As far as I know, Keith Richards has never and will never cut anyone with a knife. Just trying to act like a bad-ass. Immature for a Grampa? Sure, but he's lived in an aquarium/under a microscope/in a bubble his whole adult life.

First the story isn't described by Keith - it's by Kate Moss. Maybe Keith liked her and promised that she'd have an excerpt in his book? It's not a flattering story. But I like the "warts and all" side to Keith. He could have easily left this out. Plus he didn't actually hurt the guy - I looked at as this is Keith being wacky. That's all. It doesn't say he stood with a blade at the guys throat - it says he chased him around the grounds of Redland's with a couple of sabres.

Respect the onions.

Quote
Rolling Hansie

Well I don't know what I should if some one stole my spring unions...........



__________________________

Quote
memphiscats
First the story isn't described by Keith - it's by Kate Moss. Maybe Keith liked her and promised that she'd have an excerpt in his book? It's not a flattering story. But I like the "warts and all" side to Keith. He could have easily left this out. Plus he didn't actually hurt the guy - I looked at as this is Keith being wacky. That's all. It doesn't say he stood with a blade at the guys throat - it says he chased him around the grounds of Redland's with a couple of sabres.

Respect the onions.

Oh yes I forgot it was written by Kate Moss!

Quote
GravityBoy
Keith is officially a moron.

I don't care how well he plays guitar or how "well-read" he is.

He's a selfish dick and I don't think I would like him if he was in my circle.

I say this as someone who in his youth idolised Keith.

For me the story (in both Ronnie's and Keith's books) of Keith throwing Ronnie's son's parakeet out the window because its singing annoyed him knocked him down quite a few notches in my eyes.

I think that a lot of people are missing a point that has impressed me having followed the Stones and Keith for decades: One shouldn't take him too seriously. All the stuff about knives, chasing someone with the blade...I don't seriously think Keith tries to portray himself as a bad-ass. To me it just seems like he's got a rather warped and sometimes morbid sense of humour and it is often misinterpreted. Yeah, he may whip out the knife and play around, chasing someone but I don't think he'd hurt anyone..except maybe if it means clocking Woody for freebasing during the '81 tour..if that's a true story. Most people close to Keith have described him as a good-hearted, kind and generous dude. OK - Maybe his remarks about Mick's privates were immature but I can see where Mick royally pissed him off over the years. Keith has always viewed the Stones as a sacred entity and when Mick covertly wrangled a solo deal on the coatails of the Stones' success; well, I can see that pissing off Keith and the rest of the band. And Keith made a valid point that if Mick wanted to desert the Stones and go solo, he should have performed solo material on his tours. Mick packed his solo gigs with Stones tunes, which had to piss Keith off as he felt like Mick was viewing the Stones as replaceable. Conversely, Mick surely had reason to be fed up with working with a heroin addict for years. When considering what kind of person Keith really is, I always think of his wife. She seems like such a nice person. If Keith were really such a prick, would they still be to gether after all these years? I don't think so. But none of us can really judge him unless we've lived with him 24/7 for awhile....

I have a good friend who just loves to "wind people up". It took me a while to learn not to take him seriously - and he absolutely can't see why people sometimes believe that he really means the things he says, and get upset. Yet this is basically a really kind and decent person.

I don't know Keith at all - but I do see that most people who have actually met him judge him more kindly than those who are just reading descriptions of his actions and quotes of the things he says. He says (and other people also say) that he "owns and operates a ferocious temper" and can lose it. I think that over the years he has learnt to control his temper a bit better - but he has also learnt that appearing to have lost control can be used for both defensive and comic effect, and I'm not sure that he himself knows these days just where genuine rage ends and acting begins! The Great Spring Onion Chase sounds like Keith enjoying the fact that nobody is quite sure whether this is for real....

Like most guys who were raised by a single Mom and who had no father figure to relate to Keith acts as an uber-macho man while deep down inside he's a sensitive soul.

Remember Julian Temple? The 1st time Keith met him he had a cane... that is a sword-cane : Keith whipped the looong balde out and he put it under JT's throat.