Keith Richards is open to new Tom Waits collaboration
The Rolling Stones co-founder and guitarist Keith Richards has revealed that he’s very keen to collaborate with Tom Waits again.
Richards and Waits have worked together several times in the past, starting with Waits’ popular 1985 album, Rain Dogs. In a new interview with Uncut, Richards said the pair have never failed to have “great fun” together.
“With Tom, it’s no sweat. We didn’t have to do anything together, we just did it because we were together,” he added. “Sometimes we write things together and sometimes we’ll have dinner or something.
“It’s an organic thing and great fun. I loved working with him and jeez, I’d do it again anytime Tom!”
The 79-year-old rock veteran added that he was “incredibly humbled” when he realised the only other person Waits had written songs with was his wife, Kathleen Brennan.
“Kathleen is a very important part of what he does,” Richards said. “They are a tight couple. I think he has only ever written with Kathleen – and me. I only ever found that out after the fact and I was incredibly humbled by that.”
“They are a hell of a duo to break into, man! She is a hidden genius. What a great thing for a couple to be able to do that,” he added. “I can only think of one other married couple who did that, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who wrote all those great songs for the Everly Brothers. Tom and Kathleen remind me of them, actually. In a way, what they do is a very traditional thing.”
Concluding his praise for Waits, Richards pointed out the scarcity of the American’s live performances. “He’s such a fantastic performer. Out of nowhere, he pulls out little tricks, a little bit of shadow and movement and he’s got it. I wish he would do more live work. I know that he is a little wary of doing that but me and a lot of people would love to see that. At the same time, you can only do it when you want to do it.”
Listen to ‘Shenandoah’, featuring Tom Waits and Keith Richards, below.
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