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)

Excellent and exhausting

The bio is very comprehensive up until around 1987 then the details are a little thin but over all it's a great listen/read. Having three voice overs is odd, I loved Johnny and the man himself. Keith keeps nothing back and there are few great surprises and yet it's exhausting even thinking about some of the stories. I haven't read anything this crazy since Moon. If you love the Stones or Keith or have any feelings for the 60's and 70's you will enjoy this, Keith has lived a very fascinating life, or perhaps several.

Wild Life

I was born in the 60's so Keith was more my sister's style but this book was great. Johnny Depp and Joe Hurley (and Keith) did a fantastic job. Lots of props go to James Fox for pulling it all together, it had to be rough. Keith seems to ramble and jump a lot (probably all the drugs) and somehow Mr. Fox keeps it in order. The most amazing part is that Keith is still living to tell the tale. I am also shocked at how well his son seems to have turned out...what a tough life he had. Not that he knows the difference, normal is what you know. Anyway, great story, well told and well written. Loved every minute..

Narration was confusing

Keith Richards has led a very interesting life to say the least and it is reflected here. My only issue with the book is the narration. Johnny Depp, I assume starts the narration and commands attention reading the narritive with an american accent while doing a great job doing other accents when people are quoted.
Then about 1/3 of the way through, he either changed his style completely or it was read the other narrator mentioned. This person had an English accent and did a great Keith Richards. With just the book on my ipod, I thought it was still Johnny Depp for a while. There were quite a few letters and quotes from other people but with this narrator it was hard to tell when they began and ended.
Then the last 1/3 of the book was back to Johnny Depp with an american accent. Keith Richards read a few sections himself at the end.

Bad sound

Volume levels fluctuate during listening creating the need to “ride the volume knob” in order to get a consistent listening experience.

What a ride!

Never a dull moment--not even when he explains guitar riffs, and I don't play the guitar or understand much about the technical aspects of music-making. Stones fans will love the inside scoop on how certain songs were written, and this includes the debunking of quite a few mythical interpretations of lyrics.

Richards and his co-writer manage a huge amount of material brilliantly. The writing style is conversational, which perfectly suits the first-person account and its subject matter. I feel as if I know Keith Richards now, and for all his wildness, like the guy very much, thank you.

Johnny Depp does a fine enough job narrating his portion, but Joe Hurley is magnificent. Along with his expressiveness, he has a convincing accent and a similar throatiness in his voice as the author's, who also makes a brief appearance in the narration. Dig it!

What a Ride!

Keith holds nothing back. What I like most about this journey is Keith sharing his songwriting techniques and his overall love of music. I am impressed by this man and will never think of him as just some burned out drug addict but that of a true artist.

A Must for Keef Fans (but Listen to All of It!)

I've been a Rolling Stones fan since the mid-70s and so was familiar with their history, but it was great to hear it from the man himself. Keith Richards is everything you would expect and also nothing like what you expect -- he has lived the ultimate Rock life and taken all the drugs and lived as a touring pirate, but he is also a thoughtful, intelligent, well-read and impressively disciplined man at the same time. What emerges more than anything is a guy who fell in love with music (American blues and early rock-and-roll) and who seems to have never fallen out of love with it. He takes the entire Rolling Stones experience extremely seriously, from the songwriting to the sound to the touring to the relationships with his bandmates. It was fascinating to hear how the band came together, how Keith, Brian and Mick lived together in poverty and squalor, yet how their rise to fame was pretty rapid. Keith writes at length about how he and Mick emerged as an impressive songwriting team, and how Keith later discovered open-G tuning, which helped the Stones sound like no other band. He has some great insights on Mick, too; he lavishes Jagger with praise over the man's talents as a singer, performer, harmonica player and band spokesman, and also complains about Jagger's personality quirks that have led to divisions between the two men, and in the band overall. By the end, Richards seems to have buried the hatchet and also appears as a settled old man who enjoys the small things in life like family and the odd plate of bangers and mash (even though he lives in Connecticut, of all places).

The narration is very strange, almost as if the publishers had to patch together the voice talent. Johnny Depp narrates the first 25% or so of the book and is quite good. Then, abruptly, Joe Hurley takes over, giving the book a very British, actorly feel (Hurley is almost imitating Richards' slurry, rock star voice). It was alright, I guess. Finally, near the last 25% of the book, Depp comes back! And then, near the very end of the book, another voice takes over, and then on top of that there is another celebrity reader! I won't spoil it, but it makes for a very fun conclusion, so keep listening to the whole thing.

I highly recommend Life for anyone who's a fan of the Stones, rock history, the British invasion, or pop culture in general. It's a remarkable look at an entire era.

GREAT READ

Would you consider the audio edition of Life to be better than the print version?

Better than most and I am only halfway through it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Keith....I mean duh it's an autobiography

Which character – as performed by Johnny Depp and Joe Hurley – was your favorite?

Again...autobiography. Both were excellent

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

Nostalgic....about the past. In love with young Keith Richards...but then I was gorgous too back then. =)

Excellent!

This is a fascinating account from the front lines of an era great music and musical/social revolution. Richards if funny and smart, and very entertaining. This is also ideal as an audiobook: if you are like me, NOT a musician, the parts where he goes into musical theory and whatnot probably would have made me put a book down or skip ahead - but with the audiobook I've been content to listen, and have learned a thing or two along the way. I think the story rises well above any quibble one might have with the narration.

Interesting Story

Would you consider the audio edition of Life to be better than the print version?

What compelled me to listen to this book was the fact that Johnny Depp read part of it and he does not disappoint... What did disappoint me is Richards use of the word