Keith Richards - What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock and Roll Survivor

What Would

KEITH

RICHARDS

do?

What Would

KEITH

RICHARDS

do?

DAILY AFFIRMATIONS
FROM
A ROCK 'N' ROLL SURVIVOR

JESSICA PALLINGTON WEST

Copyright 2009 by Jessica Pallington West

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury

USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

Keiths mums shepherds pie recipe reproduced by permission from Wendy Diamond, A Musical Feast: Recipes from over 100 of the Worlds Most Famous MusicalArtists, (New York: Global Liasons, Incorporated, 1995), 83.

All papers used by Bloomsbury USA are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Richards, Keith, 1943

What would Keith Richards do?: daily affirmations from a rock and roll survivor/ [collected by] Jessica Pallington West.1st U.S. ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

eISBN: 978-1-60819-108-6

1. Richards, Keith, 1943Quotations. I. West, Jessica Pallington. II. Title.

ML420. R515A25, 2009

782. 42166092dc22

2008048220

First U.S. edition 2009

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Design by Lauren Monchik

Typeset by Hewer Text UK Ltd, Edinburgh

Printed in the United States of America by Quebecor World Fairfield

By the same author

Lipstick

For the two Keiths

Ill see

my name in

bookshops,

and Ill

think, What

am I doing

here? Its

like knowing

everybody.

KEITH RICHARDS: IN HIS OWN WORDS, 1992

If Keith

Richards

didnt exist,

Rock n Roll

would have

to invent him.

CHATELAINE MAGAZINE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Or: How Keith Richards Can Save Your Life

Living Life the Keith Richards Way

Or: The Philosophy of Keith as Viewed in Relation

to the Great Philosophers

Or: When Youre Consubstantial, the Clothes Make

the God and the Man

The Daily Affirmations

A Chronology of Trouble

Somehow hes managed to survive.

But it hasnt been easy:

Beaten up every day coming home from school. A move to the wrong side of town. A little addiction to heroin. Arrested. Arrested again. Court. Court again. Accused of being Satans right-hand man. A night in jail. A broken finger. Three broken ribs. A broken nose. A punctured lung. A crashed car. Another crashed car. Brain surgery. Cold turkey. Cold turkey again. Attacked by a fan. Electrocuted on stage, saved by a pair of Hush Puppies. Knocked unconscious by ,flying garbage. Disowned by father. Turned in to police by a company insider. Bilked out of millions by a sleazy manager. The loss of a child. The loss of a friend. The loss of another friend. Blamed for a friends death. Framed. Stoned. Did I mention getting arrested? Another crashed car. The house is broken into by cops. The house is broken into by vandals. The house goes up in flames. The other house goes up in flames. Hauled into court. Acquitted, theres a celebration party at a hotel, and the hotel room is accidentally set on fire. The bed goes up in flames. A hit song is unwittingly stolen from another artist. The recording studio goes up in flames. The evil twin misbehaves. The evil twin gets knighted.

What does all this add up to?

Keith Richards.

And this is only a fraction of the story, just a snip off the timeline of trouble.

Keiths ability to survive has not just been a matter of having genes of steel. Much of it comes out of his uniquely Keef way of looking at lifean attitude and vision that hes fine-tuned over the years like a guitar. Theres a philosophers aesthetic in how he expresses it, a uniquely Keith quality. Its the no-nonsense, salt-of-the-earth, been-there-done-that wisdom of a survivor.

The Tao of Keith is one of humanity, of seeing with clarity, and looking at the bigger picture of history and culture. There is a respect for the mystical and a reverence for the creative. Its bullshit-free, human, and down to earth. Bemused, brave, and kind.

Imagine Abraham Lincoln with a skull ring, an earring, and a scarf. A little bit Ben Franklin and a little bit Billy the Kid. Hes a wise statesman mixed with back-alley tough, Buddha, and pirate. And whats specifically unique about Keith is that hes the first to take rock n roll as far as it can go. Hes rock n roll matured, a visionary and a rogue: a prophet minstrel whos walked through fire. Rocks first wise man is a symbol of survival, one knockdown after another. With Keith, we have a new form of guru: a modern, street-wise, urban guru.

As a symbol of staying power, the words, wisdom, and philosophy of Keith can be used as an example to improve your own life in times of confusion. Theres a whole doctrine that has grown up around Keith. It comes down to learning a set of Keith Richards Commandmentsbasic tenets and rules to follow. Through them, its quite possible that Keith Richards can save your life. Or at least save your ass.

The principles of Keithism come directly from his own words: Imparting wisdom through the numerous interviews hes given along the way like a rock n roll Socrates holding court, Keith has talked about his run-ins with the law, his falling into and then out of trouble, defying death, and bouncing back. Its a fairly simple philosophy to followno fancy tricks. The principles are down-home and plainspoken.

The tenets of this way of life are from the same side of town as the Ten Commandments. But remember, theyre coming from Keith Richards, the avatar of excess. And so the number of commandments is more than just ten.

Here are the Twenty-six Ten Commandments of Keith Richards.

Forget that other book about a Secret that will save you. Here are twenty-six secrets: rule-book tenets handed down not from Mount Sinai, but from Mount Been-There-Done-It, where the golden calf sings the blues and the Commandments are written out on unrolled cigarettes.

KEITH ISM:

THE TWENTY-SIX TEN COMMANDMENTS

OF KEITH RICHARDS

OR: HOW

KEITH RICHARDS

CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

1. KNOW YOURSELF.

To me, the main thing about living on this planet is to know who the hell you are and to be real about it. Thats the reason Im still alive Ive lived my life my own way, and Im here because Ive taken the trouble to find out who I am.

Above all, this is the golden rule of Keithism: know yourself. From this doctrine, all else will fall into place.

And, along with knowing yourself, know your limits. Know how much you can take on. Know how much you can take in.