Life

By: Keith Richards, James Fox

Narrated by: Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley

Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited autobiography of Keith Richards, guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones.

With The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the songs that roused the world, and he lived the original rock and roll life. Now, at last, the man himself tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records, learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones's first fame and the notorious drug busts that led to his enduring image as an outlaw folk hero. Creating immortal riffs like the ones in "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Honky Tonk Women." His relationship with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the U.S., isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Marriage, family, solo albums and Xpensive Winos, and the road that goes on forever.

With his trademark disarming honesty, Keith Richard brings us the story of a life we have all longed to know more of, unfettered, fearless, and true.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2010 Keith Richards (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"[A] high-def, high-velocity portrait of the era when rock 'n' roll came of age, a raw report from deep inside the counterculture maelstrom of how that music swept like a tsunami over Britain and the United States....Mr. Richards has found a way to channel to the reader his own avidity, his own deep soul hunger for music and to make us feel the connections that bind one generation of musicians to another. Along the way he even manages to communicate something of that magic, electromagnetic experience of playing on stage with his mates, be it in a little club or a huge stadium." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"[A] slurry romp through the life of a man who knew every pleasure, denied himself nothing, and never paid the price." (David Remnick, The New Yorker)

"A vivid self-portrait and, of the Stones and their musical era, a grand group portrait....spellbinding storytelling." (Richard Corliss, Time)

Great story, narration disturbing

Where does Life rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I am not yet finished, but I am loving this look into Richard's life. Very detailed - you really feel like you are there with him in the story. I was just a preschooler during the Stones heyday but still the book brings back fond memories for me and I especially love hearing about the other musicians Richards knew and his fondness and respect for the Black musicians who inspired him. The narration is really bothering me. Unlike most others, I really liked Depp's subdued reading and did not think it was an American accent but a soft British one. When the 2nd guy takes over, it is like nails on a chalkboard. I am hating his voice to the point where I often just want to stop listening. Over the top, fake sounding accent to me (but I'm no expert - just really overdone and grating). I sure hope he doesn't narrate the rest of the book! This is a good book, nonetheless.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Keith, of course. Kind, down to earth.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

See comments above.

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

Not finished yet, but again, am really impressed by his understanding of, fondness and respect for the Black culture and musicians of that era. I am African American and his depictions mesh with my experiences as a very young child growing up in the 60s. Rather than judge Blacks as inferior or immoral; he seems to resonate with their warmth, generosity, nonjudgmental acceptance of him as an outsider to the standard American culture of that time. I'm not saying the Blacks of that time were perfect, but he does capture the best they had to offer. That really struck me.

A pirate king's memoir

Such a wonderful fantastic journey. The voice acting is spot on and the details are something we've all wished we were privy to. Richards remembers it all with a little help from his fellow pirates. Because let's face it, that's exactly what he is.

WARNING: very little Johnny Depp narration...

If one of the reasons you're purchasing this audiobook is to hear Johnny Depp's narration, then don't be fooled – he only narrates a few chapters and then is replaced by the other guy, who sounds like he's doing a corny, hammed-up impersonation of a drunk and sloppy Keef. I personally found it so excruciatingly annoying that I had to stop listening, despite enjoying the actual content. Not worth the money – buy the real book on Amazon for eight dollars.

A Life Worth Listening To

Yes, it’s quite a long strange ride for Mr. Richards. If you are of a certain age, you will probably love ever minute of this long book.

This book is quite a revelation.

I had no idea that Richards was so intelligent and articulate. Fascinating story of the life of a legendary man.
The book is narrated by 3 different people, including Johnny Depp and Richards himself. They all do a stellar job.
Highly recommened.

Two narrators was a poor choice.

Did they just not have enough money to pay Depp to read the whole book? He reads like the first 3 hours, and then out of nowhere, without any explanation - they switch to Joe Hurley. Then near the end they switch back to Depp. It's jarring and ruins the connection between the listener and the reader. Neither of them were bad, really, but I give the narration 1 star because of those poor decisions.

Plus, the story switches to different people at times. Some segments are written by Mick, some by other people... and the book just plows through these parts without ever even acknowledging who is speaking or at one point it switched. The only 'tell' is the narrator's accent changes from English to Southern or American out of nowhere. Which leaves you having to try and figure it out on the fly.

Very very poor creative choices behind the audiobook of this one. Otherwise, the autobiography in itself was good.

Where did Johnny Dept Go?

Was enjoying this so much. Suddenly, Johnny Depp’s narration ends and an entirely different narrator takes over. Sorry, couldn’t finish it—the change up doesn’t work for me.

Stick With One Narrator!

I guess Johnny Depp got distracted somewhere along the line. It was totally jarring to suddenly hear a new guys voice after I’d finally gotten to the point where I could understand Depp’s mumbling. Hurley is terrible but thinks he’s great I guess with the different accents. As soon as he took over I lost the entire thread of the narrative. Why didn’t they hire a real Englishman who’s not a celebrity and let him see the project through beginning to end?

The book should have had an editor to cut out the endless repetitions. Even so, there are some interesting parts; I might have stuck with it if not for the utterly bungled narration.

Entertaining insights by Richards and very well-performed by Depp

Well worth it!!!! Whether the stories are 100% true or not is completely immaterial ... it comes off as an honest, straight-up recollection of what it's like to see the world thru Keith's eyes. It's one of those audio books that I will listen to again just because it's HONEST ... on a side note, more aspiring voice-over professionals NEED to listen closely to professional like Depp.

Extremely Entertaining

A real trip to the beginnings of rock and roll and the quintessential rock star. Keith will live on forever in our hearts and mind.


Screw Brenda.