name	GTK+
logo
developer	GNOME Foundation
latest release version	3.0.12
latest release date
latest preview version	3.1.12
latest preview date
programming language	C
operating system	Cross-platform
platform	Cross-platform
size	18 MB
language	Multilingual
status	Active
genre	Widget toolkit
license	GNU LGPL version 2
website	http://www.gtk.org/ }}

GTK+ (GIMP Toolkit) is a cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL, allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It is one of the most popular toolkits for the X Window System, along with Qt.

GTK+, initially GTK, was originally created for the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), a free software raster graphics editor, in 1997 by Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis, members of eXperimental Computing Facility (XCF) at the University of California, Berkeley. It is now maintained by the GNU Project, which aims to create a whole free software operating system.

Design

GTK+ is an object-oriented widget toolkit written in the C programming language; object-orientation is achieved by using the GLib object system. On the X11 display server, GTK+ uses Xlib to draw widgets. Using Xlib provides flexibility and allows GTK+ to be used on platforms where the X Window System is unavailable. While GTK+ is primarily targeted at the X Window System, other platforms are supported, including Microsoft Windows (interfaced with the Windows API), and Mac OS X (interfaced with Quartz). HTML5 and Wayland backends are in development.

GTK+ can be configured to change the look of the widgets drawn; this is done using different display engines. Several display engines exist which try to emulate the look of the native widgets on the platform in use.

Programming language bindings

A library written in one programming language may be used in another programming language if bindings are written; GTK+ has bindings in many languages.

See the table below:

! Language	! Name	! Supported?
Ada (programming language)>Ada	GtkAda
C (programming language)>C	GTK+
! C++	gtkmm
!C Sharp (programming language)
D	gtkD
Erlang (programming language)>Erlang	gtkNode
GObject>GOB	languages written for the GObject system.
!Gambas	gambas2-gb-gtk
Genie (programming language)>Genie	languages written for the GObject system.
Haskell (programming language)>Haskell	gtk2hs
! Fortran	gtk-fortran
! FreeBASIC	GladeToBac
! FreePascal	(header) integrated into the core distribution
Java (programming language)>Java	java-gnome
! JavaScript
Lua (programming language)>Lua	lgob
Lua (programming language)>Lua	LuaGtk
! Ocaml	LablGTK
! Perl	Gtk2-Perl
! PHP	PHP-GTK
Python (programming language)>Python	PyGTK (but as of GTK3 the python bindings are already included natively under the name "PyGObject")
R (programming language)>R	RGtk2
Ruby (programming language)>Ruby
! Smalltalk	Smalltalk GTK
Tcl (programming language)>Tcl	Gnocl
Vala (programming language)>Vala	languages written for the GObject system.
! Wrapl	WraplGTK

GUI designers

There were several attempts to create a GUI designer for GTK+. The following projects are active as of July 2011:

Glade, supports GtkBuilder, which is a GTK+ built-in GUI description format.

Crow Designer, relies on its own GuiXml format and GuiLoader library.

Stetic, part of MonoDevelop, oriented towards Gtk#.

History

GTK+ was originally designed and used in the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) as a replacement of the Motif toolkit; at some point Peter Mattis became disenchanted with Motif and began to write his own GUI toolkit called the GIMP toolkit and had successfully replaced Motif by the 0.60 release of GIMP. Finally GTK was re-written to be object oriented and was renamed GTK+. This was first used in the 0.99 release of GIMP.

The GTK+ 2.0.0 release series introduced new features which include improved text rendering using Pango, a new theme engine, improved accessibility using the Accessibility Toolkit, complete transition to Unicode using UTF-8 strings, and a more flexible API. Starting with version 2.8, GTK+ 2 depends on the cairo graphics library for rendering vector graphics in GTK+ 2.

GTK+ version 3.0.0 included revised input device handling, support for themes written with CSS-like syntax, and the ability to receive information about other opened GTK+ applications.

! Release series	! Initial release date	! Major enhancements	! Latest minor version
!1.0		First stable version	1.0.6
!1.2		New widgets (GtkFontSelector, GtkPacker, GtkItemFactory, GtkCTree,GtkInvisible, GtkCalendar, GtkLayout, GtkPlug, GtkSocket)	1.2.10
!2.0		GObject, Universal Unicode UTF-8	2.0.9
!2.2		Multihead support	2.2.4
!2.4		New widgets (GtkFileChooser, GtkComboBox, GtkComboBoxEntry,GtkExpander, GtkFontButton, GtkColorButton)	2.4.14
!2.6			2.6.10
!2.8			2.8.20
!2.10		New widgets (GtkStatusIcon, GtkAssistant, GtkLinkButton,GtkRecentChooser) and print support (GtkPrintOperation)	2.10.14
!2.12		GtkBuilder
!2.14		Jpeg2000 load support
!2.16		New GtkOrientable, Caps Lock warning in password Entry.Improvement on GtkScale, GtkStatusIcon, GtkFileChooser.
!2.18		New GtkInfoBar. Improvement on file chooser, printing.GDK has been rewritten to use 'client-side windows'
!2.20		New GtkSpinner and GtkToolPalette, GtkOffscreenWindow. Improvement on file chooser,keyboard handling, GDK.Introspection data is now included in GTK+
!2.22		gdk-pixbuf moved to separate module, most GDK drawing are based on Cairo,many internal data are now private and can be ''sealed'' in preparation to GTK+3
!2.24		New simple combo box widget (GtkComboBoxText) added, the cups print backend can send print jobs as PDF,GtkBuilder has gained support for text tags and menu toolbuttons and many introspection annotation fixes were added
!3.0		Cairo, more X11 agnostic, XInput2, CSS-based theme API

Future developments

''Project Ridley'' is an attempt to consolidate several libraries that are currently external to GTK+, including libgnome, libgnomeui, libgnomeprint22, libgnomeprintui22, libglade, libgnomecanvas, libegg, libeel, gtkglext and libsexy.

Developers are also considering new directions for the library, including removing deprecated API components and adding an integrated scene graph system, similar to the Clutter graphics library, effectively integrating GTK+ with OpenGL.

Development and design of the GTK+ 3 release of the toolkit started in February 2009 during the GTK+ Theming Hackfest held in Dublin. A first draft of the development roadmap has been released on April 9, 2009.

GTK+ hello world

The following is a graphical GTK+ hello world program in the C programming language. This program has a window with the title "Hello, world!" and a label with similar text.

#include

int main (int argc, char *argv[]) { GtkWidget *window; GtkWidget *label;

gtk_init(&argc;, &argv;);

/* Create the main, top level window */ window = gtk_window_new(GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);

/* Give it the title */ gtk_window_set_title(GTK_WINDOW(window), "Hello, world!");

/* ** Map the destroy signal of the window to gtk_main_quit; ** When the window is about to be destroyed, we get a notification and ** stop the main GTK+ loop by returning 0 */ g_signal_connect(window, "destroy", G_CALLBACK(gtk_main_quit), NULL);

/* ** Assign the variable "label" to a new GTK label, ** with the text "Hello, world!" */ label = gtk_label_new("Hello, world!");

/* Plot the label onto the main window */ gtk_container_add(GTK_CONTAINER(window), label);

/* Make sure that everything, window and label, are visible */ gtk_widget_show_all(window);

/* ** Start the main loop, and do nothing (block) until ** the application is closed */ gtk_main();

return 0; }

Using GCC and pkg-config in a Unix shell, this code can be compiled with the following command (assume above source has file name "helloworld.c"):

$ gcc -Wall helloworld.c -o helloworld `pkg-config --cflags gtk+-3.0` `pkg-config --libs gtk+-3.0`

GTK+ example using Vala instead of C

To create a "Hello World" program in Vala instead of C, do the following:

using Gtk;

int main (string[] args) { Gtk.init (ref args);

var window = new Window (); window.title = "Hello, World!"; window.border_width = 10; window.window_position = WindowPosition.CENTER; window.set_default_size (350, 70); window.destroy.connect (Gtk.main_quit);

var label = new Label ("Hello, World!");

window.add (label); window.show_all();

Gtk.main(); return 0; }

Uses

; Environments that use GTK+

GNOME is based on GTK+, meaning that programs native to GNOME use GTK+

Xfce is based on GTK+

LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) is based on GTK+

ROX Desktop is a lightweight desktop, with features from the GUI of RISC OS

GPE Palmtop Environment

Access Linux Platform (successor of the Palm OS PDA platform)

Sugar is a desktop environment oriented on helping children learn, which uses GTK+ and PyGTK

KDE, though based on Qt, has integration with GTK+-based programs and themes (since version 4.2).

GTK+ programs do not require a desktop environment made with GTK+. If the required libraries are installed, a GTK+ program can run on top of other X11-based desktop environments or window managers; this includes Mac OS X if X11.app is installed (which is the default since the Leopard release). GTK+ can also run under Microsoft Windows, where it is used by some popular cross-platform applications like Pidgin and GIMP. wxWidgets, a cross-platform GUI toolkit, uses GTK+ for Unix-like operating systems. Other ports include DirectFB (used by the Debian installer, for example) and ncurses.

; Window managers The following window managers use GTK+

Aewm

AfterStep

Amaterus

IceWM

Metacity

Mutter

Sawfish

Wmg

Xfwm

Applications

Some notable applications that use GTK+ as a widget toolkit include:

AbiWord – Word processor

Anjuta – Integrated development environment (IDE)

Ardour – Digital audio workstation

Chromium – Secure web browser employing WebKit and developed in large part by Google

Ekiga (formerly GnomeMeeting) – VoIP and video conferencing application

Epiphany – Official GNOME web browser

Evolution – Personal information manager

GIMP – Raster graphics editor

Gnumeric – Spreadsheet software

GRAMPS – Genealogy software

Inkscape – SVG Vector graphics editor

LiVES – Video editor

Midori – Minimalistic web browser

Pidgin – Instant messenger

gconfig – Linux kernel source configuration utility

See also

gtkmm – C++ bindings for GTK+

FLTK – A light, cross-platform, non-native widget toolkit

FOX toolkit – A fast, open source, cross-platform widget toolkit

Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC)

Object Windows Library (OWL)

Qt

Ultimate++

Visual Component Library (VCL)

wxWidgets - cross platform open source C++ widgets toolkit developed by community

Widget toolkit

List of widget toolkits

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website

GTK+ Reference Manual

List of GTK+ applications

Another list of GTK+ applications

Category:Application programming interfaces Category:C libraries Category:Cross-platform software Category:Free development toolkits and libraries Category:Free software programmed in C Category:GNU Project software Category:Widget toolkits Category:X-based libraries Category:Articles with example C code

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Name	Lou Reed
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Lewis Allan Reed
Born	March 02, 1942Brooklyn, New YorkUnited States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, ostrich guitar, bass, synthesizer, keyboards, piano, harmonica, drums, percussion
Genre	Rock, experimental rock, art rock, protopunk, noise music, drone music, psychedelic rock, folk rock, glam rock
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter, producer, photographer
Years active	1964–present
Label	Matador, MGM, RCA, Sire, Reprise, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	The Velvet Underground, John Cale, Nico, David Bowie, The Killers, Mick Ronson, Gorillaz, Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel, Metallica.
Website	www.loureed.com }}

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed (born on March 2, 1942) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which spans several decades and crosses multiple genres. The Velvet Underground gained little mainstream attention during their career, but became one of the most influential bands of their era. As the Velvet Underground's main songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined so openly in rock and roll, including sexuality and drug culture.

After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1971. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", although he subsequently lacked the mainstream commercial success its chart status seemed to indicate. Reed's work as a solo artist frustrated critics wishing for a return of the Velvet Underground. In 1975 Reed released a double album of feedback loops, ''Metal Machine Music'', upon which Reed later commented: "No one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive." He is also responsible for the name and popularization of ostrich tuning.

In 2008, Reed married singer/songwriter Laurie Anderson.

Early life

Reed was born into a Jewish family at Beth El Hospital in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island. Contrary to some sources, his birth name was Lewis Allan Reed, not Louis Firbanks; a name that was coined as a joke by Lester Bangs in ''Creem'' magazine. Having learned to play the guitar from the radio, he developed an early interest in rock and roll and rhythm and blues, and during high school played in a number of bands. His first recording was as a member of a doo wop-style group called The Jades.

In 1956 Reed received electroconvulsive therapy as a teenager to "cure" his homosexuality; he wrote about the experience in his 1974 song, "Kill Your Sons". In an interview, Reed said of the experience:

Reed began attending Syracuse University in the fall of 1960, studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. In 1961 he began hosting a late-night radio program on WAER called "Excursions On A Wobbly Rail". Named after a song by pianist Cecil Taylor, the program typically featured doo wop, rhythm and blues and jazz, particularly the free jazz developed in the mid-1950s. Many of Reed's guitar techniques, such as the guitar-drum roll, were inspired by jazz saxophonists, notably Ornette Coleman. Reed graduated from Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences with a B.A. in June 1964.

Poet Delmore Schwartz taught at Syracuse University and befriended Reed, who in 1966 dedicated the song "European Son", from the Velvet Underground's debut album ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'', to Schwartz. In 1982, Reed recorded "My House" as a tribute to his late mentor. He later said that his goals as a writer were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music" or to write the Great American Novel in a record album.

Career

Staff songwriter at Pickwick Records

In 1964 Reed moved to New York City and began working as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records. In 1964 he scored a minor hit with the single "The Ostrich", a parody of popular dance songs of the time, which included lines such as "put your head on the floor and have somebody step on it." His employers felt that the song had hit potential, and arranged for a band to be assembled around Reed to promote the recording. The ad hoc group, called The Primitives, included Welsh musician John Cale, who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composer La Monte Young's Theater of Eternal Music, along with Tony Conrad. Cale and Conrad were both surprised to find that for "The Ostrich" Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note. This technique created a drone effect similar to their experimentation in Young's avant garde ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire (including "Heroin"), and a partnership began to evolve.

The Velvet Underground

Reed and Cale lived together on the Lower East Side, and after inviting Reed's college acquaintances, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker, to join the group, they formed The Velvet Underground. Though internally unstable (Cale left in 1968; Reed in 1970) and without commercial success, the band has a long-standing reputation as one of the most influential bands in rock history.

The group soon caught the attention of artist Andy Warhol. One of Warhol's first contributions was to integrate them into the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Warhol's associates inspired many of Reed's songs as he fell into a thriving, multifaceted artistic scene. Reed rarely gives an interview without paying homage to Warhol as a mentor. Conflict emerged when Warhol had the idea for the group to take on a chanteuse, the European former model and singer Nico. Reed and the others registered their objection by titling their debut album ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' to imply that Nico was not accepted as a member of the group. Despite his initial resistance, Reed wrote several songs for Nico to sing, and the two were briefly lovers (as were Nico and Cale later). ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' reached #171 on the charts.

Today, however, it is considered one of the most influential rock albums ever recorded. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine has it listed as the 13th most influential album of all time. Brian Eno once famously stated that although few people bought the album, most of those who did were inspired to form their own band.

By the time the band recorded ''White Light/White Heat'', Nico had quit and Warhol was fired, both against Cale's wishes. Warhol's replacement as manager, Steve Sesnick, convinced Reed to drive Cale out of the band. Morrison and Tucker were discomfited by Reed's tactics but continued with the group. Cale's replacement was Doug Yule, whom Reed would often facetiously introduce as his younger brother. The group now took on a more pop-oriented sound and acted more as a vehicle for Reed to develop his songwriting craft. The group released two albums with this line up: 1969's ''The Velvet Underground'' and 1970's ''Loaded''. The latter included two of the group's most commercially successful songs, "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane". Reed left the Velvet Underground in August 1970; the band disintegrated as core members Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker departed in 1971 and 1972, respectively. Yule continued until early 1973, and the band released one more studio album, ''Squeeze'', under the Velvet Underground name.

After the band's move to Atlantic Records' Cotillion label, their new manager pushed Reed to change the subject matter of his songs to lighter topics in hopes commercial success. The band's album ''Loaded'' had taken more time to record than the previous three albums together, but had not broken the band through to a wider audience. Reed briefly retired to his parents' home on Long Island.

Solo career

1970s

After quitting the Velvet Underground in August 1970, Reed took a job at his father's tax accounting firm as a typist, by his own account earning $40 a week. A year later, however, he signed a recording contract with RCA and recorded his first solo album in London with top session musicians including Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman, members of the progressive rock group Yes. The album, simply titled ''Lou Reed'', contained smoothly produced, re-recorded versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of which were originally recorded by the Velvets for ''Loaded'' but shelved (see the ''Peel Slowly and See'' box set). This first solo album was overlooked by most pop music critics (although Stephen Holden in ''Rolling Stone'' called it "almost perfect") and it did not sell in significant numbers.

In December 1972, Reed released ''Transformer''. David Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced the album and introduced Reed to a wider popular audience (specifically in the UK). The hit single "Walk on the Wild Side" was both a salute and swipe at the misfits, hustlers, and transvestites in Andy Warhol's Factory. The song's cleverly transgressive lyrics evaded radio censorship. Though musically somewhat atypical for Reed, it eventually became his signature song. The song came about as a result of his commission to compose a soundtrack to a theatrical adaptation of Nelson Algren's novel of the same name, though the play failed to materialize. Ronson's arrangements brought out new aspects of Reed's songs; "Perfect Day", for example, features delicate strings and soaring dynamics. It was rediscovered in the 1990s and allowed Reed to drop "Walk on the Wild Side" from his concerts.

Though ''Transformer'' would prove to be Reed's commercial and critical pinnacle, there was no small amount of resentment in Reed devoted to the shadow the record cast over the rest of his career. A public argument between Bowie and Reed ended their working relationship for several years, though the subject of the argument is not known. The two reconciled some years later, and Reed performed with Bowie at the latter's 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997. The two would not formally collaborate again until 2003's ''The Raven''. Reed followed ''Transformer'' with the darker ''Berlin'', which tells the story of two junkies in love in the titular city. The songs variously concern domestic abuse ("Caroline Says I", "Caroline Says II"), drug addiction ("How Do You Think It Feels"), adultery and prostitution ("The Kids"), and suicide ("The Bed"). Reed's late-1973 European tour, featuring dual lead guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, mixed his ''Berlin'' material with older rockers.

After ''Berlin'' came two albums in 1974, ''Sally Can't Dance'' and a live record ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'', which contained performances of the Velvet Underground songs "Sweet Jane" and "Heroin". ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' became his biggest selling album, and its follow-up ''Lou Reed Live,'' recorded on the same occasions in December 1973, kept Reed in the public eye with strong sales after its release in early 1975.

As he had done with ''Berlin'' after ''Transformer'', in 1975 Reed responded to commercial success with a commercial failure, a double album of electronically generated audio feedback, ''Metal Machine Music''. Critics interpreted it as a gesture of contempt, an attempt to break his contract with RCA or to alienate his less sophisticated fans. But Reed claimed that the album was a genuine artistic effort, even suggesting that quotations of classical music could be found buried in the feedback. Lester Bangs declared it "genius", though also as psychologically disturbing. The album was reportedly returned to stores by the thousands after a few weeks. Though later admitting that the liner notes' list of instruments is fictitious and intended as parody, Reed maintains that ''MMM'' was and is a serious album. He has since stated though that at the time he had taken it seriously, he was also "very stoned". In the 2000s it was adapted for orchestral performance by the German ensemble Zeitkratzer.

By contrast, 1975's ''Coney Island Baby'' was mainly a warm and mellow album, though for its characters Reed still drew on the underbelly of city life. At this time his lover was a transgender woman, Rachel, mentioned in the dedication of "Coney Island Baby" and appearing in the photos on the cover of Reed's 1977 "best of" album, ''Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed''. While ''Rock and Roll Heart'', his 1976 debut for his new record label Arista, fell short of expectations, ''Street Hassle'' (1978) was a return to form in the midst of the punk scene he had helped to inspire. But ironically Reed was dismissive of punk and rejected any affiliation with it. "I'm too literate to be into punk rock... The whole CBGB's, new Max's thing that everyone's into and what's going on in London — you don't seriously think I'm responsible for what's mostly rubbish?" ''The Bells'' (1979) featured jazz musician Don Cherry, and was followed the next year by ''Growing Up in Public'' with guitarist Chuck Hammer. Around this period he also appeared as a sleazy record producer in Paul Simon's film ''One Trick Pony''. Reed also played several unannounced one-off concerts in tiny downtown Manhattan clubs with the likes of Cale, Patti Smith, and David Byrne during this period.

1980s

In 1980, Reed married British designer Sylvia Morales. They were divorced more than a decade later. While together, Morales inspired Reed to write several songs, particularly "Think It Over" from 1980's ''Growing Up in Public'' and "Heavenly Arms" from 1982's ''The Blue Mask''. After ''Legendary Hearts'' (1983) and ''New Sensations'' (1984) fared adequately on the charts, Reed was sufficiently reestablished as a public figure to become spokesman for Honda motorcycles.

In the early 1980s, Reed asked guitarist Robert Quine to join his group. Quine appeared on Reed's The Blue Mask (1982), acclaimed as one of Reed's best albums, and Legendary Hearts (1983). The two guitarists’ played both rhythm and lead guitar. Robert Quine eventually quit the group due to tensions with Reed. However, Reed persuaded Quine to rejoin for a world tour, with which he agreed to despite his aversion to touring, for financial reasons. Quine ended his musical relationship with Reed in 1985.

On September 22, 1985, Reed performed at the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. He performed "Doin' The Things That We Want To", "I Love You, Suzanne", and ''New Sensations'', and "Walk on The Wild Side".

In 1986, he joined Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope Tour and was outspoken about New York's political issues and personalities on the 1989 album ''New York'', commenting on crime, AIDS, Jesse Jackson, Kurt Waldheim, and Pope John Paul II.

Following Warhol's death after routine surgery in 1987, Reed again collaborated with John Cale on the biographical ''Songs for Drella'', Warhol's nickname. The album marked an end to a 22-year estrangement from Cale. On the album, Reed sings of his love for his late friend, but also criticizes both the doctors who were unable to save Warhol's life and Warhol's would-be assassin, Valerie Solanas.

1990s

In 1990, following a 20-year hiatus, the Velvet Underground reformed for a Fondation Cartier benefit in France. Reed released his sixteenth solo record, ''Magic and Loss'' in 1992, an album about mortality, inspired by the death of two close friends from cancer. In 1993, the Velvet Underground again reunited and toured throughout Europe, although plans for a North American tour were cancelled following another falling out between Reed and Cale. In 1994, Reed appeared in ''A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who'', also known as ''Daltrey Sings Townshend''. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. In 1994, a CD and a VHS video were issued, and in 1998 a DVD was released. Reed performed a radically rearranged version of "Now And Then" from ''Psychoderelict''.

In 1996, the Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, Reed performed a song entitled "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend" alongside former bandmates John Cale and Maureen Tucker, in dedication to Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison, who had died the previous August. Reed has since been nominated for the Rock Hall as a solo artist twice, in 2000 and 2001, but has not been inducted.

His 1996 album, ''Set the Twilight Reeling'', met with a lukewarm reception, but 2000's ''Ecstasy'' drew praise from most critics, including Robert Christgau. In 1996, Reed contributed songs and music to ''Time Rocker'', an avant-garde theatrical interpretation of H.G. Wells' ''The Time Machine'' staged by theater director Robert Wilson. The piece premiered in the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, Germany, and was later also shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.

In 1998, the PBS TV show, ''American Masters'' aired Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' feature documentary ''Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart''. This film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. and at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany went on to screen at over 50 festivals worldwide. In 1999, the film and Reed as its subject received a Grammy Award for best long form music video.

Since the late 1990s, Reed has been romantically linked to the musician, multi-media and performance artist Laurie Anderson, and the two have collaborated on a number of recordings together. Anderson contributed to "Call On Me" from Reed's project ''The Raven'', to the tracks "Baton Rouge" and "Rock Minuet" from Reed's ''Ecstasy'', and to "Hang On To Your Emotions" from Reed's ''Set the Twilight Reeling''. Reed contributed to "In Our Sleep" from Anderson's ''Bright Red'' and to "One Beautiful Evening" from her ''Life on a String''. They were married on April 12, 2008.

2000s

In May 2000, Reed performed before Pope John Paul II at the Great Jubilee Concert in Rome. In 2000, a new collaboration with Robert Wilson called ''Poe-Try'' was staged at the Thalia Theater in Germany. As with the previous collaboration ''Time Rocker,'' ''Poe-Try'' was also inspired by the works of a 19th-century writer: Edgar Allan Poe. Reed became interested in Poe after producer and long-time friend Hal Willner had suggested him to read some of Poe's text at a Halloween benefit he was curating at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. For this new collaboration, Reed reworked and even rewrote some of Poe's text as well as included some new songs based on the theme explored in the texts. In 2001, Reed made a cameo appearance in the movie adaptation of ''Prozac Nation''. On October 6, 2001 the ''New York Times'' published a Reed poem called ''Laurie Sadly Listening'' in which he reflects upon the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Incorrect reports of Reed's death were broadcast by numerous US radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be from Reuters) which said he had died of a drug overdose. In 2003, he released a 2-CD set, ''The Raven'', based on "Poe-Try". Besides Reed and his band, the album featured a wide range of actors and musicians including singers David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Antony Hegarty, saxophonist and long-time idol Ornette Coleman, and actors Elizabeth Ashley, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Amanda Plummer, Fisher Stevens and Kate Valk. The album consisted of songs written by Reed and spoken-word performances of reworked and rewritten texts of Edgar Allan Poe by the actors, set to electronic music composed by Reed. At the same time a single disc CD version of the albums, focusing on the music, was also released.

A few months after the release of ''The Raven'', a new 2-CD Best Of-set was released, entitled ''NYC Man (The Ultimate Collection 1967-2003)'', which featured an unreleased version of the song "Who am I" and a selection of career spanning tracks that had been selected, remastered and sequenced under Reed's supervision. In April 2003, Reed embarked on a new world tour supporting both new and released material, with a band including cellist Jane Scarpantoni and singer Antony Hegarty. During some of the concerts for this tour, the band was joined by Master Ren Guangyi, Reed's personal Tai Chi instructor, performing Tai Chi movements to the music on stage. This tour was documented in the 2004 double disc live album ''Animal Serenade'', recorded live at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.

In 2003, Reed released his first book of photographs, ''Emotions in Action''. This work actually was made up out of two books, a larger A4-paper sized called ''Emotions'' and a smaller one called ''Actions'' which was laid into the hard cover of the former.

''After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed'' was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2003. In 2004, a Groovefinder remix of his song, "Satellite of Love" (called "Satellite of Love '04") was released. It reached #10 in the UK singles chart. Also in 2004, Reed contributed vocals and guitar to the track "Fistful of love" on ''I Am a Bird Now'' by Antony and the Johnsons. In 2005, Reed did a spoken word text on Danish rock band Kashmir's album ''No Balance Palace''.

In 2003, Reed was also a judge for the third annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

In January 2006, a second book of photographs, ''Lou Reed's New York'', was released. At the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, Reed performed "White Light/White Heat" with The Raconteurs. Later in the night, while co-presenting the award for Best Rock Video with Pink, he exclaimed, apparently unscripted, that "MTV should be playing more rock n' roll."

In October 2006, Reed appeared at Hal Willner's Leonard Cohen tribute show "Came So Far For Beauty" in Dublin, beside the cast of Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, Antony, Jarvis Cocker, Beth Orton, and others. According to the reports, he played a heavy metal version of Cohen's "The Stranger Song". He also performed "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong" and two duets — "Joan of Arc", with Cohen's former back-up singer Julie Christensen, and "Memories" — in a duet with Anjani Thomas.

In December 2006, Reed played a first series of show at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, based on his 1973 ''Berlin'' song cycle. Reed was reunited on stage with guitarist Steve Hunter, who played on the original album as well as on ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'', as well as joined by singers Antony Hegarty and Sharon Jones, pianist Rupert Christie, a horn and string section and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The show was being produced by Bob Ezrin, who also produced the original album, and Hal Willner. The stage was designed by painter Julian Schnabel and a film about protagonist "Caroline" directed by his daughter, Lola Schnabel, was being projected to the stage. A live recording of these concerts was also published as a film (directed by Schnabel) which was released spring 2008. The show was also played at the Sydney Festival in January 2007 and throughout Europe during June and July 2007. The album version of the concert, entitled ''Berlin: Live At St. Ann's Warehouse'', was released in 2008.

In April 2007, he released ''Hudson River Wind Meditations'', his first record of ambient meditation music. The record was released on the Sounds True record label and contains four tracks that were said to have been composed just for himself as a guidance for Tai Chi exercise and meditation. In May 2007 Reed performed the narration for a screening of Guy Maddin's silent film ''The Brand Upon the Brain''. In June 2007, he performed live at the Traffic Festival 2007 in Turin, Italy, a five-day free event organized by the town.

In August 2007, Reed went into the studio with The Killers in New York City to record "Tranquilize", a duet with Brandon Flowers for The Killers' b-side/rarities album, called ''Sawdust''. During that month, he also recorded guitar for the Lucibel Crater song "Threadbare Funeral", which appears on their full-length CD ''The Family Album''. In October 2007, Reed gave a special performance in the ''Recitement'' song "Passengers". The album combines music with spoken word. The album was composed by Stephen Emmer and produced by Tony Visconti. Hollandcentraal was inspired by this piece of music and literature, which spawned a concept for a music video. On October 1, 2008, Reed joined Richard Barone via projected video on a spoken/sung duet of Reed's "I'll Be Your Mirror", with cellist Jane Scarpantoni, in Barone's ''FRONTMAN: A Musical Reading'' at Carnegie Hall.

On April 12, 2008, Reed married his longtime companion, performance artist Laurie Anderson, in a private ceremony in Boulder, Colorado.

On October 2 and 3, 2008 he premiered his new group, which later was named Metal Machine Trio, at REDCAT (Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex, Los Angeles). The live recordings of the concerts were released under the title ''The Creation of the Universe''. The Trio features Ulrich Krieger (saxophone) and Sarth Calhoun (electronics), and plays free improvised instrumental music inspired by Reed's 1975 album ''Metal Machine Music''. The music ranges from ambient soundscapes to free rock to contemporary noise. The trio played further shows at New York's Gramercy Theater in April 2009 and appeared as part of Reed's band at the 2009 Lollapalooza, including a 10 minute free trio improvisation. At Lollapalooza, held in Chicago's Grant Park, Reed played "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" with Metallica at Madison Square Garden as part of the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on October 30, 2009. Reed's recent activity in films include providing the voice of Maltazard, the villain in the forthcoming Luc Besson animated film, ''Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard'' playing the role of himself in Wim Wenders' movie Palermo Shooting (2008)

In 2009, Reed became an active member of The Jazz Foundation of America (JFA). Reed was a featured performer at the JFA's annual benefit "A Great Night in Harlem" in May 2009.

2010s

Reed has remained active doing benefits and composing music. He has contributed vocals on the third Gorillaz album, ''Plastic Beach'', on the song "Some Kind Of Nature". and co-wrote and performed backup music for a Chen Style Tai Chi instructional DVD. He has a co-production credit on Laurie Anderson's ''Homeland''.

Lou Reed performed a cover of the Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue" which is featured on the tribute album "Rave On Buddy Holly".

Reed also began touring with the Metal Machine Trio, which was widely viewed as a return to his exploration of noise and sound. On June 15, 2011, heavy metal band Metallica announced that they have recorded a full length collaboration with Lou Reed to be released November 1 in North America and October 31 everywhere else.

Discography

With the Velvet Underground

''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' (1967)

''White Light/White Heat'' (1968)

''The Velvet Underground'' (1969)

''Loaded'' (1970)

''1969: The Velvet Underground Live'' (1974)

''VU'' (1985)

''Another View'' (1986)

''Live MCMXCIII'' (1993)

''Peel Slowly and See'' (1995)

''Fully Loaded'' (1997)

''Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes'' (2001)

As a solo artist

''Lou Reed'' (1972)

''Transformer'' (1972)

''Berlin'' (1973)

''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' (1974)

''Sally Can't Dance'' (1974)

''Metal Machine Music'' (1975)

''Coney Island Baby'' (1975)

''Rock and Roll Heart'' (1976)

''Street Hassle'' (1978)

''The Bells'' (1979)

''Growing Up in Public'' (1980)

''The Blue Mask'' (1982)

''Legendary Hearts'' (1983)

''New Sensations'' (1984)

''Mistrial'' (1986)

''New York'' (1989)

''Songs for Drella'' (with John Cale) (1990)

''Magic and Loss'' (1992)

''Set the Twilight Reeling'' (1996)

''Ecstasy'' (2000)

''The Raven'' (2003)

''Hudson River Wind Meditations'' (2007)

''Metal Machine Music Presented By Zeitkratzer Live'' (with Zeitkratzer) (2007)

''The Stone: Issue Three'' (with John Zorn and Laurie Anderson) (2008)

''The Creation of the Universe'' (2008)

Appearances in film

''One Trick Pony'' (1980) as Steve Kunelian

''Get Crazy'' (1983) as Auden

''Permanent Record'' (1988) as himself

''Faraway, So Close!'' (1993) as himself

''Blue in the Face'' (1995) as "Man with Strange Glasses"

''Closure'' (1997) as himself

''Prozac Nation'' (2001) as himself

''Berlin: Live At St. Ann's Warehouse'' (2008)

''Palermo Shooting'' (2008) as himself

Personal life

On April 12, 2008, Reed married longtime companion Laurie Anderson in a private ceremony in Boulder, Colorado.

References

External links

Official Lou Reed website

Category:Living people Category:1942 births Category:American baritones Category:American buskers Category:American Jews Category:American male singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:Musicians from New York Category:Noise musicians Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Freeport, New York Category:Protopunk musicians Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:The Velvet Underground members Category:Sire Records artists Category:Reprise Records artists Category:Warner Bros. Records artists

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name	Keith Richards
background	solo_singer
alias	Keith Richard
born	December 18, 1943Dartford, Kent, England
instrument	Guitar, Vocals, Bass guitar, Keyboards
genre	Rock and rollBluesCountryBlues rockRhythm and blues
occupation	MusicianSongwriterRecord producer
years active	1962–present
label	DeccaRolling StonesVirginMindless Records
associated acts	The Rolling StonesThe Dirty MacThe New BarbariansThe X-Pensive Winos
website	keithrichards.com
notable instruments	1953 Fender Telecaster "Micawber"1959 Gibson Les PaulGibson ES-355Fender Stratocaster }}

Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter and founding member of The Rolling Stones. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, calling him the creator of "rock's greatest single body of riffs", placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time", and listed fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting partner and band vocalist Mick Jagger as among their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Richards' notoriety for illicit drug use has stemmed in part from several drug busts in the late 1960s and the 1970s.

Early life

Keith Richards is the only child of Bert Richards and Doris Dupree Richards. He was born at Livingston Hospital in Dartford, Kent. His father was a factory worker injured during World War II during the Normandy invasion.

Richards' paternal grandparents were socialists and civic leaders whose family originated from Wales. His maternal grandfather (Augustus Theodore Dupree), who toured Britain with a jazz big band, "Gus Dupree and his Boys", fostered Richards' interest in guitar.

Richards' mother introduced him to the music of Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington and bought his first guitar, while his father disparaged his son's musical enthusiasm. Richards' first guitar hero was Scotty Moore.

Richards attended Wentworth Primary School with Mick Jagger and was his neighbor until 1954, when the family moved. From 1955 to 1959 he attended Dartford Technical School. Recruited by Dartford Tech's choirmaster Jake Clair, Richards sang in a trio of boy sopranos at, among other occasions, Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1959 Richards was expelled from Dartford Technical School for truancy and transferred to Sidcup Art College. At Sidcup, he was diverted from his studies proper and devoted more time to playing guitar with other students in the boys room. At this point, Richards had learned most of Chuck Berry's solos. thumb|220px|right|Richards 1965 Richards met Jagger on a train as Jagger was headed to classes at the London School of Economics. The mail order rhythm & blues albums from Chess Records albums by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters Jagger was carrying revealed a mutual interest and led to a renewal of their friendship. Along with mutual friend Dick Taylor, Jagger was singing in an amateur band: "Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys", which Richards soon joined. The Blues Boys folded when Brian Jones and Ian Stewart accepted Richards, Jagger, and Taylor into the just-forming Rolling Stones.

In mid-1962 Richards had left Sidcup Art College to devote himself to music and moved into a London flat with Jagger and Jones. His parents divorced about the same time, resulting in his staying close to his mother and remaining estranged from his father until 1982.

After the Rolling Stones signed to Decca Records in 1963, their band manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, dropped the "s" from his surname believing "Keith Richard", in his words, "looked more pop". In the late 1970s Richards reestablished the "s" to his surname.

Musicianship

Bandleader

Richards views his role in the Rolling Stones as "oiling the machinery", while Stewart has called him the musical leader of the band. Both Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood have said that, unlike most other bands which usually follow the drummer, the Rolling Stones, in Wyman's words, "have no way of ''not'' following him".

Guitar playing

Richards' guitar playing shows a fascination with chords and rhythm while avoiding flamboyant virtuosity in favour of riffs described by Chris Spedding as "direct, incisive and unpretentious." Richards prefers to play in tandem with another guitarist and has always toured with one. Chuck Berry has been an inspiration for Richards, and it was Richards and Jagger who introduced Berry's songs to the Rolling Stones' early repertoire. Chicago artists such as Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters provided the basis of a style of interwoven lead and rhythm guitar that Richards developed with Brian Jones that continues with the Rolling Stones' current guitarist, Ronnie Wood. In the late 1960s, Jones' declining contributions led Richards to record all guitar parts on many tracks, including slide guitar, which had been Jones' specialty in the band's early years. Jones' replacement guitarist Mick Taylor worked with the Rolling Stones from 1969 to 1974, and Taylor's virtuosity at lead guitar led to a much more pronounced separation between lead and rhythm guitar roles, notably onstage. In 1975 Taylor was replaced by Wood, marking a return to the style of guitar interplay that he and Richards described as "the ancient art of weaving".

The 1967/68 break in touring allowed Richards to focus on open tunings, which are commonly used for slide guitar. Instead, Richards primarily used open tunings for fingered chording, developing a distinctive style of syncopated and ringing I-IV chording heard on "Street Fighting Man" and "Start Me Up". Richards has used various open tunings (while continuing to use standard tuning) but has often favoured a five-string variant of open G tuning using GDGBD unencumbered by a low sixth string. Several of his Telecasters are tuned this way (see the "Guitars" section below), and this tuning is prominent on Rolling Stones tracks and concert renditions including "Honky Tonk Women", "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up".

Richards regards acoustic guitar as the basis for his playing, believing that the limitations of electric guitar would cause him to "lose that touch" if he didn't play acoustic. Richards plays acoustic guitar on many Rolling Stones' tracks including like "Not Fade Away", "Satisfaction", "Brown Sugar", and "Angie". All guitars on the studio versions of "Street Fighting Man" and "Jumping Jack Flash" feature acoustic guitars overloaded to a cassette recorder which were then reamped through a loudspeaker in the studio.

Vocals

Richards' backing vocals appear on every Rolling Stones album; and on most albums since ''Between the Buttons'' (1967), he has sung lead or co-lead on at least one track (see list below). Richards views the vocal training he got in his choirboy days as part of his professional arsenal, and has said of his own singing: "It's not the most beautiful voice in the world anymore, but the Queen liked it, when it was at its best... It's not been my job, singing, but to me, if you're gonna write songs, you've got to know how to sing".

Richards began singing regular lead-vocals on stage in 1972, with "Happy" (from the album ''Exile on Main Street''). "Happy", a signature song for Richards, is often performed by him during Rolling Stones concerts, as well as on both of his solo tours. From 1972 to 1982, Richards routinely took one lead-vocal turn during Rolling Stones concerts; since 1989 he has normally sung lead on two numbers per show. Each of the band's studio albums since ''Dirty Work'' (1986) have also featured Richards's lead vocals on at least two tracks.

During concerts on the two final legs (autumn 2006 and summer 2007) of The Rolling Stones' Bigger Bang Tour, Richards set his guitar aside to sing his 1969 ballad "You Got the Silver" without self-accompaniment. Prior to that he had occasionally switched from guitar to keyboards in concert, but these concerts were the first time since his choirboy days that Richards appeared on stage armed with only his voice.

Other instruments

Richards has played bass guitar on about two dozen Rolling Stones studio recordings, from "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" (1966) through "Infamy" (2005). One unusual instance was when he and Bill Wyman joined forces to play the bowed double bass on "Ruby Tuesday" (1967) – Wyman did the fingerboard work while Richards manned the bow. The rest of Richards' contributions that followed have been on bass guitar, rather than double bass. Among these were on tracks including "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968), "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968), "Live With Me" (1969), "Before They Make Me Run" (1978), "Sleep Tonight" (1986), and "Brand New Car" (1994). He has occasionally played bass on stage, including The Dirty Mac performance in 1968 (see "Recordings with other artists", below) and on "Sympathy for the Devil" at a Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden in June 1975.

Richards' keyboard playing has also been featured on several Rolling Stones tracks, including "She Smiled Sweetly" (1967), "Memory Motel" (1976), "All About You" (1980), "Thru and Thru" (1994), and "This Place Is Empty" (2005), among others. He sometimes composes on piano – "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are two early examples, and he's said of his keyboard playing: "Maybe I'm a little more accomplished now – to me it's just a way of getting out of always using one instrument to write." Richards played keyboards on stage at two 1974 concerts while Wood toured to support his solo albums, and on The New Barbarians' tour in 1979, and 1977 and 1981 studio sessions featuring his piano and vocals have been well documented, though never officially released.

Richards has also served as percussionist on a few Rolling Stones tracks, including the floor tom on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and bicycle spokes on "Continental Drift" (1989).

Songwriting

Richards and Jagger collaborated on songs in 1963, following the nearby example of the Beatles' Lennon/McCartney and the encouragement of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who saw little future for a cover band. The earliest Jagger/Richards collaborations were recorded by other artists, including Gene Pitney, whose rendition of "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday" was their first top-ten single in the UK. Richards recalls: "We were writing these terrible pop songs that were becoming Top 10 hits... They had nothing to do with us, except we wrote 'em."

The Rolling Stones' first top-ten hit with a Jagger/Richards original was "The Last Time" (1965); "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (also 1965) was their first international #1 recording. (Richards has stated that the "Satisfaction" riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed.) Since ''Aftermath'' (1966) most Rolling Stones albums have consisted mainly of Jagger/Richards originals. Their songs reflect the influence of blues, R&B;, rock & roll, pop, soul, gospel and country, as well as forays into psychedelia and Dylanesque social commentary. Their work in the 1970s and beyond has incorporated elements of funk, disco, reggae and punk. Richards has also written and recorded slow torchy ballads, such as "All About You" (1980).

In his solo career, Richards has often shared co-writing credits with drummer and co-producer Steve Jordan. Richards has said: "I've always thought songs written by two people are better than those written by one. You get another angle on it."

Richards has frequently stated that he feels less like a creator than a conduit when writing songs: "I don't have that God aspect about it. I prefer to think of myself as an antenna. There's only one song, and Adam and Eve wrote it; the rest is a variation on a theme."

Richards was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.

Record production

Richards has been active as a record producer since the 1960s. He was credited as producer and musical director on the 1966 album ''Today's Pop Symphony'', one of manager Andrew Loog Oldham's side projects, although there are doubts about how much Richards was actually involved with it. On the Rolling Stones' 1967 album ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' the entire band was credited as producer, but since 1974, Richards and Mick Jagger have frequently co-produced Rolling Stones and other artists' records under the joint name "The Glimmer Twins", often in collaboration with other producers.

Since the 1980s Richards has chalked up numerous production and co-production credits on projects with other artists including Aretha Franklin, Johnnie Johnson and Ronnie Spector, as well as on his own albums with the X-Pensive Winos (see below). In the 1990s Richards co-produced and added guitar and vocals to a recording of nyabinghi Rastafarian chanting and drumming entitled ''Wingless Angels'', released on Richards's own record label, Mindless Records, in 1997.

Solo recordings

Richards has released few solo recordings. His first solo single released in 1978 was versions of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come". In 1987, after Jagger pursued a solo recording and touring career, Richards formed the "X-pensive Winos" with co-songwriter, and co-producer Steve Jordan whom Richards assembled for his Chuck Berry documentary, ''Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll''.

Additional members of the X-pensive Winos included guitarist Waddy Wachtel, saxist Bobby Keys, keyboardist Ivan Neville and Charley Drayton on bass. The first Winos' record,''Talk Is Cheap'' also featured Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker). Since its release, ''Talk Is Cheap'' has gone gold and has sold consistently. Its release was followed by the first of the two U.S. tours Richards has done as a solo artist. ''Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988'' documents the first of these tours. In 1992 the Winos' second studio record ''Main Offender'' was released, and was also following by a tour.

Recordings with other artists

During the 1960s most of Richards's recordings with artists other than The Rolling Stones were sessions for Andrew Oldham's Immediate Records label. Notable exceptions were when Richards, along with Mick Jagger and numerous other guests, sang on The Beatles' 1967 TV broadcast of "All You Need Is Love"; and when he played bass with John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, Ivry Gitlis and Yoko Ono as The Dirty Mac for ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' TV special, filmed in 1968.

In the 1970s Richards worked outside The Rolling Stones with Ronnie Wood on several occasions, contributing guitar, piano and vocals to Wood's first two solo albums and joining him on stage for two July 1974 concerts to promote ''I've Got My Own Album to Do''. In December 1974 Richards also made a guest appearance at a Faces concert. In 1976–77 Richards played on and co-produced John Phillips' solo recording ''Pay, Pack & Follow'' (released in 2001). In 1979 he toured the U.S. with The New Barbarians, the band that Wood put together to promote his album ''Gimme Some Neck''; he and Wood also contributed guitar and backing vocals to "Truly" on Ian McLagan's 1979 album ''Troublemaker'' (re-released in 2005 as ''Here Comes Trouble'').

Since the 1980s Richards has made more frequent guest appearances. In 1981 he played on reggae singer Max Romeo's album ''Holding Out My Love to You''. He has worked with Tom Waits on two occasions, adding guitar and backing vocals to Waits's 1985 album ''Rain Dogs'', and co-writing, playing and sharing the lead vocal on "That Feel" on ''Bone Machine '' (1992). In 1986 Richards produced and played on Aretha Franklin's rendition of "Jumping Jack Flash" and served as musical producer and band leader (or as he phrased it "S&M; director") for the Chuck Berry film ''Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll''.

In the 1990s and 2000s Richards has continued to contribute to a wide range of musical projects as a guest artist. A few of the notable sessions he has done include guitar and vocals on Johnnie Johnson's 1991 release ''Johnnie B. Bad'', which he also co-produced; and lead vocals and guitar on "Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me" on the 1992 Charles Mingus tribute album ''Weird Nightmare''. He duetted with country legend George Jones on "Say It's Not You" on the ''Bradley Barn Sessions'' (1994); a second duet from the same sessions – "Burn Your Playhouse Down" – appeared on Jones' 2008 release ''Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets''. He partnered with Levon Helm on "Deuce and a Quarter" for Scotty Moore's album ''All the King's Men'' (1997). His guitar and lead vocals are featured on the Hank Williams tribute album ''Timeless'' (2001) and on veteran blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin's album ''About Them Shoes'' (2005). Richards also added guitar and vocals to Toots & the Maytals' recording of "Careless Ethiopians" for their 2004 album ''True Love'' and to their re-recording of "Pressure Drop", which came out in 2007 as the b-side to Richards's iTunes re-release of "Run Rudolph Run".

Rare and unreleased recordings

In 2005 The Rolling Stones released ''Rarities 1971-2003'', which includes some rare and limited-issue recordings, but Richards has described the band's released output as the "tip of the iceberg". Many of the band's unreleased songs and studio jam sessions are widely bootlegged, as are numerous Richards solo recordings, including his 1977 Toronto studio sessions, some 1981 studio sessions and tapes made during his 1983 wedding trip to Mexico.

Public image and private life

Music journalist Nick Kent attached to Richards Lord Byron's epithet of "mad, bad, and dangerous to know." Jagger thought that Richards' image had "contributed to him becoming a junkie." In 1994 Richards said his image was "like a long shadow ... Even though that was nearly twenty years ago, you cannot convince some people that I'm not a mad drug addict." In 2010, Peter Hitchens wrote of Richards that he is "a capering streak of living gristle who ought to be exhibited as a warning to the young of what drugs can do to you even if you're lucky enough not to choke on your own vomit".

Richards has been tried on drug-related charges five times: in 1967, twice in 1973, in 1977 and in 1978. The first trial – the only one involving a prison sentence – resulted from a February 1967 police raid on Redlands, Richards's Sussex estate, where he and some friends, including Jagger, were spending the weekend. The subsequent arrest of Richards and Jagger put them on trial before the Courts of the United Kingdom while also exposing them to public opinion. On 29 June 1967, Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four amphetamine tablets; Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison. Both Jagger and Richards were imprisoned at that point: Jagger was taken to Brixton prison in south London, and Richards to Wormwood Scrubs Prison in west London. Both were released on bail the next day pending appeal. On 1 July ''The Times'' ran an editorial entitled "Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?", portraying Jagger's sentence as persecution, and public sentiment against the convictions increased. A month later the appeals court overturned Richards's conviction for lack of evidence, while Jagger was given a conditional discharge. On 27 February 1977 Richards was charged with "possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking" – an offence that under the Criminal Code of Canada can result in prison sentences of seven years to life. His passport was confiscated and Richards and his family remained in Toronto until 1 April, when Richards was allowed to enter the United States on a medical visa for treatment for heroin addiction. The charge against him was later reduced to "simple possession of heroin".

For the next two years, Richards lived under threat of criminal sanction. Throughout this period he remained active with The Rolling Stones, recording their biggest-selling studio album, ''Some Girls'', and touring North America. Richards was tried in October 1978, pleading guilty to possession of heroin. He was given a suspended sentence and put on probation for one year, with orders to continue treatment for heroin addiction and to perform a benefit concert on behalf of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Although the prosecution had filed an appeal of the sentence, Richards performed two CNIB benefit concerts at Oshawa Civic Auditorium on 22 April 1979; both shows featured The Rolling Stones and The New Barbarians. In September 1979 the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the original sentence.

Later in 1979, Richards met future wife, model Patti Hansen. They married on 18 December 1983, Richards's 40th birthday, and have two daughters, Theodora and Alexandra, born in 1985 and 1986 respectively.

Richards maintains cordial relations with Italian-born actress Anita Pallenberg, the mother of his first three children; although they were never married, Richards and Pallenberg were a couple from 1967 to 1979. Together they have a son, Marlon (named after the actor Marlon Brando), born in 1969, and a daughter, Angela (originally named Dandelion), born in 1972. Their third child, a boy named Tara (after Richards's and Pallenberg's friend Guinness heir Tara Browne), died on 6 June 1976, less than three months after his birth.

Richards still owns Redlands, the Sussex estate he purchased in 1966, as well as a home in Weston, Connecticut and another in Turks & Caicos. His primary home is in Weston. He is an avid reader with a strong interest in history and owns an extensive library. An April 2010 article revealed that Richards yearns to be a librarian.

21st century

On 27 April 2006, Richards, while in Fiji, suffered a head injury after falling out of a tree; he subsequently underwent cranial surgery at a New Zealand hospital. The incident caused a six-week delay in launching The Rolling Stones' 2006 European tour and the rescheduling of several shows; the revised tour schedule included a brief statement from Richards apologising for "falling off his perch". The band made up most of the postponed dates in 2006, and toured Europe in the summer of 2007 to make up the remainder.

In August 2006 Richards was granted a pardon by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee for a 1975 reckless driving citation.

On 12 March 2007 Richards attended the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony to induct The Ronettes; he also played guitar during the ceremony's all-star jam session.

In an April 2007 interview for ''NME'' magazine, music journalist Mark Beaumont asked Richards what the strangest thing he ever snorted was, and quoted him as replying: "My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared ... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive." In the media uproar that followed, Richards' manager said that the anecdote had been meant as a joke; Beaumont told ''Uncut'' magazine that the interview had been conducted by international telephone and that he had misquoted Richards at one point (reporting that Richards had said he listens to Motörhead, when what he had said was Mozart), but that he believed the ash-snorting anecdote was true. Musician Jay Farrar from the band Son Volt wrote a song titled 'Cocaine And Ashes', which was inspired by Richards drug habits.

Doris Richards, Richards' 91-year-old mother, died of cancer in England on 21 April 2007. An official statement released by a family representative stated that Keith kept a vigil by her bedside during her last days.

Richards made a cameo appearance as Captain Teague, the father of Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp), in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'', released in May 2007, and won the Best Celebrity Cameo award at the 2007 Spike Horror Awards for the role. Depp has stated that he based many of Sparrow's mannerisms on Richards. Richards reprised his role in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', released in May 2011.

In March 2008 fashion house Louis Vuitton unveiled an advertising campaign featuring a photo of Richards with his ebony Gibson ES-355, taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz. Richards donated the fee for his involvement to The Climate Project, an organisation for raising environmental awareness.

On 28 October 2008 Richards appeared at the Musicians' Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, joining the newly inducted Crickets on stage for performances of "Peggy Sue", "Not Fade Away" and "That'll Be the Day".

In August 2009, Richards was ranked #4 in ''Time'' magazine's list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time. In September 2009 Richards revealed to ''Rolling Stone'' magazine that in addition to anticipating a new Rolling Stones album, he has done some recording with Jack White: "I enjoy working with Jack," he said. "We’ve done a couple of tracks." On 17 October 2009, Richards received the Rock Immortal Award at Spike TV’s Scream 2009 awards ceremony at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles; the award was presented by Johnny Depp. "I liked the living legend, that was all right," Richards said, referring to an award he received in 1989, "but immortal is even better."

In 2009, a book of Richards' quotations was published, titled ''What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor''.

In August 2007 Richards signed a publishing deal for his autobiography, ''Life'', which was released October 26, 2010. On October 15, 2010, the Associated Press published an article stating that Richards refers to Mick Jagger as "unbearable" in the book and notes that their relationship has been strained "for decades."

Musical equipment

Guitars

Richards has a collection of approximately 3,000 guitars. Even though Richards has used many different guitar models, in a 1986 ''Guitar World'' interview he joked that no matter what model he plays, "give me five minutes and I'll make 'em all sound the same." However, Richards has often thanked Leo Fender, and other guitar manufacturers for making the instruments, as he did during the induction ceremony of the Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of his notable instruments are: 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard: Richards acquired this instrument, fitted with a Bigsby tailpiece, in 1964. The guitar was the first "star-owned" Les Paul in Britain and served as one of Richards's main instruments through 1966. He later sold the guitar to future Rolling Stones bandmate Mick Taylor. 1961 Epiphone Casino: Richards first used this instrument in May 1964, shortly before the Stones' first tour of America. The guitar (along with the 1959 Les Paul Standard) became a frequently used guitar by Richards until 1966. 1957 Gibson Les Paul Custom: In 1966 Richards acquired a 1957 Les Paul Custom, and hand-painted it with psychedelic patterns in 1968. It served as his main stage and studio guitar from 1966 through the end of the Rolling Stones' 1970 European tour, for which he acquired a second late-50s Les Paul Custom which he used in open-G tuning.

1969 Gibson SG: In the 1969 film "Gimme Shelter", Richards is seen playing the iconic Gibson SG, with its signature "Heritage Cherry" finish. It is this Gibson flat-body which produced the raw, driving chord progression heard in the live version of "Jumping Jack Flash" on the Stones' 1969 live album "GET YER YA-YAS OUT!".

Gibson ES-355s: Richards used this semi-hollow model on stage during the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour; it was a favourite for both Richards and Taylor during recording sessions for ''Sticky Fingers'' and ''Exile on Main St.'' Richards has also used ES-355s on every tour since 1997. In 2006 he also unveiled a white Gibson ES-345. Gibson Les Paul Juniors: Richards has regularly used both single-cutaway and double-cutaway Juniors since 1973. The one he is most frequently seen with is a TV-yellow double-cutaway instrument nicknamed "Dice", which he has used since 1979. On recent tours he has used this guitar for "Midnight Rambler" and "Out of Control". 1953 Fender Telecaster: Richards acquired this butterscotch Telecaster in 1971. Nicknamed "Micawber", after a character in Charles Dickens's novel ''David Copperfield'', it is set up for five-string open-G tuning (-GDGBD), and has only five bridge saddles. The neck pick-up has been replaced by a Gibson PAF humbucking pick-up, and the bridge pick-up has been replaced by a Fender lap steel pick-up (similar to a Fender Broadcaster pick-up). "Micawber" is one of Richards' main stage guitars, and is often used to play "Brown Sugar", "Before They Make Me Run", and "Honky Tonk Women". 1954 Fender Telecaster: A second Telecaster, nicknamed both "Malcolm" and "Number 2", is also set up for 5-string open-G tuning and has a Gibson PAF pick-up in the neck position. It has a natural finish and the wood grain is visible. 1967 Fender Telecaster: A third Telecaster used for five-string open-G playing is a dark sunburst model which is also fitted with a Gibson PAF pick-up; the PAF on this guitar has had its cover removed, exposing the bobbins. Richards has used this guitar on stage for many songs, including "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Tumbling Dice". 1958 Fender Stratocaster: Fellow Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood gave Richards his 1958 Mary Kaye Signature Stratocaster after the band's 1982 tour. The guitar is finished in see-through blond and fitted with gold hardware. Richards has used this guitar onstage for "You Don't Have to Mean It" and "Miss You". 1975 Fender Telecaster Custom: Richards first used this guitar on the Rolling Stones' 1975 Tour of the Americas, and it was his main stage and recording guitar until 1986. It was later adapted for five-string open-G tuning, and reappeared on stage in 2005. Ampeg Dan Armstrong plexiglas guitar: The Dan Armstrong guitar was given to Richards during rehearsals for the 1969 tour, and became one of his main stage guitars from 1969 through the first shows of the 1972 tour. Fitted with a custom-made "sustained treble" humbucker pick-up, the guitar was used mainly in standard tuning and can be heard on "Carol", "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Midnight Rambler" on ''Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out''. On the 1970 tour Richards added a second Dan Armstrong guitar fitted with a "rock treble" pick-up.

Gibson L6-S Custom: Played around the time of "Black And Blue". Appears in a video performance of "Crazy Mama".

Zemaitis Five-String: Custom-made in 1974 by British luthier Tony Zemaitis, the guitar nicknamed both "Macabre" and "the Pirate Zemaitis" was decorated with skulls, a pistol and a dagger. Richards used it as his main open-G guitar from 1975 to 1978, when it was destroyed in a fire at his rented Los Angeles home. Richards used a Japanese-made replica on the 2005/06 tour. Newman-Jones custom guitars: Texas luthier Ted Newman-Jones made several custom five-string instruments that Richards used on the 1973 tours of Australasia and Europe. Richards used another Newman-Jones custom model on the 1979 New Barbarians tour.

Amplifiers

Richards's amplifier preferences have changed repeatedly, but some of his notable amplifiers are: Mesa Boogie Mark 1 A804 – Used between 1977 and 1993, this 100-watt 1x12" combo is finished in hardwood with a wicker grille. It can be heard on the Rolling Stones albums ''Love You Live'', ''Some Girls'', ''Emotional Rescue'' and Tattoo You, as well as on Richards's two solo albums ''Talk is Cheap'' and ''Main Offender''. This amplifier was handcrafted by Randall Smith and delivered to Richards in March 1977. Fender Twin – Since the 1990s, Richards has tended to use a variety of Fender "tweed" Twins on stage. Containing a pair of 12" speakers, the Fender Twin was, by 1958, an 80-watt all-tube guitar amplifier. Richards has utilised a pair of Fender Twins to "to achieve his signature clean/dirty rhythm and lead sound."

Fender Dual Showman – first acquired in 1964, Richards made frequent use of his blackface Dual Showman amp through mid-1966. Used to record The Rolling Stones, Now!, Out of Our Heads, December's Children and Aftermath before switching over to various prototype amplifiers from Vox in 1967 and the fairly new Hiwatt in 1968

Effects

In 1965 Richards used a Gibson Maestro fuzzbox to achieve the distinctive tone of his riff on "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"; the success of the resulting single boosted the sales of the device to the extent that all available stock had sold out by the end of 1965. In the 1970s and early 1980s Richards frequently used guitar effects such as a wah-wah pedal, a phaser and a Leslie speaker, but he mainly relies on combining "the right amp with the right guitar" to achieve the sound he wants.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Title !colspan="2"| Chart positions !rowspan="2"| Certifications(sales thresholds) |- ! U.K. ! U.S. |- |1988 |''Talk Is Cheap''

Released: October 3, 1988

Label: Virgin

| style="text-align:center;"|37 [3 wks] | style="text-align:center;"|24 [23 wks] |

US: Gold

|- |1991 |''Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988''

Released: December 10, 1991

Label: Virgin

| style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — |- |1992 |''Main Offender''

Released: October 19, 1992

Label: Virgin

| style="text-align:center;"|45 [2 wks] | style="text-align:center;"|99 [10 wks] |- |2010 |''Vintage Vinos''

Released: November 2, 2010

Label: Mindless Records

| style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — |- |}

Singles

!Release date	!Title	!US Mainstream Rock
December 1978	"Run Rudolph Run" b/w "The Harder They Come"
October 1988	"Take It So Hard"
November 1988	"You Don't Move Me"
February 1989	"Struggle"
October 1992	"Wicked As It Seems"
January 1993	"Eileen"
December 2007

Guest appearances on other artists' releases

The Beatles: backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love" broadcast (1967)

The Dirty Mac: ''The Rolling Stones' Rock & Roll Circus'' (recorded 1968, released 2004): bass on "Yer Blues" and "Her Blues"

Billy Preston: ''That's the Way God Planned It'' (1969): bass

Alexis Korner: ''Musically Rich...and Famous: Anthology 1967–1982'' (2003): guitar on "Get Off of My Cloud" (recorded 1974 or 1975)

Ronnie Wood: ''I've Got My Own Album to Do'' (1974): co-composer, guitar and vocals on "Sure the One You Need"; co-composer, guitar, piano and backing vocals on "Act Together"; guitar and backing vocals on several other tracks; ''The First Barbarians Live From Kilburn'' (recorded 1974, released 2007): guitar, vocals, keyboards; ''Now Look'' (1975): guitar and backing vocals on "Breathe on Me", "I Can't Stand the Rain" and "I Can Say She's Alright"; ''Gimme Some Neck'' (1979): guitar and backing vocals on "Buried Alive", backing vocals on "Seven Days"

Faces: ''The Faces' Final Concert'' (recorded 1974, released 2000): guitar on "Sweet Little Rock & Roller", "I’d Rather Go Blind" and "Twistin’ The Night Away"

John Phillips: ''Pay, Pack & Follow'' (recorded 1976–1977, released 2001) and ''Pussycat'' (outtakes and alternate mixes – recorded 1976–77, released 2008): co-producer, guitar, backing vocals

Peter Tosh: ''Bush Doctor'' (1978): guitar

The New Barbarians: ''Buried Alive: Live in Maryland'' (recorded 1979, released 2006): guitar, piano, lead and backing vocals

Ian McLagan: ''Troublemaker'' (1979, re-released in 2005 as ''Here Comes Trouble''): guitar and backing vocals on "Truly"

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: ''Portrait of a Man: A History of Screamin' Jay Hawkins'' (1979): guitar on "I Put a Spell on You and "Armpit #6"

Max Romeo: ''Holding Out My Love For You'' (1981): guitar, mixing

Tom Waits: ''Rain Dogs'' (1985): guitar and backing vocals on "Big Black Mariah", "Union Square" and "Blind Love"; ''Bone Machine'' (1992): co-composer, guitar and vocals on "That Feel"

''Sun City: Artists United Against Apartheid'' (1985): co-composer and guitar on "Silver and Gold"

Slim Jim Phantom, Lee Rocker & Earl Slick: ''Phantom Rocker and Slick'' (1986): guitar on "My Mistake"

Aretha Franklin: ''Jumpin' Jack Flash'' film soundtrack (1986): producer and guitar on title track, also on ''Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen'' (2007)

Chuck Berry concert film ''Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll'' (1987): musical producer, guitar and backing vocals

Nona Hendryx: ''Female Trouble'' (1987): guitar on "Rock This House"

Ziggy Marley: ''Conscious Party'' (1988): guitar on "Lee & Molly"

Feargal Sharkey: ''Wish'' (1988): guitar on "More Love"

The Dirty Strangers: ''Dirty Strangers'' (1988): guitar; ''From W12 to Wittering'' (2009): piano on five tracks, co-composer of "Real Botticelli"

Johnnie Johnson: ''Johnnie B. Bad'' (1991): co-producer, guitar and vocals on "Key to the Highway", co-composer and guitar on "Tanqueray"

John Lee Hooker: ''Mr. Lucky'' (1991): guitar on "Crawling King Snake", guitar and backing vocals on "Whiskey and Wimmen"

The Neville Brothers: ''Uptown'' (1991): guitar

''Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus'' (1992): guitar and vocals on "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me"

George Jones: ''Bradley Barn Sessions'' (1994): guitar and vocals on "Say It's Not You"; ''Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets'' (2008): vocals on "Burn Your Playhouse Down" (recorded in 1994)

Bernie Worrell: ''Funk of Ages'' (1994): guitar

Bobby Womack: ''Resurrection'' (1994): guitar

Marianne Faithfull: ''A Collection'' (1994): co-producer and guitar on "Ghost Dance"; ''Easy Come, Easy Go'' (2008): guitar and harmony vocals on "Sing Me Back Home"

The Chieftains: ''Long Black Veil'' (1995): guitar on "The Rocky Road to Dublin"

Ivan Neville: ''Thanks'' (1995): guitar; ''Scrape'' (2004): guitar

Bo Diddley: ''A Man Amongst Men'' (1996): guitar on "Bo Diddley Is Crazy"

B.B. King: ''Deuces Wild'' (1997): guitar on "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss"

''Wingless Angels'' (1997): co-producer, guitar, backing vocals

Scotty Moore: ''All the King's Men'' (1997): guitar and vocals on "Deuce and a Quarter"

Jimmy Rogers All-Stars: ''Blues Blues Blues'' (1999): guitar on "Trouble No More", "Don't Start Me Talkin'" and "Goin' Away"

Sheryl Crow: ''Sheryl Crow & Friends: Live From Central Park'' (1999): guitar and vocals on "Happy"

Charlie Watts: ''Charlie Watts – Jim Keltner Project'' (2000): guitar on "The Elvin Suite"

''Timeless: Tribute to Hank Williams'' (2001): guitar and vocals on "You Win Again"

Peter Wolf: ''Sleepless'' (2002): guitar and vocals on "Too Close Together"

Willie Nelson & Friends: ''Stars & Guitars'' (2002): guitar and vocals on "Dead Flowers"; ''Outlaws & Angels'' (2004): guitar and vocals on "We Had It All", guitar on "Trouble in Mind" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On"

Hubert Sumlin: ''About Them Shoes'' (2004): guitar and vocals on "Still a Fool", guitar on "I Love the Life I Lead" and "Little Girl"

Toots & the Maytals: ''True Love'' (2004): guitar and vocals on "Careless Ethiopians"; guitar and backing vocals on "Pressure Drop" (released 2007)

''Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons'' (2004): guitar and vocals on "Love Hurts", "Hickory Wind" and "Wild Horses"

''Make It Funky'' (2005): guitar and vocals on "I'm Ready"

Les Paul & Friends: ''American Made World Played'' (2005): guitar on "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"

Buddy Guy: ''Bring 'Em In'' (2005): guitar on "The Price You Gotta Pay"

Jerry Lee Lewis: ''Last Man Standing: The Duets'' (2006): guitar and vocals on "That Kind of Fool"

Ronnie Spector: ''Last of the Rock Stars'' (2006): guitar and vocals on "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", guitar on "All I Want"

Lee "Scratch" Perry: ''Scratch Came Scratch Saw Scratch Conquered'' (2008): guitar on "Heavy Voodoo" and "Once There's a Will There's a Way"

''Little Steven's Underground Garage'': ''Christmas a Go-Go'' (2008): This compilation album starts with Richards' "Run Rudolph Run", which the liner notes state is now "available for the first time on CD"

Richards also appeared on ''The Simpsons'' episode, "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation"

Lead vocals on Rolling Stones tracks

Below is a list of the officially released Rolling Stones tracks on which Richards sings lead vocals or shares lead-vocal duties:

"Something Happened to Me Yesterday" (alternates with Jagger), "Connection" (co-lead with Jagger) – ''Between the Buttons'' (1967)

"Salt of the Earth" (first verse) – ''Beggars Banquet'' (1968)

"You Got the Silver" – ''Let It Bleed'' (1969)

"Happy" – ''Exile On Main St.'' (1972)

"Coming Down Again" – ''Goats Head Soup'' (1973)

"Memory Motel" (alternates with Jagger) – ''Black and Blue'' (1976)

"Happy" (live) – ''Love You Live'' (1977)

"Before They Make Me Run" – ''Some Girls'' (1978)

"All About You" – ''Emotional Rescue'' (1980)

"Little T&A;" – ''Tattoo You'' (1981)

"Wanna Hold You" – ''Undercover'' (1983)

"Too Rude", "Sleep Tonight" – '' Dirty Work'' (1986)

"Can't Be Seen", "Slipping Away" – ''Steel Wheels'' (1989)

"Can't Be Seen" (live) – ''Flashpoint'' (1991)

"The Worst", "Thru and Thru" – ''Voodoo Lounge'' (1994)

"Slipping Away" (acoustic studio rehearsal) – ''Stripped'' (1995)

"You Don't Have to Mean It", "Thief in the Night", "How Can I Stop" – ''Bridges to Babylon'' (1997)

"Thief in the Night" (live) – ''No Security'' (1999)

"Losing My Touch" – ''Forty Licks'' (2002)

"Happy" (live), "The Nearness of You" (live), "You Don't Have to Mean It" (live) – ''Live Licks'' (2004)

"This Place Is Empty", "Infamy" – ''A Bigger Bang'' (2005)

"Hurricane" – CD single (free at US Rolling Stones concerts in 2005 with donation to Hurricane Katrina fund)

"Thru and Thru" (live) – ''Rarities 1971-2003'' (2005)

"You Got the Silver" (live), "Connection" (live), "Little T&A;" (live) – ''Shine a Light'' (2008)

Filmography

+Film	! Year	! Title	! Role
2007	''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''	Captain Teague
2011	''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''	Captain Teague

References

External links

(requires Flash) in 2010

CBC Archives Richards's trial and sentencing in 24 Oct. 1978 and 16 April 1979

}}

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English blues guitarists Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English rock musicians Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English rock guitarists Category:English singer-songwriters Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Dartford Category:People from Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:People from Staten Island Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:Rhythm guitarists Category:The Dirty Mac Category:The Rolling Stones members Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

ca:Keith Richards cs:Keith Richards da:Keith Richards de:Keith Richards et:Keith Richards es:Keith Richards eo:Keith Richards eu:Keith Richards fr:Keith Richards fy:Keith Richards gd:Keith Richards hr:Keith Richards id:Keith Richards it:Keith Richards he:קית' ריצ'רדס ka:კით რიჩარდსი li:Keith Richards hu:Keith Richards nl:Keith Richards ja:キース・リチャーズ no:Keith Richards nn:Keith Richards pl:Keith Richards pt:Keith Richards ro:Keith Richards ru:Ричардс, Кит simple:Keith Richards sk:Keith Richards sl:Keith Richards sr:Kit Ričards fi:Keith Richards sv:Keith Richards tr:Keith Richards uk:Кіт Річардс

name	Rod Stewart
background	solo_singer
birth name	Roderick David Stewart
alias	"Rod the Mod"
born	January 10, 1945North London, England
instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica
genre	Rock, pop, blues rock, soul
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1964–present
label	Mercury, Warner Bros., J
associated acts	Shotgun Express, The Steampacket, The Jeff Beck Group, Faces
website	RodStewart.com
notable instruments	}}

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry.

With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group and then Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his debut album ''An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (US: The Rod Stewart Album)''. His work with The Jeff Beck Group and Faces proved to be influential on the formation of the punk rock and heavy metal genres.

With his career in its fifth decade, Stewart has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling artists of all time. In the UK, he has garnered six consecutive number one albums, and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the U.S, with four of these reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists". He was voted at #33 in ''Q Magazine'''s list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on ''Rolling Stone'' 100 Greatest Singers of all time. In 1994, Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life

Roderick David Stewart was born in Highgate, North London, the youngest of the five children of Robert Stewart and Elsie Gilbart. His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters while living in Scotland, then they moved to Highgate. Stewart came after an eight-year gap following his youngest sibling; he was born at home during World War II, half an hour after a German V-2 missile warhead fell on the local Highgate police station.

The family was neither affluent, nor poor and by all accounts Stewart was a spoiled child as the youngest; Stewart has called his childhood "fantastically happy". He had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the eleven plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School in Hornsey. His father retired from the building trade at age 65, then opened a newsagent's shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens; the family lived over the shop. Stewart's main hobby was railway modelling.

The Stewart family was mostly focused on football; Robert had played on a local amateur side and managed some as well, and one of Stewart's earliest memories were the pictures of Scottish players such as George Young and Gordon Smith that his brothers had on the wall. Rod was the most talented footballer in the Stewart family and was a strong supporter of Arsenal F.C.. Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the school football team and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as centre-half.

The family were also great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing and play his hits. Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him, and was influenced by his performing style and attitude towards his audience. His introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richard's 1956 hit "The Girl Can't Help It" and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. His father bought him a guitar in January 1959; the first song he learned was the folk tune "It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song" and the first record he bought was Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody". In 1960, he joined a skiffle group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, playing Lonnie Donegan and Chas McDevitt hits.

Stewart left school at age 15 and worked briefly as a silk screen printer. Spurred on by his father, his ambition was to become a professional footballer. In 1961 he joined on as an apprentice with Brentford F.C., a Third Division club at the time. However, he disliked the early morning travel to West London and the daily assignment to clean the first team's boots. His playing effectiveness at centre-half was hindered by his slight build — but only — and he pushed himself so much that he sometimes vomited at the side of the pitch. After up to two months of play in pre-season fixtures, Stewart left the team, to the great disappointment of his father. Stewart later reflected that: "I had the skill but not the enthusiasm." Regarding possible career options, Stewart concluded, "Well, a musician's life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can't do that and play football. I plumped for music ... They're the only two things I can do actually: play football and sing."

Music career

1961–63: Early efforts

Stewart worked in the family shop and as a newspaper delivery boy, then as a grave digger at Highgate Cemetery, partly to face a childhood fear of death. He worked in a North Finchley funeral parlour and as a fence erector and sign writer. In 1961 he went to Denmark Street with The Raiders and got a singing audition with well-known record producer Joe Meek, but Meek stopped the session with a rude sound. Stewart began listening to British and American topical folk artists such as Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and especially Derroll Adams and the debut album of Bob Dylan. He became attracted to beatnik attitudes and left-wing politics, living for a while in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreham-by-Sea. Stewart was an active supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at this time, joining the annual Aldermaston Marches in 1961 through 1963 and being arrested on three occasions when he took part in sit-ins at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall for the cause. His commitment was not total, however, as he also used the marches as a way to meet and bed girls. In 1962 he had his first serious relationship, with London art student Suzannah Boffey (and a friend of future model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton); he moved to a bed-sit in Muswell Hill to be near her. She became pregnant, but neither Rod nor his family wanted him to enter marriage; the baby girl was given for adoption and Rod's and Suzannah's relationship ended.

In 1962, Stewart began hanging around folk singer Wizz Jones, busking at Leicester Square and other London spots. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable harmonica. On several trips over the next 18 months Jones and Stewart took their act to Brighton and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine, and then finally to Barcelona. Finally this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for vagrancy during 1963.

In the spring of 1962, Stewart joined The Ray Davies Quartet, later known as the successful British band The Kinks, as their lead singer. He had known three of their members at William Grimshaw School and at the time, Ray Davies was uncomfortable with the lead vocalist role. He performed with the group on at least one occasion, but was soon dropped due to complaints about his voice from then-drummer John Start's mother as well as musical differences with the band and (as Pete Quaife later recalled) Davies' fear that Stewart would take over.

In 1963, Stewart adopted the Mod lifestyle and look, and began fashioning the spiky rooster hairstyle that would become his trademark. (It originated from large amounts of his sisters' hair lacquer, backcombing, and his hands holding it in place to protect it from the winds of the Highgate Underground station.) Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke records; he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music.

After returning to London, Stewart joined a rhythm and blues group, the Dimensions, in October 1963 as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. It was his first professional job as a musician, although Stewart was still living at home and working in his brother's painting and picture frame shop. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to harmonica player. The group performed weekly at the famed Studio 51 club on Great Newport Street in London, where The Rolling Stones often headlined; this was Stewart's entrée into the thriving London R & B scene, and his harmonica playing improved in part from watching Mick Jagger on stage. Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group and Stewart departed.

1964–67: Long John Baldry, Steampacket, and "Rod the Mod"

On or around 5 January 1964, Stewart was drunk and waiting on the Twickenham railway station platform, playing "Smokestack Lightnin'" on his harmonica after having seen a rhythm and blues show by Cyril Davies and the All Stars at Eel Pie Island. All Stars singer Long John Baldry discovered him and invited him to sit in with the group (which passed into his hands and was renamed the Hoochie Coochie Men when Davies died of leukaemia on 7 January); when Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother. Quitting his day job at age nineteen, Stewart gradually overcame his shyness and nerves and became a visible enough part of the act that he was sometimes added to the billing as "Rod the Mod" Stewart, the nickname coming from his dandyish style of grooming and dress. Baldry touted Stewart's abilities to ''Melody Maker'' magazine and the group enjoyed a weekly residence at London's fabled Marquee Club. In June 1964, Stewart made his recording début (without label credit) on "Up Above My Head", the B-side to a Baldry and Hoochie Coochie Men single.

While still with Baldry, Stewart embarked on a simultaneous solo career. He made some demo recordings, was scouted by Decca Records at the Marquee Club and signed to a solo contract in August 1964. He appeared on several regional television shows around the country and recorded his first single in September 1964. Turning down Decca's recommended material as too commercial, Stewart insisted that the experienced session musicians he was given, including John Paul Jones, learn a couple of Sonny Boy Williamson songs he had just heard. The resulting single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", was recorded released in October 1964; despite Stewart performing it on the popular television show ''Ready Steady Go!'', it failed to enter the charts. Also in October Stewart left the Hoochie Coochie Men after having a row with Baldry.

Stewart played some dates on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, sometimes backed by the Southampton R & B outfit The Soul Agents. The Hoochie Coochie Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences (and indeed became lifelong friends), and legendary impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs, and Rick Brown; their first appearance was in support of The Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul revue, analogous to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R & B to blues. Steampacket toured with the Stones and The Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium; seeing the audience react to the Stones gave Stewart his first exposure to crowd hysteria. Stewart, who had been included in the group upon Baldry's insistence, ended up with most of the male vocal parts. Steampacket was unable to enter the studio to record any material due to its members all belonging to different labels and managers, although Gomelsky did record one of their Marquee Club rehearsals.

Stewart's "Rod the Mod" image gained wider visibility in November 1965, when he was the subject of a 30-minute Rediffusion, London television documentary titled "An Easter with Rod" that portrayed the Mod scene. His parallel solo career attempts continued on EMI's Columbia label with the November 1965 release of "The Day Will Come", a more heavily arranged pop attempt, and the April 1966 release of his take on Sam Cooke's "Shake", with the Brian Auger Trinity. Both failed commercially and neither gained positive notices. Stewart had spent the better part of two years listening mostly to Cooke; he later said, "I didn't sound like anybody at all ... but I knew I sounded a bit like Sam Cooke, so I listened to Sam Cooke." This recording solidified that singer's position as Stewart's idol and most enduring influence; he called it a "crossing of the water."

Stewart departed from Steampacket in March 1966, with Stewart saying he had been sacked and Auger saying he had quit. Stewart then joined a somewhat similar outfit, Shotgun Express, in May 1966 as co-lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden. Amongst the other members were Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green (who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac), and Peter Bardens. Shotgun Express released one unsuccessful single in October 1966, the orchestra-heavy "I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round", before disbanding. Stewart later disparaged Shotgun Express as a poor imitation of Steampacket, and said "I was still getting this terrible feeling of doing other people's music. I think you can only start finding yourself when you write your own material." By now, Stewart had bounced around without achieving much success, with little to distinguish himself among other aspiring London singers other than the emerging rasp in his voice.

1967–69: Jeff Beck Group

Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Stewart for his new post-Yardbirds venture, and in February 1967, Stewart joined the Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career. There he first played with Ronnie Wood whom he had first met in a London pub in 1964; the two soon became fast friends. During its first year, the group experienced frequent changes of drummers and conflicts involving manager Mickie Most wanting to reduce Stewart's role; they toured the UK, and released a couple of singles that featured Stewart on their B-sides. Stewart's sputtering solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of non-hit "Little Miss Understood" on Immediate Records. The Jeff Beck Group toured Western Europe in spring 1968, recorded, and were nearly destitute; then assistant manager Peter Grant booked them on a six-week tour of the United States starting in June 1968 with the Fillmore East in New York. The first-time-in-America Stewart suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing; only a quick shot of brandy brought him out front. Nevertheless, the show and the tour were a big success, with Robert Shelton of ''The New York Times'' calling the group exciting and praising "the interaction of Mr. Beck's wild and visionary guitar against the hoarse and insistent shouting of Rod Stewart," and ''New Musical Express'' reporting that the group was receiving standing ovations and pulling receipts equal to those of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

In August 1968, their first album ''Truth'' was released; by October it had risen to number 15 on the US albums chart but failed to chart in the UK. The radical, groundbreaking, landmark album featured Beck's masterly guitar technique and manipulated sounds as Stewart's dramatic vocalising tackled the group's varied repertoire of blues, folk, rock, and proto-heavy metal. Stewart also co-wrote three of the songs, and credited the record for helping to develop his vocal abilities and the sandpaper quality in his voice. The group toured America again at the end of the year to a very strong reception, then suffered from more personnel upheaval (something that would continue throughout Beck's career). In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Wood's departure. Stewart later recalled: "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye – I always looked at his shirt or something like that." The group's second album, ''Beck-Ola'', was released in June 1969 in the US and September 1969 in the UK, bracketing the time the group was dissolving; it also made number 15 in the US albums chart and placed to number 39 in the UK albums chart. During his time with the group, Stewart initially felt overmatched by Beck's presence, and his style was still developing; but later Stewart felt the two developed a strong musical, if not personal, rapport. Much of Stewart's sense of phrasing was developed during his time with the Jeff Beck Group. Beck sought to form a new supergroup with Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert (of the similarly just-breaking-up Vanilla Fudge) joining him and Stewart, but Stewart had other plans.

1969–71: Solo Career establishment

Mercury Records A&R; man Lou Reizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and in October 1968 signed him to a solo contract; but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969. Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left English band The Small Faces. Ron Wood was announced as the replacement guitarist in June and in October 1969 Stewart followed his friend and was announced as their new singer. The two joined existing members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones, who soon decided to call the new line-up Faces.

''An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down'' became Stewart's first solo album in 1969 (it was known as ''The Rod Stewart Album'' in the US). It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues, inclusive of a British working-class sensibility, with both original material ("Cindy's Lament" and the title song) and cover versions (Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags").

Faces released their debut album ''First Step'' in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones. While the album did better in the UK than in the US, the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart released his second album, ''Gasoline Alley'' that autumn (Elkie Brooks later achieved a hit with a version of the title track in 1983). Rod's approach was similar to his first album, as exemplified by the title track; and mandolin was introduced into the sound. He then launched a solo tour. Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on "In a Broken Dream", recorded in April 1969 but not released until 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit.

1971-74: ''Every Picture Tells a Story''

Stewart's 1971 solo album ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit "Reason to Believe", "Maggie May", started receiving radio play. The album and the single hit number one in both the US and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. A loss of innocence tale set off by a striking mandolin part (by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne), "Maggie May" was also named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's ''500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll'', which is one of three songs by him to appear on that list. The rest of the album was equally strong, with "Mandolin Wind" again showcasing that instrument; "(I Know) I'm Losing You" adding hard-edged soul to the mix; and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time", a cover of a Bob Dylan song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart-Wood-penned "Every Picture Tells a Story" itself: powered by Mick Waller's drumming, Pete Sears's piano, and Wood's guitar work in a largely acoustic arrangement; it is a fast, rocking, headlong romp relating the picaresque adventures of the singer.

The second Faces album, ''Long Player'', was released in early 1971 and enjoyed greater chart success than ''First Step''. The Faces also got their only US Top 40 hit with "Stay With Me" from their third album ''A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse'' released in late 1971. This album reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of ''Every Picture Tells A Story''. Throughout this period there was a marked dichotomy between Stewart's solo and group work, the former being meticulously crafted while the latter tended towards the boozy and sloppy. Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols regarded The Faces very highly and named them as a main influence on the British punk rock movement.

The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released ''Never a Dull Moment'' in the same year. Repeating the ''Every Picture'' formula for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK, and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. "You Wear It Well" was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while "Twisting the Night Away" made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke. For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. ''Rolling Stone'''s 1980 ''Illustrated History of Rock & Roll'' includes this in its Stewart entry:

Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart; rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely. Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody — and sells more records than ever [...] a writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humour, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.

The Faces released their final album ''Ooh La La,'' which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973. The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974 to support the album and the single "Pool Hall Richard".

1974-75: ''Smiler'' and Faces tour

In late 1974 Stewart released his ''Smiler'' album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single "Farewell" number seven, but only number 13 on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts and the single "Mine for Me" only number 91 on the ''Billboard'' pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation ''The Best of Rod Stewart'' he switched to Warner Bros. Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career.

In 1975 the Faces toured the US twice (with Ronnie Wood joining The Rolling Stones' US tour in between) before Stewart announced the Faces' break-up at the end of the year.

1975–77: ''Atlantic Crossing'' and further releases

In 1975, Rod Stewart moved to the US, applying for citizenship due to his love affair with Britt Ekland and a protest against the UK tax authorities, who were taking approximately 84% of his income. He released the ''Atlantic Crossing'' album for his new record company, using producer Tom Dowd and a different sound based on the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. ''Atlantic Crossing'' marked both a return to form and a return to the Top 10 of the ''Billboard'' album charts. The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing", was a number one hit in the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about ''HMS Ark Royal'', and having been a hit twice over became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK. His Holland-Dozier-Holland cover "This Old Heart Of Mine" was also a Top 100 hit in 1976. Additionally in 1976 Stewart covered The Beatles' song "Get Back" for the ephemeral musical documentary ''All This and World War II''.

Later in 1976, Stewart topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for eight weeks and the Australian ARIA chart with the ballad "Tonight's the Night", with an accompanying music video featuring Ekland. It came from the ''A Night on the Town'' album, which went to number two on the ''Billboard'' album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a "fast side" and a "slow side", Stewart continued the trend started by ''Atlantic Crossing''. "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went number one in the UK in 1977, and top 30 in the US. "The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)", about the murder of a gay man, was also a Top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977.

1977-81: ''Blondes Have More Fun''

''Foot Loose & Fancy Free'' featured Rod's own band, the original Rod Stewart Group that featured Carmine Appice, Phil Chen, Jim Cregan, Billy Peek, Gary Grainger and John Jarvis, from 1977 continued Stewart's run of chart success, again reaching number two. "You're In My Heart" was the hit single, reaching number four in the US. The rocker "Hot Legs" achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional "I Was Only Joking". In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, including make-up and spandex clothes. Stewart scored another UK number one and US number one single with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was a crossover hit reaching number five on the ''Billboard'' black charts due to its disco sound. This was the lead single from 1978's ''Blondes Have More Fun...or do they?,'' which went to number one on the ''Billboard'' album charts and sold 4 million albums. It was to be Stewart's last number one album for 25 years.

A focal point of criticisms about this period was his biggest-selling 1978 disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, and disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become "tarty", has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third-person narrative slice-of-life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. However, the song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier "Taj Mahal" and a lawsuit ensued. Stewart donated his royalties from the song to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979.

Rod moved a bit to a more New Wave direction in 1980 by releasing the album ''Foolish Behaviour''. The album produced one hit single "Passion"; that proved particularly popular in South Africa (reaching no. 1 on the Springbok Top 20 Charts and Radio 5 Charts in early 1981). It also reached No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Charts. Later in 1981, Stewart added further elements of New Wave and synth pop to his sound for the ''Tonight I'm Yours'' album. The title song reached #20 in the U.S., while "Young Turks" reached the Top 5 with the album going platinum. In August 1981, MTV was launched in the US with several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation. On 18 December 1981, Stewart played the Los Angeles Forum, along with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner. This show was broadcast around the world to a television audience of 35 million.

1982–2001: ''Body Wishes'', and continued success

Stewart's career then went into a relative slump, and his albums between ''Tonight I'm Yours'' (1981) and ''Out of Order'' (1988) received harsh criticism from many critics. He was also criticised for breaking the widely observed cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa by performing at the Sun City resort complex in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana as part of his Body Wishes (1983) and Camouflage (1984) tours. He only had four Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, "Young Turks" (#5,1982), "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (#10, 1984), "Infatuation" (#6, 1984) and "Love Touch" (#6, 1986), although "Baby Jane" became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached #14 in the US. The corresponding ''Camouflage'' album went gold in the UK, and the single "Infatuation" (which featured his old friend Jeff Beck on the guitar) received considerable play on MTV. The second single "Some Guys Have All The Luck" reached #15 in the UK and #10 in the US. A reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready", but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. He reached UK number two in 1986 with "Every Beat Of My Heart".

In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated audience of over 100,000. In 1988, he returned with ''Out Of Order'', produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Chic. "Lost in You", "Forever Young", "Crazy About Her", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. "Forever Young" was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name; the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached #12 in the U.S.

In January 1989, Stewart set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order Tour playing to sell-out audiences throughout Americas. There were 80,000 people at his show at Corregidora Stadium, Querétaro, México (9 April), and 50,000 at Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco (12 April). In Buenos Aires, the audience at the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was at over 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Firehoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration.

Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1990. This song was taken from a four-CD compilation set called ''Storyteller - The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990''. The ''Vagabond Heart'' album continued his comeback with "Rhythm of My Heart" reaching #5 on ''Billboard'', and "The Motown Song" reaching the top 10. Also in 1990 he recorded "It Takes Two" with Tina Turner, which reached number five on the UK charts. In 1991 Stewart contributed guest lead vocals to the song "My Town" by the Canadian band Glass Tiger.

In 1993, he recorded "All For Love" with Sting and Bryan Adams for the soundtrack to the movie ''The Three Musketeers''; the single reached number one on the US charts. Also in 1993, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an ''MTV Unplugged'' special that included "Handbags and Gladrags", "Cut Across Shorty", and four selections from ''Every Picture Tells A Story''. The show also featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately", which topped the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart and #5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A rendition of "Reason to Believe" also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting ''Unplugged...and Seated'' album reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, presented by Jeff Beck. On 31 December on the same year he played in front on 4.2 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio, and made it into the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for staging the largest outdoor concert in history.

By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding. In 1995, Stewart released ''A Spanner in the Works'' containing a single written by Tom Petty "Leave Virginia Alone," which reached the Top 10 of the adult contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not so commercially successful, though the 1996 album ''If We Fall in Love Tonight'' managed to ship gold and hit #19 on the Billboard album chart, thanks in large part to an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.

''When We Were the New Boys'', his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number two on the UK album charts. In 2000, Stewart decided to leave Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released ''Human'', his only album for Atlantic. ''Human'' only just reached the Top 50 in 2001 with the single "I Can't Deny It" going Top 40 in the UK and Top 20 in the adult contemporary.

Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' new J Records label. ''The Story So Far: The Very Best Of Rod Stewart'', a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., went to the Top 10 in the UK and reached number one in places like Belgium and France in 2001.

2002–09: ''The Great American Songbook'' releases

By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records during his career. Stewart then concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the "Great American Songbook", written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, with great popular success. These albums have been released on Clive Davis's J Records label and have seen Stewart enjoy album sales equal to the 1970s.

The first album from the songbook series, ''It Had to Be You: the Great American Songbook'', reached number four on the US album chart, number eight in the UK and number ten in Canada when released in late 2002. The track "These Foolish Things" (which is actually a British, not American, song) reached number 13 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts and number two in Taiwan. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" went Top 20 on the world Internet charts and Top 30 on the adult contemporary charts.

The second series album, ''As Time Goes By: the Great American Songbook 2'', reached number two in the US, number four in the UK and number one in Canada. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a duet with Cher, went Top 20 on the US adult contemporary charts and Top 5 in Taiwan. "Time After Time" was another Top 30 track on the US adult contemporary charts. A musical called ''Tonight's The Night'', featuring many of Stewart's songs opened, 7 November 2003 at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. It is written and directed by Ben Elton, who previously created a similar production; ''We Will Rock You'', with music by Queen.

In 2004, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood for concerts of Faces material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces best of ''Changing Faces'' reached the Top 20 of the UK album charts. ''Five Guys Walk into a Bar...'', a Faces box set compilation, went into the shops. Stewart has also mentioned working with Wood on an album to be entitled ''You Strum, I'll Sing''. In late 2004, ''Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3'', the third album in Stewart's songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at number one in Canada, number three in the UK and Top 10 in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder, made the Top 20 of the world adult charts. He also recorded a duet with Dolly Parton for the album - "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

The year 2005 saw the release of the fourth songbook album, ''Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4''; it included duets with Diana Ross and Elton John. Within weeks of its release, the CD made it to number two on the Top 200 list. In late 2006, Stewart made his return to rock music and his new approach to country music with the release of ''Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time'', a new album featuring rock and southern rock milestones from the last four decades, including a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", which was released as the first single. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts with 184,000 copies in its first week. The number one debut was helped by a concert in New York City that was on MSN Music and an appearance on ''Dancing with the Stars''. He performed tracks from his new album Live from the Nokia Theater on 9 October. Control Room broadcast the event Live on MSN and in 117 movie theatres across the country via National CineMedia.

On 12 December, he performed for the first time at The Royal Variety Performance at The London Coliseum in front of HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, singing another Cat Stevens number, "Father and Son", and Glasgow singer/songwriter Frankie Miller's song It's a Heartache, made famous by Bonnie Tyler. On 22 December 2006 Stewart hosted the 8th Annual ''A Home for the Holidays'' special on CBS at 8:00 pm (PST). In 2007, Rod's son Sean starred in the A&E; television show ''Sons of Hollywood'', in which Rod's role as a parent is a major theme. Rod Stewart performed "Sailing" and "Baby Jane" plus "Maggie May" at the memorial concert for Princess Diana in the same year.

On 11 June 2008, Stewart announced that the Faces are discussing a reunion for at least one or two concerts.

2009-present: ''Songbook''

On 20 May 2009, Stewart performed "Maggie May" on the grand finale of ''American Idol'' season 8. On 2 July 2009 Stewart performed his only UK date this year at Home Park, Plymouth. On 29 September 2009 a 4-CD, 65-track compilation entitled ''Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998'' was released; it is composed of previously-unreleased tracks and outtakes from the bulk of his career. Stewart has also mentioned plans for a compilation of covers of soul classics, the possible release of another edition of the ''Great American Songbook'' album and a country covers album.

On 14 November 2009, Stewart recorded a TV program in the UK for ITV that was screened on 5 December 2009. The music in the programme featured tracks from his new album and some old favourites. On 14 Jan 2010, Rhino records released Stewart's "Once in a Blue Moon" a "lost album" originally recorded in 1992, featuring ten cover songs including the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Dylan's "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" and Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back", as well as Tom Waits' "Tom Traubert's Blues." On 19 October 2010, Stewart released another edition of his Great American Songbook series titled "Fly Me to the Moon...The Great American Songbook Volume V" on J Records.

Stewart performed with Stevie Nicks on The Heart & Soul Tour. Starting 20 March 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour visits arena concerts in North America – with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa and Montreal confirmed.

Stewart headlined the Sunday show at the 2011 Hard Rock Calling Festival on 26 June at London's Hyde Park. Stewart signed on to a two year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, commencing on 24 August. Performing his greatest hits, the residency also sees him perform selected tracks from his upcoming, untitled blues album.

Personal life

In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. It had been previously reported he suffered from a benign vocal cord nodule. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his famous voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children.

Stewart plays for his LA Exiles team made up of mostly English expatriates plus a few celebrities, including Billy Duffy of The Cult, in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California He still kicks footballs into the audience during concerts. He is a well-known supporter of Celtic F.C., which he mentions in his hit "You're in My Heart", and the Scotland national team. Stewart also follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Man United in Frank Worall's book ''Celtic United''.

Stewart is a keen model railway enthusiast. His 23 x 124-foot HO scale layout in his Los Angeles home is modelled after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads during the 1940s. Called the Three Rivers City, the layout was featured in the cover story of the December 2007 and December 2010 issues of ''Model Railroader'' Magazine. In the 2007 article Stewart said that he would rather be in a model railroad magazine than a music magazine. His passion for the hobby has been cited as contributing to the end of his second marriage. He has a second layout at his UK home. That layout is based on Britain's East Coast Main Line. Stewart's home is located in Epping, Essex on part of the Copped Hall estate

A keen car enthusiast, Stewart owns one of the 400 Ferrari Enzos. In 1982, Stewart was car-jacked on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard, while he was parking his $50,000 Porsche. The car was subsequently recovered.

On 11 October 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (Star number 2093) On 18 April and 19 April 2006 Stewart was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on ''American Idol'', leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the Great American Songbook.

Stewart was estimated to have a fortune of £115 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2011, making him one of the 20 richest people in the British music industry.

Relationships and family

Stewart is known for his liaisons with women (fathering eight children with five of them): ModelDee Harrington ActressBritt Ekland rowspan="2" ModelKelly Emberg rowspan="2" rowspan="2"

Length
1963–1964	Art studentSusannah Boffey	Sarah Streeter (born 1963)
1971–1975	|
1975–1977	|
rowspan="2">First marriage1979-1984	Alana Hamilton<	(ex-wife of actor George Hamilton) ||	Kimberly Stewart (born 21 August 1979)	Kimberly gave birth to her first child with oscar-winning actor Benicio Del Toro, making Rod Stewart a grandfather.
Sean Stewart (reality TV star)	Sean Stewart (born 1 September 1980)
1983–1990	|	Ruby Stewart (born 17 June 1987)
rowspan="2">Second marriage1990-2006	ModelRachel Hunter ||	Renée Stewart (born 1 June 1992)	They separated in 1999 and eventually divorced in 2006.
Liam McAlister Stewart (born 4 September 1994)
	ModelPenny Lancaster-Stewart ||	Alastair Wallace Stewart (born 27 November 2005 in London)	The couple married on 16 June 2007 on board the yacht ''Lady Ann Magee'' moored in the Italian port of Portofino.
Aiden Stewart (born 16 February 2011)

In reference to his divorces, Rod Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

Awards and recognition

Awarded CBE in 2007 New Year's Honours.

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2005, ''Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III''

''Diamond Award'' of World Music Awards show for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994

Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, 2006

According to Stewart, soul singer James Brown called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.

List of bands

During his career, Rod Stewart has been a member of a number of groups including:

Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963)

The Hoochie Coochie Men (1964–1965)

Soul Agents (1965–1966)

Shotgun Express (1966)

The Jeff Beck Group (1966–1969)

Faces (1969–1975)

Discography

Stewart's album and single sales total have been variously estimated as more than 100 million, or at 200 million, in either case earning him a place on the list of best-selling music artists.

UK/US number one albums

1971 ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' (UK / US)

1972 ''Never a Dull Moment'' (UK )

1973 ''Sing It Again Rod'' (UK )

1974 ''Smiler'' (UK )

1975 ''Atlantic Crossing'' (UK )

1976 ''A Night on the Town'' (UK )

1978 ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (US )

1979 ''Greatest Hits, Vol. 1'' (UK )

2004 ''Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3'' (US )

2006 ''Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time'' (US )

UK/US number one singles

1971 "Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe" (UK/US)

1972 "You Wear It Well" (UK)

1975 "Sailing" (UK)

1976 "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" (US)

1977 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (UK)

1978 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (UK, US)

1983 "Baby Jane" (UK)

1993 "All for Love" (US) (featuring Bryan Adams and Sting, first appearing on the official soundtrack from the movie "The Three Musketeers")

See also

Best selling music artists

List of number-one hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Coronet Apartments

Crooner

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

BBC Derby profile

Five audio interview clips from 1981

''Q'' magazine's "100 Greatest Singers" list

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Anglo-Scots Category:BRIT Award winners Category:British blues singers Category:British buskers Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:Cancer survivors Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English male singers Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English pop singers Category:English rock singers Category:English songwriters Category:English tenors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Epping Category:People from Highgate Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎ Category:Scottish tenors Category:Singers from London Category:World Music Awards winners

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name	Mick Taylor
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Kevin Taylor
alias	Little Mick
born	January 17, 1949Welwyn Garden City, EnglandUnited Kingdom
instrument	Guitar, bass guitar, vocals,keyboards, percussions,slide guitar
genre	Blues-rock, Hard-rock, rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter
years active	1965–present
label	Columbia, Decca, Rolling Stones, Atlantic, EMI, Virgin, CBS, Maze Records
associated acts	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers(1966-69),The Rolling Stones (1969-74)
website	Mick Taylor.net
notable instruments	Gibson Les PaulGibson SGFender StratocasterFender Telecaster }}

Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor (born 17 January 1949 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1966–69) and The Rolling Stones (1969–74). Since resigning from the Rolling Stones in December 1974 at age 25, Taylor has worked with numerous other artists and has released solo albums.

Biography

Early career

Taylor was born to a working-class family in Welwyn Garden City, but was raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, where his father worked as a fitter for De Havilland aircraft company. He began playing guitar at age nine, learning to play from his mother's younger brother. As a teenager, he formed bands with schoolmates and started performing concerts under names such as The Juniors and the Strangers. They also appeared on television and put out a single. Part of the band was recruited for a new group called The Gods, which included Ken Hensley (later of Uriah Heep fame). In 1966, The Gods opened for Cream at the Starlite Ballroom in Wembley.

In 1965 at age 16, Taylor went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers performance at "The Hop" Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City. A former drummer with the Juniors, Danny Bacon, remembers: "On the night in question, I had gone to The Hop with some guys from our band, former schoolmates and Ex-Juniors Mick Taylor and Alan Shacklock. It was after John Mayall had finished his first set without a guitarist that it became clear that for some reason Eric Clapton was not going to show up. A group of local musicians, which included myself, Robert 'Jab' Als, Herbie Sparks, and others, along with three local guitarists—Alan Shacklock, Mick Casey (formerly of the Trekkas) and Mick Taylor—were in attendance." Taylor himself has said after seeing that Clapton hadn't appeared, but that his guitar had already been set up on the stage, had approached John Mayall during the interval, asking if he could play with them, mentioning that he'd heard their albums and knew some of the songs. After a moment of deliberation, Mayall agreed. Taylor amended, "I wasn't thinking that this was a great opportunity.. I just really wanted to get up on stage and play the guitar."

Taylor played the second set with Mayall's band, and afterwards, they exchanged phone numbers, which proved to be pivotal in his career a few years later. Taylor had won Mayall's respect, and when he was 17, Mayall was looking for another guitarist to fill the vacancy left after Peter Green's resignation. Mayall contacted Taylor, and invited him to take Green's place. Taylor made his debut with the Bluesbreakers at the Manor House, an old blues club in North London. For those in the music scene the night was an event... "Let's go and see this 17-year-old kid try and replace Eric". Before he turned 18, Taylor toured and recorded the album ''Crusade'' with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969, Taylor developed a guitar style that is blues-based with Latin and jazz influences. Later on in his career, he further developed his skills as a slide guitarist.

In 1967, Mick made the drawings for Donovan's ''Gift From a Flower to a Garden'' double LP.

The Rolling Stones

After Brian Jones left the The Rolling Stones in June 1969, Mayall recommended Taylor to Mick Jagger. Taylor believed he was being called in to be a session musician at his first studio session with the Rolling Stones. An impressed Jagger and Keith Richards invited Taylor back the following day to continue rehearsing and recording with the band. He overdubbed guitar on "Country Honk" "Live With Me" for the album ''Let It Bleed'', and for the single "Honky Tonk Women" released in the UK, on 4 July 1969. Taylor's onstage debut as a Rolling Stone, at the age of 20, was the free Hyde Park concert on 5 July 1969. An estimated quarter of a million people attended for a show that turned into a tribute to Brian Jones, who had died 3 days before the concert.

The Rolling Stones' 1971 release ''Sticky Fingers'' included "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" which Taylor and Jagger had completed in Richards's absence. At the time Jagger stated: "We made [tracks] with just Mick Taylor, which are very good and everyone loves, where Keith wasn't there for whatever reasons ... It's me and [Mick Taylor] playing off each other - another feeling completely, because he's following my vocal lines and then extemporizing on them during the solos." However, Taylor was only credited as co-author of one track "Ventilator Blues", from the album ''Exile on Main St.'' (1972). Taylor was noted for his smooth lyrical touch and tone which contrasted with Richards's jagged and cutting technique.

After the 1973 European tour, Richards's drug problems had worsened and began affecting the ability of the band to function as a whole. Between recording sessions, the band members were living in various different countries and during this period Taylor appeared on Herbie Mann's ''London Underground'' (1974) and also appeared on Mann's album ''Reggae'' (1974).

It's Only Rock 'n Roll

In January 1974, while the band began recording the LP ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'' at Musicland Studios in Munich, Taylor missed some of the sessions whilst he underwent surgery for acute sinusitis. When he arrived, he found it difficult to work with Richards. At one point during the Munich sessions, Richards confronted him, and said, "Oi! Taylor! You're playing too fuckin' loud. I mean, you're really good ''live,'' man, but you're fucking useless in the studio. Lay out, play later, whatever." Richards erased some of the tapes where Taylor had recorded guitar parts to some of the songs for ''It's Only Rock n' Roll'' Taylor was, however, present at all the sessions in April at Stargroves, England, where the LP was finished and most of the overdubs were recorded.

Not long after those recording sessions, Taylor went on a six-week expedition to Brazil, travelling down the Amazon River in a boat and exploring Latin music.

Just before the release of the album in October 1974, Taylor told Nick Kent from the ''NME'' magazine about the new LP and that he had co-written "Till the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits for No One" with Jagger. Kent showed Taylor the record sleeve, which revealed the absence of any songwriting credits for Taylor. In an interview with Gary James, Taylor later said: "I was a bit peeved about not getting credit for a couple of songs, but that wasn't the whole reason [I left the band]. I guess I just felt like I had enough. I decided to leave and start a group with Jack Bruce. I never really felt, and I don't know why, but I never felt I was gonna stay with the Stones forever, even right from the beginning. In a 1997 interview with Mojo Magazine, Taylor said: "We used to fight and argue all the time. And one of the things I got angry about was that Mick had promised to give me some credit for some of the songs – and he didn't. I believed I'd contributed enough. Let's put it this way – without my contribution those songs would not have existed. There's not many but enough, things like "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" on ''Sticky Fingers'' and a couple of others."

In December 1974, Taylor announced he was leaving the Rolling Stones. The bandmates were at a party in London when Taylor told Mick Jagger he was quitting and walked out. Taylor's decision came as a total shock to many. The Rolling Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich, and the entire band was reportedly angry at Taylor for leaving at such short notice.

When interviewed by Jann Wenner of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 1995, Mick Jagger stated that Taylor never explained why he had left, and surmised that "[Taylor] wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith." In the same interview Jagger said of Taylor's contribution to the band: "I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don't have now. Neither Keith nor [Ronnie Wood] plays that kind of style. It was very good for me working with him ... Mick Taylor would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off. Some people think that's the best version of the band that existed". Asked if he agreed with that assessment, Jagger said: "I obviously can't say if I think Mick Taylor was the best, because it sort of trashes the period the band is in now." Charlie Watts stated: "I think we chose the right man for the job at that time just as Ronnie was the right man for the job later on. I still think Mick is great. I haven't heard or seen him play in a few years. But certainly what came out of playing with him are musically some of the best things we've ever done". Another statement, made by Keith Richards, is: "Mick Taylor is a great guitarist, but he found out the hard way that that's all he is".

In an essay about the Rolling Stones, printed after Taylor's resignation, music critic Robert Palmer of ''The New York Times'' wrote that "Taylor is the most accomplished technician who ever served as a Stone. A blues guitarist with a jazzman's flair for melodic invention, Taylor was never a rock and roller and never a showman."

Taylor has worked with his former bandmates on various occasions since leaving the Rolling Stones. In 1977 he attended London-based sessions for the John Phillips album ''Pay Pack & Follow'', appearing on several tracks alongside Jagger (vocals), Richards (guitar) and Wood (bass) - taking notable solos on the songs "Oh Virginia" and "Zulu Warrior". A possibly apocryphal story is that after Taylor played a particularly jaw-dropping solo in the studio, Richards half-jokingly exclaimed, "That's why I never liked you, you bastard!"

On 14 December 1981 he performed with the band at their concert at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Keith Richards appeared on stage at a Mick Taylor show at the Lone Star Cafe in New York on 28 December 1986, jamming on "Key to the Highway" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"; and Taylor is featured on one track ("I Could Have Stood You Up") on Richards' 1988 album ''Talk is Cheap''. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Mick Taylor along with the Rolling Stones in 1989. Taylor also worked with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in the early 1990s.

In addition to his contributions to Rolling Stones albums released during his tenure with the band, Taylor's guitar is also on two tracks on their 1981 release ''Tattoo You'': "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend", both of which were originally recorded in 1972. (Taylor is sometimes mistakenly credited as playing on "Worried About You", but the solo on that track is performed by Wayne Perkins.)

Taylor's onstage presence with the Rolling Stones is preserved on the album ''Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!'', recorded over four concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York and the Civic Center in Boston in November 1969; in the documentary films ''Stones in the Park'' (released on DVD in 2001), ''Gimme Shelter'' (released in 1970) and ''Cocksucker Blues'' (unreleased); and in the concert film ''Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones'' (shown in cinemas in 1974). Bootleg recordings from the Rolling Stones' tours from 1969 through 1973 also document Taylor's concert performances with the Rolling Stones.

In March 2010, rumours started circulating that Taylor had contributed guitar work on the upcoming ''Exile on Main Street'' special edition release. This expanded version of the original double album includes 10 outtakes/alternate versions of songs. Taylor later revealed (in an interview with a journalist from Cleveland) that he had indeed recorded new guitar overdubs for the CD, at Mick Jagger's request. On 17 April 2010 (National Record Store Day), the new Rolling Stones single 'Plundered My Soul' came out, featuring recently recorded vocals and guitars by Jagger and Taylor.

Around this time, Eagle Rock Entertainment also announced that a first official release of the concert film ''Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones'' was planned for autumn 2010. Apart from a one-off cinema screening in the past, the film had previously only been available on bootleg videos and DVDs.

Post-Stones: 1975 to 1981

Taylor worked on various side projects during his tenure with the Rolling Stones.

In June 1973, he joined Mike Oldfield onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a performance of Oldfield's ''Tubular Bells''. Taylor was asked to take part in this project by Richard Branson as he felt Oldfield was unknown having just been signed to Branson's fledgling label, Virgin Records. Taylor joined Oldfield once more for a BBC television broadcast in November 1973.

After his resignation from the Rolling Stones, Jack Bruce invited him to form a new band with keyboardist Carla Bley and drummer Bruce Gary. In 1975, the band began rehearsals in London with tour dates scheduled for later that year. The group toured Europe, with a sound leaning more toward jazz, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop festival, but disbanded the following year. A performance recorded on 1 June 1975 (which was finally released on CD in 2003 as ''"Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall"'' by The Jack Bruce Band) and another performance from the ''Old Grey Whistle Test'' seem to be the only material available from this brief collaboration.

Taylor appeared as a special guest of Little Feat at the Rainbow Theatre in London, 1977, sharing slide guitar with then-frontman Lowell George on "A Apolitical Blues": this song appears on Little Feat's critically acclaimed live album ''Waiting for Columbus''. In the summer of 1977 he collaborated with Pierre Moerlen's Gong for the album ''Espresso II'', released in 1978. Taylor began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album and worked on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. He was present at many of the recording sessions for John Phillips' first solo album. The recordings for Phillips' album took place in London over a prolonged period between 1973 and 1977. This led to Taylor working with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger who were also working on the Phillips' album. Atlantic Records eventually cancelled the project but copies of the sessions(under titles "Half Stoned" and "Phillips '77") circulated among bootleg traders. The original tapes were rescued and restored and were officially released in 2002 as ''Pay Pack & Follow''. In 1977 Taylor signed a solo recording deal with CBS Records. By April 1978 he gave several interviews to music magazines to promote the new album which was finished, but would not be released for another year. In 1979 the album, titled ''Mick Taylor'', was released by CBS Records. The album material mixed rock, jazz and Latin-flavoured blues musical styles. The album reached #119 on the Billboard charts in early August with a stay of five weeks on the Billboard 200. CBS advised Taylor to promote the album through American radio stations but was unwilling to back the guitarist for any supporting tour. Already frustrated with this situation, Taylor took a break from the music industry for about a year.

In 1981, he toured Europe and the United States with Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, sharing the bill with Black Sabbath. He spent most of 1982 and 1983 on the road with John Mayall, for the "Reunion Tour" with John McVie of Fleetwood Mac and Colin Allen. During this tour Bob Dylan showed up backstage at The Roxy in Los Angeles in order to meet Taylor.

In 1983, Taylor joined Mark Knopfler and played on Dylan's ''Infidels'' album. He also appeared on Dylan's live album, ''Real Live'', as well as the follow-up studio album ''Empire Burlesque''. In 1984, Dylan asked Mick Taylor to assemble an experienced rock and roll band for a European tour he signed with Bill Graham. Ian McLagan was hired to play piano and hammond organ, Greg Sutton to play bass and Colin Allen, a long time friend of Taylor, on drums. The tour lasted for four weeks at venues such as Munich's Olympic Stadium Arena, sharing the bill with Carlos Santana and Joan Baez, who appeared on the same bill for a couple of shows.

Later career

Taylor guested with the Grateful Dead on September 24, 1988 at the last show of that year's Madison Square Garden run in New York. Taylor lived in New York throughout the 1980s. He battled with addiction problems before getting back on track in the second half of the 1980s and moving to Los Angeles in 1990. During this time Taylor did session work and toured in Europe, America and Japan with a band including Max Middleton (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), Shane Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin. In 1990 his CD "Stranger In This Town" was released by Maze Records backed up by a mini-tour including the record release party at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston as well as gigs at the Paradise Theater.

Taylor moved back to England in the mid 1990s. Taylor never seemed to feel comfortable in his role as a former Rolling Stone until he released a new album in 2000, entitled, ''A Stone's Throw''. Playing at clubs and theatres as well as appearing at festivals has connected Taylor with an appreciative audience and fan base.

Mick began what was to be a significant series of collaborations with Carla Olson with their "Live at the Roxy" album ''Too Hot For Snakes''; the centerpiece of which is a extended 7 minute performance of "Sway". It was followed by Olson's ''Within An Ace'' which featured Taylor on seven songs, he appeared on three songs from ''Reap The Whirlwind'' and then again on Olson's ''The Ring Of Truth'', on which he plays lead guitar on nine tracks including a twelve minute version of the Jagger and Taylor song "Winter". Further work by Olson and Taylor can be heard on the Olson produced Barry Goldberg album ''Stoned Again''. Taylor went on to appear on Percy Sledge's ''Blue Night'' (1994), along with Steve Cropper, Bobby Womack and Greg Leisz.

In 2003, Taylor reunited with John Mayall for his 70th Birthday Concert in Liverpool along with Eric Clapton. A year later, in autumn 2004, he also joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers for a UK theatre tour. He toured the US East Coast with the Experience Hendrix group during October 2007. The Experience Hendrix group appeared at a series of concerts which were a homage to Jimi Hendrix and his musical legacy. Taylor played with Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and Robby Krieger.

In recent times Taylor reunited with Ronnie Wood (an old pal from his teenage years) at a benefit gig put on, organized and publicised by UK-domiciled US fellow Blues guitarist Stephen Dale Petit to save the 100 Club in London, on 1 December 2010. Other special guests at the show were Dick Taylor (first bassplayer in the Rolling Stones) and blues/jazz trombonist Chris Barber. Mick also toured the UK with Stephen Dale Petit appearing as Petit's Special Guest, featured on a Paul Jones BBC Radio 2 session with him and guested on Petit's 2010 Classic Rock magazine Album of the Year - "The Crave".

He also helped to promote the "Boogie For Stu" album, which was recorded by Ben Waters to honour Ian Stewart (original Stones pianist and co-founder of the band), by taking part in a concert to mark the CD's official launch at the Ambassadors Theatre, London on 9 March 2011. Proceeds from the event were donated to the British Heart Foundation. Although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards didn't show up, Taylor noticeably enjoyed performing with, amongst others, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman.

Personal life

Taylor has been married twice and has two daughters. Chloe (born 6 January 1971) is a daughter by his first wife Rose Millar. Taylor married Rose in 1975 after leaving the Stones, but the relationship was reportedly "on the rocks" before long and resulted in divorce only a few years later. His second daughter Emma was born from a short relationship with an American woman, who sang backing vocals with Taylor's band on one occasion.

Taylor currently resides in Suffolk.

Discography

With John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

''Crusade'' (Decca, 1967/LP, 1987/CD)

''Diary of a Band Volume 1 & 2'' (Decca, 1968/LP)

''Bare Wires'' (Decca, 1968/LP, 1988/CD )

''Blues from Laurel Canyon'' (Decca, 1968/LP, 1989/CD)

''Primal Solos'' (Decca, 1969/LP)

''Back to the Roots'' (Decca, 1971/LP, 2001 on 2CD)

''Return Of The Bluesbreakers'' (AIM, 1985/LP, 1993/CD)

''The 1982 Reunion Concert'' (Repertoire records, 1994/CD) with John Mayall, Mick Taylor, Colin Allen and John McVie

''Wake Up Call'' (1993)

''Silver Tones - The Best of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers'' (Silvertone Records, 1998)

''Along For The Ride'' (2001)

''Rolling With The Blues'' (2003) - selection of live recordings '72-'82

''Essentially John Mayall'' (Eagle Rock Records, 2007) 5 CD Box Set

With The Rolling Stones

''Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)'' (1969) (compilation)

:Taylor plays on "Honky Tonk Women"

''Let It Bleed'' (1969)

:Taylor plays on "Country Honk" and "Live With Me"

''Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!'' (1970)

''Sticky Fingers'' (1971)

''Hot Rocks, 1964-1971'' (1972) (compilation)

''Exile on Main St.'' (1972)

''Goats Head Soup'' (1973)

''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'' (1974)

''Made in the Shade'' (1975) (compilation of hits 1971-1974)

''Metamorphosis'' (1975)

:Taylor plays on "I Don't Know Why" and "Jiving Sister Fanny".

''Sucking in the Seventies'' (1981) (compilation of hits, album cuts and outtakes 1974-1981)

''Tattoo You'' (1981)

:Taylor plays on "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend", both tracks recorded in 1972 during the ''Goats Head Soup'' sessions.

''Rewind (1971-1984)'' (1984) (compilation of hits 1971-1983)

''Singles Collection: The London Years''. (1989) (compilation of singles 1963-1971)

''Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones'' (1993) (compilation of hits 1971-1989)

''Forty Licks'' (2002) (compilation 1964-2002)

''Rarities 1971-2003'' (2005)

:Taylor plays on "Let It Rock" (live 1971) and the 1974 b-side "Through The Lonely Nights".

Non-Rolling Stones work with Rolling Stones members:

''Pay, Pack and Follow'' (John Phillips, first official release by Eagle Rock Records, 2001)

:from 1973-1979 recording sessions in London aka "Half Stoned" sessions :produced by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

''I've Got My Own Album to Do'' (Ronnie Wood solo album) (1974)

''Now Look'' (Ronnie Wood solo album) (July 1975)

''Talk Is Cheap'' (Keith Richards solo album) (1988)

With Jack Bruce

''Live on the Old Grey Whistle Test'' (Strange Fruit, 1995). Tracks from several Whistle Test shows recorded between '75 and '81. Seven of the songs feature Taylor on guitar.

''Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall'' (2 CD, Polydor, 2003)

With Bob Dylan

''Infidels'' (1983)

''Real Live (In Europe, 1984)'' (1984)

''Empire Burlesque'' (1985)

''The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991'' (1991)

Solo discography

''Mick Taylor'' (1979) US #119 [5 wks on top 200]

''Stranger in This Town'' (1990)

''Arthur's Club-Geneve 1995'' (Mick Taylor & Snowy White) (Promo CD/TV Especial)

''A Stone's Throw'' (2000)

''Coastin' Home'' aka ''Live at the 14 Below'' (1995) re-issued 2002

''14 Below'' (2003)

''Shadow Man''

With Carla Olson

''Too Hot For Snakes'' (''Live at the Roxy'') (1991 live album)

''Within An Ace'' (1993)

''Reap The Whirlwind(1994, Virgin Records Europe)

''Special - The best of Carla Olson (1995, Virgin Records Sweden)

''The Ring of Truth'' (2001)

''Too Hot For Snakes'' plus (2008, Collectors' Choice) 2 CD set of the Roxy album plus "You Gotta Move" and a 2nd disc of 13 studio tracks 1993 - 2004 including a previously unreleased version of "Winter" and "Think I'm Goin' Mad" from the Carla-produced Barry Goldberg album ''Stoned Again''.

Other session work

''Tubular Bells Premiere'' Mike Oldfield (June '73) Queen Elizabeth Hall

''Tubular Bells'' (Mike Oldfield) Telecast Tubular Bells Part One and Tubular Bells Part Two. Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House November 1973 and aired in early '74 and June '74. Available on Oldfield's Elements DVD.

''The Tin Man Was A Dreamer'' (Nicky Hopkins) (1973)

"London Underground" (Herbie Mann 1974)

''Live European Tour'' Billy Preston - (A&M; Records, 1974). Recorded with Stones Mobile Studio during the '73 tour. Preston opened up for the band with Mick Taylor on guitar.

released on CD (A& M - Japan, 2002)

''Have Blues Will Travel'' (Speedo Jones) (Integrity Records, 1988)

''Reggae II'' (Herbie Mann) (Atlantic, 1976)

''Just A Story From America'' (Elliott Murphy) (Columbia 1977)

''Waiting for Columbus'' (Little Feat) (1978) double CD released 2002

''Expresso II'' (Gong) (1978)

Downwind'' (Pierre Moerlen's Gong) (1979) lead guitar on What you know

''Alan Merrill'' (Alan Merrill)'s solo album (Polydor, 1985) recorded in London in 1977

''Vinyl'' (Dramarama) (1991)

''Burnin' Blues'' (Coupe De Villes) (1992)

''Once in a Blue Moon'' (Gerry Groom) (1993)

''Cartwheels'' (Anthony Thistlethwaite) (1993)

''Hecho en Memphis'' (Ratones Paranoicos, Sony Music) (1993)

''Let's get stoned'' (The Chesterfield Kings) (Mirror Records,1994)

''Crawfish and Caviar'' (Anthony Thistlethwaite)

''Blue Night'' (Percy Sledge, Virgin Records, 1994)

''Mick & I'' (2001) Miyuki & Mick Taylor

''From Clarksdale to Heaven'' (BlueStorm, 2002) John Lee Hooker Tribute Album.

''Stoned Again (Barry Goldberg, Antone's Records, 2002)

''Meaning Of Life'' (Todd Sharpville) (Cathouse/Universal, 2003)

''Key To Love'' (Debbie Davies) (Shanachie Records, 2003)

''Shadow Man'' (re-release of a Sasha album from '96) (2003)

Originally released by Alpha Music in 1996, this "Mick Taylor featuring Sasha" album should have read "Sasha featuring Mick Taylor", but the company felt it would sell better under a household name. It features Mick Taylor on guitar, but is basically a Sasha Gracanin album.

''Treasure Island'' (Nikki Sudden) (Secretly Canadian, 2004)

''Unterwegs'' (Crazy Chris Kramer) (2009)

Music DVDs

''Blues Alive'' video (RCA/Columbia Pictures 1983), recorded at Capitol Theatre, NJ 1982

''Jamming with the Blues Greats'' - DVD release from the 1983 video, featuring John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (Mick Taylor, Colin Allen, John McVie) and special guests Albert King, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Sippie Wallace (Lightyear/Image Entertainment 2005)

''The Stones in the Park'' Hyde Park concert video (Granada Television, 1969)

:released on DVD (VCI, 2001)

''Gimme Shelter'' (Maysles Films, 1970) music documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, shot at the Rolling Stones concerts at Madison Square Garden, NY on 27/28 November and Altamont, CA on 6th Dec December 1969.

:restored and released on DVD (Criterion, 2000)

''John Mayall, the Godfather of British Blues'' documentary about John Mayall's life and career (Eagle Rock, 2004. Region 1: 2005)

''70th Birthday Concert'' (Eagle Rock, 2004. Region 1: 2005). Bluesbreakers Charity Concert (Unite for Unicef) filmed in Liverpool, July 2003. John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with special guests Chris Barber, Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor.

"Stones In Exile" 2010

"Ladies & Gentlemen The Rolling Stones" 2010

---- Music DVDs - Unofficial

''Cocksucker Blues''

Filmography

''The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976) directed by Nicolas Roeg

Contributed to soundtrack. Played guitar on various songs, including "Hello Mary Lou" after developing ideas for soundtrack with John Phillips.

''The Last of the Finest'' (1990) directed by John Mackenzie. Assisted composer Jack Nitzsche with the moviescore

''Bad City Blues'' (1999) directed by Michael Stevens. After the book by Tim Willocks.

Music composers: Mick Taylor and Max Middleton

Awards

Inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (with the Rolling Stones, 1989)

Taylor's handprints have been on Hollywood's RockWalk since 6 September 1998.

Guitar history

Throughout his career, Taylor has used various different guitars, but is mostly associated with the Gibson Les Paul. His first Les Paul was bought when he was still playing with The Gods (from Selmer's, London in '65). He acquired his second Les Paul in 1967, not long after joining The Bluesbreakers: Taylor came to Olympic Studios to buy a Les Paul that Keith Richards wanted to sell. On the '72/'73 tours Taylor used a couple of Sunburst Les Paul guitars without a Bigsby. Other guitars include a Gibson ES-355 for the recording of ''Sticky Fingers'' and ''Exile on Main Street'', a Gibson SG on the 1969, 1970 and 1971 tours, and occasionally a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Telecaster.

References

External links

Mick Taylor.net

Interview with Gary James from classicbands.com

Interview with JAZZed Magazine. Oct 2007

Rolling Stone Magazine article about ''Exile on Main Street''

UK Daily Mail article about Mick Taylor. Jan 2007

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Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:English blues guitarists Category:English guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members Category:The Rolling Stones members Category:Columbia Records artists Category:People from Welwyn Garden City Category:Slide guitarists Category:English film score composers Category:Decca Records artists Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

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