Keith Richards picks out a selection of his favourite blues songs of all time
Blues music was the foundation on which The Rolling Stones built their legendary career. Although they had a fair amount of rock and roll in their DNA, the initial core of Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Ian Stewart were all blues disciples, trading Elmore James licks as they covered classic American artists like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters.
As the Stones carved out a distinct sound all their own, the blues were never too far away. 2016 even saw the band return to their roots with the covers album Blue and Lonesome, revisiting the music that brought the Stones together in the first place over 50 years prior. Featuring the work of Willie Dixon and Little Walter, the album was a confirmation that the Stones always have the blues on the mind.
During a 2021 radio interview with Planet Rock, Richards played DJ as he chose some of his favourite records of all time. To the surprise of no one, Richards favoured some old-school blues, along with some pre-requisite early rock and roll from the likes of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.
“My mother, she loved jazz: she loved Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, and Duke Ellington, and that’s what was around the house,” Richards explains about how his parent’s taste in music influenced his own. “There’s a lot of blues in jazz. And so in a way it was in the bones before I actually got to hear country blues – I already felt familiar with it.”
Classic tracks from the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson (‘Checkin Up On My Baby’), Jimmy Reed (‘You Got Me Dizzy’), Muddy Waters (‘Still a Fool’), and Little Walter (‘Key to the Highway’) solidify Richards’ classic blues bona fides. He also found room to play Howlin’ Wolf (‘The Red Rooster’), John Lee Hooker (‘Boom Boom’), Otis Redding (‘These Arms of Mine’), and Freddie King (‘I’m Goin’ Down’).
Perhaps most essential of all is the final track from Richards, Robert Johnson’s aching ‘Love In Vain’. The Stones took on the track for their album Let It Bleed, and Richards credits Johnson with being the artist who exemplifies, “The real blues – where all of the other guys we talked about came from. Without a doubt one of the most innovative blues songwriters of all time.”
Check out Richards discussing some of his favourite blues tracks down below.
