This is the most interesting thing yet I've read about Keith turning 65 (ha ha, actually he's 66 now).

from [www.npr.org]

Weekend Edition Saturday, December 20, 2008 - Amid the hustle and bustle of another holiday season, the upcoming Obama inauguration and the spreading gloom of the economic crisis, you might have forgotten about a December birthday that represents a real milestone. Listen carefully: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is 65.

Let me repeat that: Keith Richards is 65.

As the founding guitarist of the Rolling Stones, his countless iconic guitar riffs deservedly occupy mythic status — right up there with his equally legendary drug-fueled, debauched past. What you may have forgotten is that using those riffs, he has co-written some of the most acclaimed and enduring songs in all of popular music.

Beyond providing the tired (but not necessarily untruthful) quip that this event defies both medical science and every known actuarial table, there must be a deeper significance here. Right?

In today's music business, a field of endeavor where creativity can be measured in fruitfly lifespans, and where a lengthy career compares unfavorably to that of the average NFL player, Keith Richards is a titan. He's the surprisingly still-living embodiment of everything we think of, everything it has come to mean to be a rock musician.

And in a world where we are being told what we might like based on what we liked before, it becomes ever more difficult to recognize the true archetypes who walk among us.

It seems very unlikely there will ever be another Keith Richards. Who currently — and from a considerable geo-cultural distance — could totally absorb a foreign music — in this case black American blues and R&B — not as a tourist, but as a true believer? And then, by his instinctive expression of that assimilated music, personify the ethos of a younger generation desperate to hear itself? And let's not forget, also make an ungodly fortune in the bargain?

I've been listening to Keith from the beginning — that's over 40 years. Never a guitar virtuoso (at least not in the commonly understood "musical" sense of the word), his playing has always been intrinsically in service to his band and its songs.

But with any great artist who forges his own musical path, the marvel and pleasure is not so much in how he played. It's how he chose to play.

Happy Birthday Keith.

Robert Goldstein has been NPR's music librarian for 15 years. In a former life he was the guitarist for the band Urban Verbs, which recorded two albums for Warner Bros. Records.

Thanks for posting this skipstone. I was away for the last few days and so missed it. I'll have to checkout the Weekend Edition archives and give it a listen!

Thanks skipstone, good article

Don't think it's accurate to call Keith an "enigma." What you see and hear is what you get.

The 'enigma' part is based on the dude being stunned. I find it quite funny.

Skipper, how can it be he is "66", as he was born Dec 18, 1943.
Do we write in December 2009?

He is now in his 66th year
But he's 65

When you are born 2 days ago, you start living your 1st year, but your not one-year old. Same here.

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

Exactly. You finish that year when it's your birthday. Then you are onto already being that next year. Sort of like how 2000 was the last year of the 1900s. 2001 was the actual first year of the millenium and the century and decade, the of the Twentyhundreds, etc...

Some lingual fuzz here.
So he's turnin' 66, I can follow.
But ya wrote, Skippy: "ha ha, actually he's 66 now"
"'s" still is = is, right.

I turned 45 last Wednesday, and Keef turned 65. He' s still 65.

No, he's INTO his 66th year. He's completed 65. He's been around FOR 65 years. You're birthday marks the end of that many years. As in, you've reached that number. So then it's on to the next.

That's all. Yeah, I know, he's 65.

This is splittin'hairs, I know, but Skip - ya actually typed:
"ha ha, actually he's 66 now" Does this sentence hide a "turnin'", please
explain for a non-native English speaker. Seriously wanna know.

Hide a 'turnin'? As in turning the corner kind of turnin'?

You do realise there isn't a whole lot going on so it's gotten down to sillynit things like this right? It's all shits and giggles, etc...

Been cruisin' all over the country & workin' & it aint too small this land.. Sorry for botherin', Skipper. Let's just drop out & tune in... Merry Chrissmass & stuff!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-12-23 03:11 by Baboon Bro.

I'll take the & stuff for sure! BAILEYS! I'm Old Gregg!