The legendary group that “disappointed” Keith Richards
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Keith Richards has never been one to mince his words. The Rolling Stones guitarist is more-than-willing to offer his opinion on music, politics, society or any other topic open to the realm of discussion.
While Richards has had a pop at iconic groups such as Led Zeppelin, he’s also been outspoken about David Bowie, Oasis, Elton John and countless others. In fact, not stopping at singular artists, he once slammed the entire genre of rap when he stated: “What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there”.
Not stopping there, Richards added: “All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another.”
He concluded by rather bluntly stating: “Rap—so many words, so little said.”
Given his penchant for the outspoken, it should come as little surprise that Richards was willing to partake in an interview with Rolling Stone entitled ‘Keith Richards: A 1969 Rant‘ which saw the guitarist offer his views on a variety of his contemporaries. While The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Blind Faith, and Led Zep are all discussed, it was the Canadian-American outfit The Band that felt the wrath of Keef.
Discussing the group that inspired so many, Richards said: “I saw them at the Dylan gig on the Isle of Wight, and I was disappointed. Dylan was beautiful, especially when he did the songs by himself. He has a unique rhythm which only seems to come off when he’s performing solo.
“The Band were just too strict. They’ve been playing together for a long, long time, and what I couldn’t understand was their lack of spontaneity. They sounded note for note like their records”.
Richards concluded: “It was like they were just playing the records on stage and at a fairly low volume, with very clear sound. I personally like some distortion, especially if something starts happening on stage. But they just didn’t seem to come alive by themselves. I think that they’re essentially an accompanying band. When they were backing up Dylan, there was a couple of times when they did get off. But they were just a little too perfect for me.”
