Monday, February 14, 2011

67

I've been reading Keith Richards' endlessly entertaining, opinionated and well-remembered autobiography, where we learn that he actually wrote those songs with Mick Jagger filled in with genius lyrics written usually in under an hour, plus some songs like "Brown Sugar" that were almost all Mick.

If the book isn't enough to make you want the Stones to record and tour again, then how about Jagger's show-stopping performance, to my eyes and ears easily the best and least reliant on technical effects, at last night's Grammy Awards show:



He turns the prestigious overblown event into a classic rhythm & blues revival, all in the name of the last Solomon Burke. Per Richard's book, it was the African-American musicians and communities that welcomed the Stones when they first toured in the early-to-mid-1960's sharing their homes -- and daughters -- and warmth, while so many whites called them "girls" for their then outre long hair. So Mick is clearly repaying a debt, both of musical inspiration and hospitality, and to see him striding, hopping across the narrow wings of the stage is to see a miracle in action.

Make up, Keith and Mick, and come back Rolling Stones!

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