Mick and Keith and Thomas

[Joe Allonby]

On 7/26/06, MalignD at aol.com <MalignD at aol.com> wrote:

>
>
> I can't see Keith as great outside the band he ended up in.  His solo
> efforts
> were forgetable and his guitar playing is terrific within the context of
> the
> Stones but, more broadly, he's not particularly versatile.  The Stones
> always
> had two guitarists, always needed two guitarists, and I don't know any
> guitarist who thinks Keith was a better player than Mick Taylor, although,
> in the
> Stones, he's clearly more important.  I mean, I like Keith, but I don't
> get your
> placing him on the rung you're placing him on.


OK, here goes. During the slow demise of Brian Jones, Keith Richards was to
all intents and purposes the only guitarist in the Rolling Stones. He
credits this in an interview in Guitar Player in1977 with the development of
his open-tuned style.

He started using alternate tunings in an attempt to recreate the fullness of
two guitars while only playing one, but without obvious studio trickery. Try
playing the intro to Happy while tuned D-G-D-G-B-D low to high. You'll need
a capo at the fifth fret. See how full that sounds, like more than one
guitar? Now listen to the song (or any of the others that I mentioned) and
listen to the arrangements. This is where the man's genius lies, not in how
fast he can blow riffs out of his fingers. He may be a drug addicted zombie
but he's a rock 'n' roll rhythm guitar virtuoso who knows how all of the
pieces fit together. He's not much of a dancer.

Ironically, I've heard Keith Richards praise Prince for the same skills.
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