Keith Richards: A Life In Pictures
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Keith Richards: A Life In Pictures

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“I came on board towards the end of the project,” says Neill. “I was brought in to write the introduction and, because of my extensive Stones knowledge, accurately caption the images and provide relevant quotes where necessary.”

Neill is no stranger to writing about rockstars, having previously published books on The Who, The Faces and The Beatles. With the addition of Neill’s expertise, Keith Richards: A Life In Pictures provides an incredibly in-depth exploration of the guitarist’s career and personal life.

“Keith has lived his life out in public to such a great extent,” says Neill. “Much of what is in the book is out there and in his own words. Richards’ life has been pretty much an open book.”
A Life In Pictures illustrates the many ecstatic highs and absolute lows Richards has experienced throughout his professional life. The book dates back to the Stones’ formation in 1962, and brings us right up to the band’s Zip Code tour of 2015. In Neill’s introduction, he writes that, “No matter how low the gutter, Keith was always slightly above it.” This is followed by a direct quote from Richards, saying, “I’d rather be a legend than a dead legend.”

A particularly confronting spread of images shows Richards during one of his battles with substance abuse. The section, entitled ‘Pretty Beat Up’, contains a series of portraits from 1977, when in addition to a heroin habit, Richards was looking down the barrel of a seven year sentence for trafficking. The photographs show a broken man, accompanied by a quote from Richards: “I was asleep when I got busted. I had been at rehearsal got back to the hotel and passed out. My next memory is being dragged around by these two very big people who were slapping me awake. The shit hit the fan big time.” It’s amazing to think Richards managed to scrape himself together and has continued playing with the Stones for almost another 40 years.

For Neill, there’s another time in Richards’ life that holds particular significance. “I like the pictures from 1968-69,” he says. “Brian Jones, who rivalled Jagger as the most photogenic Stone, was fast fading, and Keith was starting to get the demonic ‘Keef’ look together. Or as I put it in the book, Keith was becoming ‘Keef’. Previously he had been quite shy and in the background, even though he was very much the drive behind the Stones’ music.”

Richards’ professional life has been as varied as it has been fascinating, and the book looks at his acting work in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, and his brief stint as the face of high-end fashion label Louis Vuitton. Keith Richards: A Life In Pictures presents an unrivalled collection of photographs, showcasing the inner-workings of a man who has lived a life of chaos and achievement. In his own words, “Somebody has got to find out how far you can take this thing, and I guess it might just as well be me.”

BY BEL RYAN