Keith Richards: Under the Influence Page #6

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only played train noises. [laughing]

[Richards laughs]

Yeah, there's a couple of spots.

I just lost the frame,

but I don't think it really matters,

'cause you can just, you know...

If it gets in the way, you can just

drift it off and then put it back up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That first time, we'd been jamming for

an hour or so, and then,

I didn't even... You know...

And there were beverages involved.

I must admit, I was trying to match him,

which you must never try to ever do.

But... And so after an hour or so,

I was... I didn't know where I was.

And then, I say, "What did we just get?

What, do we have anything?"

And then, he says...

[hoarsely] "Scribe."

And then I realized I was the scribe.

I was supposed to be

keeping track of everything.

I'm the last leaf on the tree

Yeah, something like that.

I'm really happy to have been able

to write songs with him, actually.

Because it took me a long time

to realize that he never wrote songs

except with Kathleen, his wife,

you know.

And so, to me, it was a real...

I realized, a real privilege.

I'll be here through eternity

If you want to know how long

If they cut down this tree

I'll show up in a song

I'm the last leaf on the tree

And the autumn took the rest

But they won't take me

I'm the last leaf on the tree

I'm the last leaf on the tree

[playing chords on piano]

[Jordan] You know, we could strike that...

[man] You got "Love Overdue."

Could you talk about that track?

Hats off, yeah.

That was another tip of the hat to...

I've always loved that song

and Gregory Isaacs.

I love nearly all of Gregory's work.

There's a certain urgency about it,

a truth about it.

And so, we knew we were gonna do it.

"Let's do it." You know?

"Give me a reggae beat, Steve." You know?

Who's gonna hold and squeeze me tight

Now that she's gone out of my life

Who's gonna make me feel

the way she used to do

Now that my love is overdue

I've always loved reggae.

Basically, I happened

to start living in Jamaica

in '71, '72,

just as reggae was

catching fire, you know.

In fact, Catch a Fire had just

come out, Bob Marley, and...

Jimmy Cliff, The Harder They Come.

There was a whole explosion that year.

And I'm living there.

[all singing]

He's the alpha, he is our light

I don't need no candlelight

[Richards] It felt like the early days

of rock and roll.

I felt the same sort of energy and joy

and sense of discovery amongst people,

that they'd found their voice.

Rasta, me say love, love, love

Love, love, love, love, love

[Richards] Jamaica provided

an amazing burst of talent and energy.

It was very refreshing to me.

Yeah, yeah.

And, so, you're sort of back in

the beginning of something again.

[playing upbeat music]

What I really love about reggae,

it's all so...

natural, you know.

There's none of this forced stuff.

And at that time,

I was getting really sick of rock music.

Rock and roll, I never get sick of.

But there was less and less of that

and more rock music,

which is actually a white man's version.

It turns out to be like...

They'll turn it into a march, basically,

you know...

We are rockin', yeah!

Yeah, I mean, eventually, that's what...

That's their version of rock.

You know, it's like,

"Excuse me, I prefer the roll."

And that's when the cats,

the Jamaican guys, came in with the horns.

Luckily, Steve's very well connected.

[DeCurtis] Yes.

So, I was like, "What we need here is

a sort of Jamaican horn section."

Man, we need some more smoke.

Get some weed going in this, man.

-Come on, man.

-[Richards] I can do that.

-Yeah.

-[both laughing]

[Jordan] You got a red, black and green

scarf or something?

Can we get Keith's headband?

No, you're not going to dress me, man.

Okay, okay. I will.

[band playing upbeat music]

Whose voice is gonna say goodnight

Now that she's gone out of my sight

Who's gonna tell me lies

and let me think they're true?

And now that my love is overdue

Now that my love is overdue

[Richards chuckles]

[man] So, how did you start

recording solo in the first place?

I was very reluctant to start going solo.

I mean, my thing has always been

The Stones and you know...

You'd leave at your peril.

[laughs]

But things had...

Circumstances had worked out

in the late '80s, that, you know...

obviously, we were not going to...

Mick and I were not going to be

working together for a while.

I called 1985 to '89,

that was actually World War III.

In a 50-year relationship

doing this stuff,

of course, guys have fights,

brothers have fights.

You know, we're brothers.

There was no sign of The Stones, like,

poking their nose above the horizon.

And I was at, really, a loose end.

Suddenly, I get a call to do

the Chuck Berry movie,

Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.

I mean, obviously, I gotta get into this.

Life wouldn't be complete.

I mean, the circle would be unbroken.

[Berry] That slur is started right here.

[strumming guitar]

Starts on the upper one.

Listen.

All right.

[man] Was he grateful that you guys

were taking the stage?

Chuck... Chuck has his own way

of showing appreciation.

[laughing]

-Why it was being done?

-[Richards] Yeah.

Well, don't touch my amp.

Then it won't be done.

He already said he didn't.

-Well, he says why it's being done.

-[man] All right.

Why it's being done

is because it's not recording well.

[Berry] Okay.

And that's what's gonna

end up on the film.

If it winds up on the film,

that's the way Chuck Berry plays it.

You understand?

-I understand, man. I understand.

-Well, I was talking to Andy about it.

But you've got to live with it afterwards.

They're trying to--

I've been living for 60 years with it!

-I know that. I know that.

-Okay, well, then realize it!

But this is going to be here

after we're all dead and gone.

I was in his dressing room...

and the guitar case was open,

guitar was lying there.

So, I was waiting for him. They said,

you know, "He's coming in a minute."

So, I was just leaning over

and I was just touching the strings.

He came in and slammed me.

[laughs]

That was Chuck...

One of Chuck's greatest hits.

-[band playing "Nadine"]

-[audience cheering]

I saw her from the corner

when she turned and doubled back

And started walkin' toward

a coffee-colored Cadillac

Pushin' through the crowd

trying to get to where she's at

Campaign shouting

like a southern diplomat

Nadine

Is that you?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa

Nadine

Is that you?

Every time I see you,

you've got something else to do

[Richards] No problems

could really interfere

with the fact that this was just fun.

[audience cheering]

[Richards] And that's where I started

to work with Steve Jordan.

Steve and I were just like,

"We're in rock and roll heaven."

[audience cheering]

One...

One word from Keith Richards!

Goodnight, ladies and gentlemen.

Tonight's star.

[Richards] Suddenly, I've got this

incredible band together.

Hand for the band!

[Richards] And Steve and I find it

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