Keith Richards: Under the Influence Page #3

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Well, baby used to stay out

all night long

She made me cry, she done me wrong

She hurt my eyes open, that's no lie

[Richards] I was amazed

by the warmth of the welcome.

Especially with the first hit

being New York City.

Because I used to love her,

but it's all over now

[Richards] I mean, the buildings,

the feel and the smell of the place.

But it's all over now

[Richards] That night, I remember

writing to my mum there,

"Mum, I'm in New York City.

I'll tell you more later."

[laughs]

She spent all my money,

playing her high class game

[Richards] God knows what

they were expecting.

In some places, I mean...

I do remember The Stones being arrested

for topless bathing in Georgia

at a Holiday Inn swimming pool,

which was in sight of this highway.

And some freaked out locals thought,

because of the hair,

that there was a load of chicks

jumping in the pool, naked, you know...

So the cop car drives up to the pool.

[laughing]

We're looking at them,

the cops are looking at us, you know,

and it was like culture shock.

In those days, if you went

further south than Washington,

it was a different kind of America then.

It was still strictly segregated.

You'd pull in to a joint, a whole bus

of us, black and white, all mixed...

Anyway, you'd pull over

and dying for a pee.

So I'd join in with the brothers,

and then they'd laugh at me

and point above the door,

and it said "Colored only."

I asked them,

"And where am I supposed to go?" you know.

And they said, "Try the bushes"

or, "The white men's around the corner."

But there were plenty of signs of it,

yeah. Chain gangs, too. Yeah.

To get the last taste of that bullshit

was amazing to behold.

But I think that black America sort of

took us a little more to their hearts

because we were different.

And we had no contact with the problems

that they usually had with white people.

[blues guitar playing]

[indistinct chatter]

Now that's the sh*t.

-[Jordan] You're gonna do it?

-Only if you want me to.

But there's a Les Paul Jr. behind you.

[Waits] When you walk into his studio...

He says his first home is the stage.

I think his second home

would be the studio.

So that's where you

have to really start listening.

[Jordan] We're not...

We're not using any of this.

[Waits] Everybody's tuning up

and you know,

that's when things

start to really happen,

uh, because no one thinks it's music yet.

Yeah, it's like an orchestra

tuning up, you know. It's thrilling.

Because it's a piece of music

they will never play again,

and no one called it that.

[playing blues music]

Yeah, you don't wanna be looking

at the frame and then realize

that the most interesting thing

going on in the frame

is happening outside of the frame.

[blues music continues]

[Richards] Living in England, all you knew

about Chicago was Al Capone.

And then I found out that there's

something about the stock markets...

and I mean, meat.

[chuckling] I mean, the cattle yards.

The next time

I really thought about Chicago

is when I heard the blues coming out of

this building we're just about to bypass.

Chess Records,

2120 South Michigan.

We recorded there in '64.

It was a magical room, sound-wise.

How many addresses I've forgotten,

that one I'll never forget, you know.

We arrived at Chess Studios.

Somebody's walking us

through the corridor,

and there's a black guy

on a ladder painting the ceiling.

As we pass by,

the engineer from Chess said,

"Oh, by the way,

this is Mr. Muddy Waters."

So this is my first meeting.

I'm shaking hands with Muddy Waters

who's got whitewash dripping.

[muttering]

And he just said...

"Thank you for what you guys are doing."

I had to digest the image later.

I mean, I'm shocked on a personal level

to have met the very man

who I've been listening to

and trying to fathom out.

It said a lot about black and white.

[laughs]

But that's what

I always said about Muddy.

He was a gentleman

in no matter what position you found him.

Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf,

Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy...

All these guys were out in Chicago

recording in the same studios.

And everybody is like, "What do you

wanna go to Chicago for?"

Hey, there's a reason.

[Buddy Guy] One, two, three.

[band playing "Let Me Love You Baby"]

[inaudible]

Well, now, baby when you walk

You know you shake like a willow tree

Well, now, baby when you walk

You know, you shake

just like a willow tree

Well, it's a girl like you

I would love to make a fool of me

How are you doing, Buddy?

-You wanna get a drink?

-Yeah.

-You drink corn liquor?

-Yeah.

Wait a minute.

-I could have them set you up.

-Yeah.

[bartender] All right,

white lightning coming at ya.

All right.

[both chuckle]

It's got a kick, man.

[Guy] Well, you go first.

You go first, then I'll...

There we go.

I gotta shoot on that one, right?

[Richards] Whoa.

[Guy] I think I can make this one, Keith.

-[laughs]

-Then I scratch.

[both laughing]

[Guy] Came here September the 25th, 1957.

They had a thousand blues clubs.

Some of them didn't hold but 22 people.

Hardly wasn't no air-conditioning

this time of year,

and they kept the doors open

so if you walked by,

you would hear these harmonicas and drums.

And I found out that,

if you played good,

you got a good drunk,

and you got a good-looking woman

if you sounded all right.

[both laugh]

[Guy] Yes, sir.

[Richards] Yep.

I don't know if you remember there was

a television show here called Shindig.

And they was trying to get you on...

[Richards] Yeah, Howlin' Wolf

was in there.

Yeah, they was trying to get you all

to play it. And Mick said...

They said... I think Mick said,

"Let us bring Muddy Waters."

And they said,

"Who in the hell is Muddy Waters?"

And he said, "You mean to tell me

you don't know who Muddy Waters is?

We named ourselves after one

of his famed records, Rollin' Stone."

And I even cried about that, man.

And sure enough,

that's when they brought

Howlin' Wolf and Muddy.

And that's the first time

I'd ever seen 'em on television.

It was thanks to these people here, man.

Tell us something about him, Brian.

Well, when we first

started playing together,

we started playing because

we wanted to play rhythm and blues.

And Howlin' Wolf

was one of our greatest idols.

And it's a great pleasure to find

he's been booked on this show tonight.

-Really is a pleasure.

-Thanks to Howlin'.

So I think it's about time

that you shut up

-and we had Howlin' Wolf on stage.

-[host] Yeah! I agree.

Okay! Let's get him on.

Howlin' Wolf! Bring him up.

[audience cheering]

How many more years

Have I got to let you dog me around?

How many more years

Have I got to let you dog me around?

I would rather be dead

Sleeping six feet in the ground

[Richards] I knew him very well.

Chester, I think, was his real name.

Big man. The gentle giant.

When you're that big and intimidating,

you don't really have to do

anything about it.

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