Life

By: Keith Richards

Narrated by: Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley, Keith Richards

Length: 23 hrs

Publisher's summary

With the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics, and the songs that roused the world, and over four decades he lived the original rock-and-roll life: taking the chances he wanted, speaking his mind, and making it all work in a way that no one before him had ever done.

Now, at last, the man himself tells us the story of life in the crossfire hurricane. And what a life. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records as a child in post-war Kent. Learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones' first fame and success as a bad-boy band. The notorious Redlands drug bust and subsequent series of confrontations with a nervous establishment that led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in 'Jumping Jack Flash' and 'Street Fighting Man' and 'Honky Tonk Woman'. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg, and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the US, Exile on Main Street and Some Girls. Ever increasing fame, isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Mick Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Solo albums and performances with his band the Xpensive Winos. Marriage, family, and the road that goes on for ever.

In a voice that is uniquely and intimately his own, with the disarming honesty that has always been his trademark, Keith Richard brings us the essential life story of our times.

©2010 Keith Richards (P)2010 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Thought this would be a bore, but...........

If you could sum up Life in three words, what would they be?

Surprisingly good

What did you like best about this story?

Most narrated by Keith himself, the book gives a somewhat biased view of the Rolling Stones by somebody who is not Mick Jagger. Often the band is perceived as Mick Jagger and the rest of them, but this book tells a different story. It is not a book of gossip, but just a recollection of experiences and the authors view on relationships.
Although I grew up listening to the Stones I would not have considered listening to this book ever, but a penfriend in Nashville (I live in New Zealand) told me how much he was enjoying reading the book so I thought I would give it a go. I am glad I did.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Keith is Keith. Johnny Depp tries to be Keith. Interestingly, Johnny Depp based his Captain Jack Sparrow accent and mannerisms on Keith Richard, who actually played Captain Jack's father in one of the movies.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

hisThis may be a strange comment, but the book made me interested. There were no "LOL" moments but at times it made me sympathetic to the rock & roll heroes. I have not been a huge fan of the band, although I have all of their albums, but this book made me want to get them all out and re-evaluate them based on what was happening to the individual band members at the time.

Any additional comments?

Surprising good listen - well worth the 5 stars I gave it.

Not an ordinary Life

Never a dull moment, well narrated by the various voices - including Keith. A take me as i am, this is the way it was story behind the man and the band. Great insights into the creative process behind many great songs, living with multiple addictions, and life on the road. You don't have to be a rock fan to enjoy this story. Loved it.

What a treat!!!

Oh my word, I so enjoyed this book! I gobbled it up and wanted more... and then last nut not least there were little snippets of Keith himself narrating.... Wow!

depp good hurley overacts

hurley laughs at his 'own' jokes. depp is perfect for this. suprised keef could remember as much as he did

Bloody fantastic!

Best musical autobiography I’ve ever read/ heard. Such a blast of a ride through such a great life of adventure which will probably never end! I’ve been playing the shit out of all my old Stones albums lately!!!

Amazing.

I absolutely loved it!!! One hundred percent recommended! What an amazing life Keith has lived and he remembers it all in astonishing detail!

Simply fantastic !

No mincing words on this one people. What a superb rendition. If I could have lived only one-hundreth the LIFE KR lived, I'd consider myself lucky. Right place, right time, ok. But balls were needed to make the story what it was, and he had them, albeit sometimes aided by stuff. So what. Truly a great story, exceptionally written and magistrally performed.
It doesn't get any better. I pity anyone who chose the book version, because the added dimension of the audible version is priceless. Well done Keith. Few people could have done it as well as you've done. You might not be the greatest guitarist to take the stage, but you've got few competitors when it comes to living life as it should be lived.

Don't try this at home.

This was without doubt one of my all time favourite audio books. Hilarious engaging and entertaining. Well written, brilliantly read, the hours zipped by.
This is the quintessential rock and roll story with enough behind the scenes intrigue to keep even the most avid fan on the edge of his or her seat, smiling all the way.
Quality.

A flawed hero

As a lifelong Rolling Stones fan, I felt this was a must read for me, but Im not sure it was such a good idea. LIFE is very much Keith's story, not necessarily The Rolling Stones, there is a lot of digression from the band's story but that's ok. The main problem I had with the book, was Keith's scathing and mean spirited attacks on Mick Jagger, it is relentless, adolescent and petty.
He doesnt portray his heroin addiction with rose coloured glasses, however I reckon he still holds a certain pride that he handled and subsequently survived the junk better than most.and the resulting unrepentant neglect, bordering on abuse, of his young son Marlon, whilst in the midst of his and Anita's self indulgent heroin abuse is what I found really disturbing. What a terribly lonely and dangerous childhood he had. I found the fact that Mick actually took the little boy for his first hamburger spoke more about the measure of a man and father that Mick Jagger was, than Keith could ever be at the time.
What is beautiful about this book, is his passion for The Stones and the music they have made, and there are some great stories along the way of the origins of many of their most well known and loved classics. His tributes to those musicians who inspired him and Mick in the very beginning are still who he holds most dear, his love for performance is truly felt in his words.
Anyway that's the story, and Keith holds it up for all to see. It was a lovely surprise to hear him narrate the final chapters and I would have loved him to have narrated the whole story. Unlike other reviewers I have read, I found Johnny Depp's voice quite emotionless and irritating after a while,.although Joe Hurley has a swagger befitting the author and was much easier to listen to.
After reading his story, Keith is still my hero, just more mortal and flawed to me now than he ever was before, and that's why Im not sure I should have read this book, I dont want to feel this way about him. Mick however remains my rock god.

A real character

If you grew up in the 60's and followed the Stones then this is a must. Its very long and if it was a real book I would have skipped bits, especially the sometimes long winded parts where he describes in great detail his guitar learning/playing, but this will appeal to guitarists I suppose. Overall I found it very interesting and certainly saw many aspects of "behind the scenes" that I was not aware of, like how they regarded each other, how he regarded the other Stones members skills and morals, what they did on tour and at home etc.