Hard to tell from recent pics if Keith's arthritis or whatever it was that caused his index finger joints to swell, has gotten better?

at his age and considering the fact he's had the problem for about a decade or so, I would be frankly amazed if it EVER got any better. Quite the reverse I would think.

treatment for this ailment have improved, though, in recent years..

It is without doubt a very cruel blow for the riffmaster. It has seriously affected his playing.

I wonder how Elton John feels about the "ARTHRITIC MONKEY " jibe now ?

its a shame to think that of all the things he's done to himself, that arthritis could spell the beginning of the end for the stones

straycatuk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is without doubt a very cruel blow for the
> riffmaster. It has seriously affected his
> playing.
>
> I wonder how Elton John feels about the "ARTHRITIC
> MONKEY " jibe now ?


well.Elton's comment was made in '97. Keith had arthritis by that stage.

Its hardly life-threatening, so I doubt Elton would give a shit. After all, he was responding to Keith's 'songs for dead blondes' jibe at him. I'm sure keith is hardly too bothered about being insulted by Elton, either!

Keith has the problem since 1994-95, but he is able to play good and sometimes great. I'm not so pessimistic.

keiths a warrior ,,he'll play his ass off..the acoustic stuff he did on the stadium licks dvd for wild horses was incredible, that made up for all the mistakes.

I have pretty bad arthritis.....you get used to the pain. The hard part is that you lose the flexibility of any area affected. Basically for those unfamiliar with it the joints swell and the bones rub together. In Keiths case, from the pictures I have seen, he is very bad off. On his left hand each joint, in each finger, except the pinky finger is so swollen it looks like he has marbles under the skin. Weather affects the condition greatly, especially humidity or dampness. I am actually amazed that he can still play anything.

The medications and anti-inflamitories have improved greatly but they reduce the swelling only so much. Keith's arthritis literally gets worse everyday. If his hip or knee was affected the way his fingers are he would have HAD to have replacement surgery 10 years ago because he would not have been able to walk, ask Eddie Van Halen.

Big Doobies, Booze and maybe a little smack now and then are probably getting KR thru the days. It must be beyond frustrating for him. People slam his playing a lot now......I find that he has found new ways to play. He can't rip out licks and leads like he did in 81 tour, Undercover, Dirty Work, Wheels (check out "Hold on To Your Hat" from Steel Wheels to hear how fast Keith could play if he wanted to, hje plays all the guitars on that song) and Voodoo because his fingers are so stiff. 45 years of playing guitar almost everyday will take a toll and northern Europeans and people of that region/heritage are prone to arthritis and tissue scarring.

Milo, NYC
Get me outta here

Yeah, that's what we sometimes forget when we talk about the Stones today.
There are some facts to face that make it impossible for them to play like in their prime! Keith has arthritis and it's quite bad, it seems - it's no wonder that his solos are quite basic nowadays, his health simply affects his ability to play and I'm rather sure that this is more annoying for him than for us.
I'm glad they are still around, really


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

That's a dilemma. Namely, on the other hand, it feels so herous that Keith is still performing and doing his best, although he has lost some physical conditions to do that. A tough cat. On the other, the basic truth that he can not properly deliver hist stuff anymore, and still charges more than ever, will make him look like a circus act, served in a cage. It's not anymore great musician, maybe greatest of them all ever, we wanna see and hear, it's just the person, the legend, Keef, and we wanna pay homage, and see one more time, and you never know if it is the last time to catch him on stage.

I don't know. I am going to see Hubert Sumlin in Saturday, and I feel like doing a homage. I just want see the great man once, and if I hear some great music, that's great bonus. But somehow I don't want to feel like THAT way when I go to see The Stones and pay $400 or something.

Keith likes to mirror himself and his band to those ancient blues heroes that play till they drop, but for some reason I can not fully accept the romantic analogy. His band plays in a different league with different rules. It's more late Sinatra or Elvis that comes to my mind if I want some comparison.

- Doxa

ahem: what is with this "we"?
"some of us" is a nice phrase, if some of us feel shy of "i". :E

i (or is it "some of us"?) don't hear Keith's musicality as diminished.
over the decades he's found so many ways to express his musicality, and it seems like some of them don't fit what some people "expect of Keith". other people seem to get it just fine.



"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-07-14 17:56 by with sssoul.

I agree with you Doxa. about the homage, and the diminished ability. But the heart and soul is all there, with them all, not just Keith. He may be relying on simple musical phrase he's played so many times, but he will earn his money, and will do the best he can, IMHO.

Chippy wrote

"keith's a warrior ,he'll play his ass off..the acoustic stuff he did on the stadium licks dvd for wild horses was incredible"

Agree. But i think Keith made great job during Licks Tour, not only on Twicks. What about his solo on Neighbours? What about his play on Stray Cat Blues in Olympia? What about Midnight Rambler and the whole show in MSG?

The athritics problem perhaps will be in the same level or will be deterioreted. Let's see. But i cannot understand this biting criticism about the Stones today. They have high standards on stage, they still rock. If you think that Keith was always perfect in the past, just see Knebworth 1976!

OK Doxa, in your opinion Keith "is not anymore great musician" and the Stones "it's more late Sinatra (!!!) or Elvis (!)". But yesterday my little sister went to White Stripes, in Athens, and after the show her comment was: "They performed very good, about 70% of the Stones"! My sister had seen the Stones only twice, Athens 1998 and Milan 2003. She is not a fan of the band but she is enthousiastic with them. I think that case is representative: the big audiences appreciate the Stones much more than some "hardcore" fans...

"Late Stones, like late Sinatra"... Are you serious Doxa?

The dropoff first became quite noticeable on the Licks tour. I actually found his playing, dexterity and agility on the B2B and NS tours among his best. But, he reached for some of those same notes or runs, fills, solos on the Licks tour, they just "weren't there" anymore. It was sad to hear. I know the "will" is still there, but the chops just aren't. I hope the bar doesn't drop appreciably again in '05....

Remember all the songs that Keith still plays great, like Monkey Man, Rambler, Dice, SMU, SFM,BS,JJF, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, etc.

By the way, to play Rambler, Keith puts a capo on the 7th fret. If you are a guitar player and know how to play the song......there is a lot of movement within little space on the fretboard for about 10 minutes. I was at the HBO MSG show, and had heard them play Rambler on other tours.......The 03 MSG Rambler version was the most kick ass and nasty I have head since the Ya-Ya's version.

Never count KR or the band out.

Milo, NYC
You're the easiest lay on the White House lawn

Milo Yammbag Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
---
.......The 03 MSG Rambler version was the
> most kick ass and nasty I have head since the
> Ya-Ya's version.
>
> Never count KR or the band out.
---

No! And, and has been posted by humble m o i before a few times,
the man played the newyorkers´ and all us others´ asses off at the PC concert.

33 days and countin to Boston, right?