently, Richards repeated the same sentiment in an interview with Sirius XM while promoting the Stones’ most recent album, Hackney DIamonds, “I loved Mooney dearly as a person. As a drummer, I’d kill him. Right?”. It seems that, in the mind of the haggard guitarist, Moon does not hold a candle to the late Rolling Stones guitarist Charlie Watts.
The repeated comments of Keith Richards seem ignorant of the fact that Moon did actually participate in musical projects outside of The Who. While Moon’s solo career, admittedly, is probably best forgotten, his worth with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on the track ‘Beck’s Bolero’ affirms his incredible talent, as well as his ability to adapt to other styles and musicians away from The Who.
