Keith Richards, the rock and roll icon and Rolling Stone chats to Jo on about his new documentary on BBC Two - The Origin Of The Species. It's all part of the BBC's My Generation season and looks at Keith's formative years during the post-war period, and an exploration of how they impacted his life, and influenced the 60s and the decades that followed.


[www.bbc.co.uk]



ROCKMAN

Look forward to Saturday night, was going to have a dry weekend but i can see a bottle of burgundy being opened now.

Just a reminder for those who might want to hear Keith interview live on BBC 2. [www.bbc.co.uk]

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Cristiano Radtke
Just a reminder for those who might want to hear Keith interview live on BBC 2. [www.bbc.co.uk]

Keith interview starts about 34 minutes in.

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Cristiano Radtke
Just a reminder for those who might want to hear Keith interview live on BBC 2. [www.bbc.co.uk]

Thanks a Lot,Cristiano.
jeroen

Julian Temple speaks about Mick & Keith at around the 15 minute mark

[www.youtube.com]



ROCKMAN

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corriecas

Quote
Cristiano Radtke
Just a reminder for those who might want to hear Keith interview live on BBC 2. [www.bbc.co.uk]

Thanks a Lot,Cristiano.
jeroen

Just listened to it. Keith is so great to listen to. !!
Jeroen

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Rockman
Julian Temple speaks about Mick & Keith at around the 15 minute mark

[www.youtube.com]

Thanks Rockman, great.
jeroen

THE JANICE FORSYTH SHOW

Film-maker Julien Temple on Keith Richards --- Starts around 1hr 20 min mark

[www.bbc.co.uk]



ROCKMAN

Interesting that Temple says Keith's pre-Stones life is, "in some ways, the most interesting." Those are the pages in Life that really came alive to me, when Keith wrote about his childhood.

Thanks Rockee and everyone for the links and articles. Great stories!

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Rockman
THE JANICE FORSYTH SHOW

Film-maker Julien Temple on Keith Richards --- Starts around 1hr 20 min mark

[www.bbc.co.uk]

Ty for the link and the listen!

They were playing GS b4 the interview with Temple and the Keith quotes about times in his earliest childhood.
Now these war time sirens linked below sound almost like when the backing vocalists kick in with that ethereal melody early on in the Gimme Shelter studio version to me; I keep expecting the lead guitar phrase to start...
...a haunting, frightening sound, like wolves howling and & Keith is a baby in the cradle when they were hitting close to Dartford. !

Sure I'm projecting here, as the storm keeps threatinn throughout history, but I so much admire Keith for his continuing introspection and reflections...

[www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-07-21 03:41 by hopkins.

...proving that early cat trauma was indeed part of the inspirational equation...

Today's headline news from Press Trust of India:
Keith Richards thinks his mother killed his cat

“...She just said, ‘It’s gone away.’ I did a painting of the cat and wrote MURDERER under it and put it on her door. I called it Gladys. It was a traumatic time,” Richards said.''

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hopkins
...proving that early cat trauma was indeed part of the inspirational equation...

Today's headline news from Press Trust of India:
Keith Richards thinks his mother killed his cat

“...She just said, ‘It’s gone away.’ I did a painting of the cat and wrote MURDERER under it and put it on her door. I called it Gladys. It was a traumatic time,” Richards said.''

This is the bit that gave me a true laugh. I'd heard the story b4 probably, but somehow the added 'it was a traumatic time' completed it for me.
I love Keith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-07-21 05:41 by 35love.

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corriecas

Quote
corriecas

Quote
Cristiano Radtke
Just a reminder for those who might want to hear Keith interview live on BBC 2. [www.bbc.co.uk]

Thanks a Lot,Cristiano.
jeroen

Just listened to it. Keith is so great to listen to. !!
Jeroen

listening to it right now. I agree with the person who said that the part of Life that took place pre-fame was the most interesting-all the other stuff has been raked over the coals. Excited for the doc.

i wonder is there a chance that someone record documentary and upload somewhere ?

Keith's interview with BBC Radio 2's Jo Whiley:



Keith Richards: "This is different TV, if I don't do this, somebody else will."

[www.bbc.co.uk]

Both interviews very entertaining. Familiar stuff of course.
I think Jo W was a bit flumuxed by Keiths reference to Presley's decline, post Army.
I guess he is a bit before her time.
Nice photo of Keith...his hair going a lovely shade of white.
Says the Stones are 'returning to the studio later in the year' and 'have cut a few tracks'.
Uum.

Keith Richards documentary maker says: ‘The first time I met him, he put a sword to my throat’

Julien Temple tells NME how he angered the guitarist before this weekend’s BBC2 special


Getty

John Earls, 22nd July 2016

The director of a new documentary about Keith Richards’ childhood has recalled how The Rolling Stones guitarist held a sword to his throat the first time they met.

Julien Temple has directed Keith Richards: The Origin Of The Species about Richards’ childhood growing up in Kent in the aftermath of World War II.

The pair first met when Temple directed the video for The Rolling Stones’ 1983 single ‘Undercover Of The Night’. Filmed in Mexico City, it features Mick Jagger as a detective on the trail of a man kidnapped by a gang led by Richards.

Temple told NME he first met Richards to discuss the video. He said: “I met Keith in the toilets underneath the George V hotel in Paris. He had a sword stick straight to my neck, because he wasn’t in the ‘Undercover Of The Night’ video enough, I believe. I think he was just being Keith.”

The finished video was deemed too violent to be shown by MTV, with even an edited version only screened after 9pm. The uncut version was eventually released on The Rolling Stones’ video compilation ‘Video Rewind’.

[www.nme.com]

Keith interview with BBC Radio 6's Matt Everitt:

Part 1 starts @ 50 minutes

Part 2 starts @ 1 hour 45 minutes

[www.bbc.co.uk]

Thanks for posting the link. So a blues cover album confirmed with Eric on a couple of tracks. About time !

sc uk

Keith Richards on life before the Stones started rolling

By Vincent Dowd Arts reporter, BBC News



If you were looking for a pundit to present a documentary on how Britain changed from 1945 to the early 1960s, Keith Richards might not be the obvious choice. But Julien Temple's new documentary mixes Richards' pre-Rolling Stones memories of growing up in Kent with his account of how American music shook up post-war Britain.

It's 30 years since the director Julien Temple made Absolute Beginners, a rare attempt at a big film musical in Britain. It flopped.

But in this millennium he's made a series of memorable music documentaries. They've featured intimate interviews and archive material used in striking new ways.

Subjects have included Joe Strummer, The Kinks and Wilko Johnson.

"Of course I love the music," Temple says. "But I'm just as fascinated by social context."

Temple's latest documentary Keith Richards - The Origin of the Species has a strong focus on social history.

It's not a band biography: the story stops just as the Rolling Stones are becoming well known.

'Legacy moment'

Temple says he enjoyed Richards' memoirs when they came out in 2011.

"But I was really struck by the early chapters and how viscerally connected he still is to his childhood in Dartford," he says. "There were vast elements that we didn't know about him before.

"Keith's 72 now but he has a real affection for when he was growing up. I was sure it would translate to the screen too, so at the beginning of April we sat down and did the interview which is the centre of the film.

"Maybe we're reaching a legacy moment for the '60s generation. I think Keith is pleased his grandchildren's generation will get an extra insight into the England which made him."



Temple says it's no coincidence that his documentaries have often focussed on London and the Thames Estuary.

"People expect a music scene in the capital city," he says. "But places like Dartford had their own energy too.

"People think it's going to be a dull place but the landscape when you head out into the Thames marshes is extraordinary - it's almost like being in the Serengeti."

Apart from the archive - an intricate montage of newsreel, TV commercials and old public information films - what makes the documentary work is Richards' humour and honesty as an interviewee.

He starts by recalling how Dartford was part of "bomb alley" for the Luftwaffe as they headed to or from London in the Blitz.

But he also talks with insight of a father who "had a good heart - but he had a problem expressing it", adding: "He had a lot of physical energy: I got a lot of that from him."

'Period of change'

Richards is good on the differences between his own generation and that of his parents.

"Dad worked for General Electric, making lamp tubes," he says. "His mind-set was from the 1930s and the Depression: if you had a job you kept hold of it. I got very little 'Well done son'.

"But then I realised he was working so damn hard he didn't have time for it."

With obvious affection, he recalls his mother as "very subversive".

"I got some of my humour from her," he says. "She loved to sing around the house and she really knew the dial on the radio - the BBC Light Programme but also the Home Service and the Third Programme.

"She pretty much filled my ears all the time with music, music, music."

emple says many people of Richards' generation would also have thoughts about how different parents were who grew up before World War Two.

"But it's striking in the film how the decades of celebrity and high living haven't blinded Keith to how limited social and cultural horizons were," he says. "He was lucky to be young in a period of change in Britain and the Stones grabbed their chance with both hands."

As the '50s near their end, the influence of American rock and roll and the blues on the teenaged Richards becomes unmistakable.

Temple says songs like Fats Domino's Rockin' Bicycle, featured in the documentary, must have seemed extraordinary at the time.

'Music saved me'

Given that the film has been made in just three months (and was still being edited in the week of transmission), Temple says decisions on what music to include had to be made quickly.

"But the whole process has been revolutionised by everything being online," he says. "Just as you can now do initial research on film clips on YouTube, I often found myself hunting for suitable music on Spotify.

"The old way to do a documentary was to write and rewrite your script and then hunt out video and audio material to support what you've said. But now you can research material on the internet and decide something is irresistible and has to go in. There's an element of beachcombing - though it still helps to have fantastic archive researchers."

People coming to the documentary expecting revelations about the early days of the Stones may be disappointed.

But Richards is superb at evoking a 1950s boyhood, with its summer holidays with mum and dad in Dorset and early trips to London.

Perhaps surprisingly, he even explains how he enjoyed being in the school choir and how joining the scouts helped give him the personal skills to co-found the Rolling Stones.

But he also recounts how he started to stand up to authority figures.

"I could have gone criminal but luckily music saved me."

Temple hopes his film shows how much Britain changed while Richards was growing up.

"When he was 10 there was still rationing, kids barely had sweets or Christmas presents and there was still National Service and commercial TV didn't yet exist," he says. "By the time he was 20 that had all changed.

"It was a revolution and Keith's great at explaining that for an audience. But he's also a little cynical about the revolution which is part of why you want to listen to what he says.

"The film isn't really about Keith's music or his lyrics. But if you listen to some of his songs there's an edge of social commentary.

"He's always been very aware of the time he's lived through. Keith had wild man phases - but I like the fact that in the film he comes over as grounded. I think he's at peace with himself: he knows who he is."

Keith Richards - The Origin of the Species is on BBC Two on 23 July.

[www.bbc.com]

The "sword" NME wrote about earlier has shrunk considerably...

Julien Temple Reveals All About His New Keith Richards Film – And How Keef Once Threatened Him With A Cocktail Stick

By Alex Flood
22nd July 2016



What was it like working with Keith Richards?

Julien: "It’s always a pleasure. What a magnificent subject! I’ve known him a long time, but I’m still in awe of him, like most people."

Do you remember your first meeting?

"Yeah, it was in the toilets underneath the George V hotel in Paris. He had a sword-shaped cocktail stick straight to my neck. He thought he wasn’t in the video [‘Undercover Of The Night’] I was doing with the Stones enough. I’m not sure if he was serious – he was just being Keith."

How much of that persona is actually him, and how much is he playing a character?

"I think he’s an incredible mix of the two. No one knows themselves more viscerally, who they actually are, than Keith Richards. And despite the insanity of fame that destroys a lot of people’s sense of self, he’s managed to retain who he is through it all. Somehow he’s remained grounded and hasn’t become a rock star… bizarrely. He’s quite unique in that sense."

So why make this documentary? Surely everything about Keith has already been said?

"No. I think, recently, we’ve lost touch with the human being behind the legend and there’s been a lot of things done from an American perspective about him as a musician. I’m trying to reconnect him with his roots, his Englishness, and what made him who he is. I don’t think that’s been done before on film."

Were you worried he wouldn’t be able to remember that far back?

"The guy has total recall. He doesn’t only remember it, he inhabits it and acts it out as if he were in the moment again. It’s very compelling."

That’s encouraging. So you reckon he’s in good shape then?

"Yeah, I think he’s really enjoying playing and making music. It’s everything to him and he doesn’t seem old in spirit at all. It’ll take a lot to destroy him I think (laughs).

Will they release a new album?

I’m sure they will, at some point, yeah. Keith’s getting on well with all the others and they’re all very excited to be playing the Desert Trip festival [in California, this October], I know that. I even asked him for tickets!"

Why should people watch the film?

"They can lie on their sofa of course! But I think it’s a good time to revisit that era, what with the current climate. It was a period where the change that happened in the sixties was bubbling under the surface and I think it’s a real warning not to go back to that ‘Little England’ post-war mindset. Which might be on the cards."

What’s your advice to the current generation? Is there another cultural revolution on its way?

"I live in hope, but I’ve been waiting 40 years since punk, and nothing really has happened. It’s time to do something, definitely. Get up and demand to be heard. Make sure you’re able to do what you wanna do and never let people stop you for their own stupid, selfish, reasons. That’s what I’d say."

Keith Richards -The Origin Of The Species airs Saturday July 23 at 9pm on BBC 2

[www.nme.com]

Hey BBJohnny, thanks for the latest batch of articles/links.

I can't wait to see this!

Radio Times has posted their Keith interview. Thanks again to Green Lady for the earlier scan.

Keith Richards: "I did a painting of the cat and wrote MURDERER under it..."

The immortal Stones guitarist talks about the Beatles, invading France, ageing and the mysterious death of a childhood pet



[www.radiotimes.com]

I get what Julien Temple was going for, but so far this is all style and no substance.

Hello,

Partway through this terrific docu, a pal e-mailed this anecdote to me and I figured that I should post it here! Thanks Gary O'D. for supplying the goods, hah-hah!

'An old mate of mine, who worked at BAE and recently passed away, by the name of Chris Green; had this story to tell about Keith Richards.

In the mid to late 60's, Chris was living in Chichester and was walking up South St (from the bus station), to watch his friend coming in the other direction, with a new guitar.

"What you doing with that?"
"Just bought it; gonna go over Keith's house and see if he can show me anything."

Both boys go to Chichester bus depot and wait for the bus to take them to Redlands.
When they get there, they knock on the door; a tall blonde lady answers, and with the innocence of youth, they ask,
"Is Keith in?"

Diplomatically she explains that he is really busy, but she'll go check anyway. Some moments later, he appears on the porch and shows them both Open Tuning and gives them a tuning fork to go home with. Both boys are ecstatic!

Some months later, both individuals are walking through the city centre, with their girlfriends. Who is coming the other way? Keith and Anita.

"Alright guys!", says Keith.
"Do you know him", says one of the girls
"Know him; we've been round his house!"

...I think they were both granted bunk up shenanigans for many month to come, by their girlfriends, on the back of that.'

(If that doesn't make you grin, then check your pulse. Nice one Gary...and Chris!)

Cheers,

Simon.

Loved the Keith documentary. What a raconteur! Talking about his mum driving the bread van during the war ; "she couldn't even drive. Ah @#$%&, here's another loaf of Hovis". I'm paraphrasing, but he was great.

The hour raced by - Keith's storytelling and the accompanying visuals were both top notch. Well done by Julien Temple.

Great story, Simon! Thanks for sharing it.

About Keith's documentary, I thought it was great. I enjoyed very much Julien's previous documentaries (Joe Strummer's The Future is Unwritten, Dr. Feelgood's Oil City Confidential, among others), and this Keith documentary is very well done indeed.

Loved it, especially the way Stones songs were used as incidental music. Very skilful editing - what was real period footage and what had been newly produced? Hard to tell.