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

A strong start

I loved the first part of this book but after a while it becomes very self indulgent and the innocence is lost. It doesn't really finish, rather ends with some aimless recollections.

Still it was an insightful read.

Outstanding

I really enjoyed this book, one of the best audio books I have listened to. It had the feeling of sitting in the company of someone who knows how to tell a story and tells it well. Anecdotes (quite a few of those) and lots of facts about Keef himself and the Stones. If you are remotely interested in rock music, the seventies or just want a good listen, this is the book for you. Don't miss it!

Decent read

Of the 3 narrators I like Joe Hurley the most. He seemed to really enjoy his role. Johnny Depp was awful.
Keith's need to be modest and self depreciation is tiresome

Tells it as it was

A great tale. Too bad they chose Joe Hurley to narrate some of the book. He sounds so much like Mick Jagger, I had to keep reminding myself it's a book about Keith Richards. Johnny Depp & Keef were great.

I just loved it! Am now in the Richards fan club..

What an amazing guy. What I loved most about this book, was the fact that you discovered how incredibly talented Keith was/is, but you also learned he is a good, kind hearted and giving man, despite his flaws. He was so different in so many ways to Mick it would seem, no wonder they each brought something so different to their writing partnership, as The Glimmer Twins. I wasn't so fond of the first narrator (ie Joe Hurley), I think it wold have been better to have just had one narrator throughout. This book has really opened my eyes up to The Stones and what makes them so bloody great. They certainly know how to work hard!

a bit heavy on impersination?

What made the experience of listening to Life the most enjoyable?

i think keith richards tells his life's story in a very amusing, warm and witty way. ost of it sounds honest sincere and warm in a back-down-memory-lane kind of way. it's quite enjoyable.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Life?

i'm only on chapter nine so far but his childhood and teenage years are a formidable listen.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

i think johnny depp does an okay if slightly monotone job of reading richards youth.
there are attemps of trying a 'keef-speech' but he seems to manage to keep it subtle.

the following narrator, joe hurley, however, goes too far over the top with an almost unbearable slurr and overly 'loaded' tone of voice. a little too irish, maybe, too.
not that i dislike the irish accent, far from it. i just don't think it fits too well here.

i've yet to come to the part that richards reads himself but i#m very much looking forward to it.

Any additional comments?

all in all, so far, it's an enjoyable experience.

I really enjoyed that!

KR has led a fascinating life and he tells it straight in this biography. Its the second best one I've read.

A rare insight into a rock legend

This is the finest audible book I've listened to. The narrators (Depp and Hurley) although diametrically opposed in terms of vocal style, both add so much to the listening experience. This is an experience not to be missed. Imagine yourself sitting with Keith in front of a roaring fire in the middle of winter and Keith is reminiscing about the many milestones in his professional and personal life.

The Audible novel puts you there.. seriously. On top of everything else, Keith shares his techniques, guitar tunings, and songwriting methods with ease. As an amateur guitarist, I have learned more about the instrument and various tuning methods (specifically Open G) in a week of listening to the book than I have in over 30 years of trying to teach myself.

In this book, Keith openly discusses his drug habits, but always counsels the listener to stay away from drugs. This is no mean feat.... the book is full of stories of what happened under the influence of Heroin, cocaine, marijuana and various other uppers and downers, but amazingly you come away from the experience with some understanding of why Keith (and others) would subject themselves to the problems that this lifestyle introduces, without the feeling that Keith is in any way endorsing this lifestyle.

I have to say, prior to the book, my impression of Keith Richards was that of an aging rock star who should have quit long ago in his prime. A rock personality who was almost always "out of it" on drugs or alcohol, and who was almost an anachronism in this day and age.

What I learnt however was that this is a highly intelligent and articulate man who has an amazing capacity to recall events from the past 40 years or so, and in the process has given us, the reader (or listener) an unprecedented insight into an amazing life at a turning point in 20th Century culture.

Read or listen to "Life".... you won't regret it.

Thanks Keef for a great body of work and an amazing biography.

Keep on rockin'!

fantastic Mr Richards.

This is the second best audiobook I've ever listened to. The section Keith reads himself is simply marvellous- cooking tips, pet care, it's all in there! Fabulous!

Keith is not just a junkie with a guitar!

Beautifully narrated by Johnny Depp, (who's characterization of Captain Jack Sparrow, in the Pirates of the Caribbean, is based on Richards' peculiar mannerisms). This book takes us back to the very start of Keith Richards' life, in a small town in England, right efter the end of WWII.

There are big contrasts between passages that are raw and direct, (Richards' own words), and the flat and matter-of-fact expositions obviously written by his "ghost writer". This gives a great deal of heart and emotion to the many stories told from the long, and often unpleasant, life of Keith Richards.

Though having been a life-long Rolling Stones fan, I never knew the high level of musicianship that the members bring. Keith was a choir-boy, and highly trained musician, and listening to Keith's words around music and the making of music, one begins to realize that the stereotypical junkie, (who have been sober for decades), are a master of his profession: guitarist.

Biographies are either written like a historian wrote it, (often they are written by historians), or they are honest and raw. The raw ones are always the best. They make you laugh and cry, as joyous and gut-wrenchingly sad events are told. The "historian" biographies, only recite events and dates, and it becomes passionless; then the reader/listener don't get emotionally involved. I can tell you, there aren't a dull moment in the entire book, it's a roller-coaster ride of emotion. "Life", is reminiscent of the autobiographical books written by Richard Feynman; in that they reveal many layers to the persons'.

If you are looking for a good listen, buy it!
If you are a fan of the Rolling Stones, buy it!
If you want to understand how a handful of Englishmen, listening to Muddy Waters, went from obscurity, to become he most successful rock band of all time, buy it!

My life is a lot richer for having read/listened to this book, and you will probably feel the same!