Blues and Beyond: Keith Richards’ favourite albums of the 1960s
Although The Beatles inched ahead of The Rolling Stones as rock ‘n’ roll innovators in the 1960s, the latter was more representative of the British invasion of the American charts. Above all else, the Stones were ardent disciples of the US blues tradition. Had it not been for a bundle of blues records under Mick Jagger’s arm, he would never have met Keith Richards on the platform at Dartford Railway Station in 1961.
Somehow, Jagger and Richards managed to find the one man in southern England with an even bigger passion for the blues. Brian Jones, the initial bandleader, named the Stones after Muddy Waters’ ‘Rollin’ Stone’ and made it his lifetime ambition to bring blues music to the top of the UK charts. Remarkably, the Stones achieved just this December 1964, when their cover of Willie Dixon’s ‘Little Red Rooster’ hit number one on the UK Singles Chart.
After this early success, Jagger and Richards focused on original compositions, which involved several deviations from their blues-rock foundation. Sadly, this gradual migration alienated Brian Jones and became a factor behind his departure from the band in 1969. At the time, the Stones had tested psychedelic waters in Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request but realised that their strength lay in the blues.
Over time, the Stones welcomed eternal influences into their sound to keep things fresh. In Some Girls, the band jumped on the disco hype of the late 1970s, and they even encompassed reggae and new wave in Dirty Work in the 1980s. Despite such deviations, the band has remained notably loyal to their blues rock roots.
It is no surprise, therefore, that when asked to pick out his favourite songs and albums over the years, Richards has predominantly listed blues-derived music. However, his tastes encompass a healthy variety of genres; intriguingly, Motown and soul records nearly outweigh his blues collection.
In a past interview, Q magazine challenged the Stones’ guitarist to pick out 12 of his all-time favourite albums. The list included blues records by the likes of Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, but he showed a taste for variety. “For me, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles epitomise Motown,” he said, picking out Going to a Go-Go. “You could hear Smokey’s influence going on through Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Such a great songwriter. I mean, ‘The Tracks Of My Tears’… you might as well just go and throw yourself in the toilet.”
In total, five of Richards’ selections arrived in the 1960s. During the Stones’ emphatic rise to stardom, Richards became enamoured with the soulful voice of Otis Redding. “I would take this around to friends who were having a hard time,” Richards said of his Complete & Unbelievable record. “Songs such as ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ didn’t die with the guy who wrote them. The point of a great song is that it doesn’t care when it is or where it is if it’s held in the right way — and that’s what Otis did.”
Although rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and soul make up most of Richards’ collection, he also saves a couple of slots for country rock music. One of his favourites from the genre is The Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. “I used to hang out with Gram [Parsons], sometimes not for the good. I survived, Gram didn’t,” Richards lamented. “He turned me onto cats like Merle Haggard and George Jones. He crystallised the country for me. Gram reshaped country music. He brought it up to date and made it hip.”
Having set out in the Byrds alongside Roger McGuinn, Parsons brought his tastes for folk, country and rock together, paving the way for the success of subsequent bands like Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Tragically, he passed away in 1973 after mixing a large dose of morphine with alcohol.
