EXCLUSIVE: Keith Richards talks Mick's health, tour, Dr. John's death

Jane Stevenson
JUne 7, 2019

Time, it appears, really is on The Rolling Stones’ side.

The British rock veterans — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts — might all be in their early to late ‘70s but despite Jagger’s recent heart surgery, it appears there’s still no end in sight.

“Oh that one,” said Richards, 75, of the often-asked retirement question, down the line from the Stones’ London rehearsals before they resume their No Filter tour later this month in North America.

“I’d be the last one to know darling,” continued Richards in a Canadian print exclusive with the Toronto Sun. “We’re feeling good. And we love what we do. There’s no reason to stop really. I love it. I’m really looking forward to it.”

In other words, this won’t be the last time — as far as Keith is concerned.

But, naturally, such questions about any possible Stones retirement will be asked (again) given the No Filter trek, which first played in Europe from 2017 to 2019, had to delay its North American start from April to June to accommodate Jagger’s surgery and recovery.

The tour will resume in Chicago with two shows at Soldier Field on June 21 and 25 before landing at its second stop on June 29 at Burl’s Creek in Oro-Medonte, Ont. — about 60 to 90 minutes from Toronto depending on traffic — on which is the only Canadian date.

But Richards says no one needs to worry about his longtime songwriting partner. (Check out Jagger’s Instagram post of him dancing in a studio if you don’t believe him.)

“He went through it very easily,” said Richards. “He’s in great shape — rocking. As I say, it seemed to be no problem at all really.”

And, no, it wasn’t a wake-up call for the rest of the Stones to get checkups, said Richards.

“I don’t think so,” he says slowly, laughing. “It was just, ‘Oh, Mick will be better.’ We’ll just wait around because there was no doubt that we’d soon pick it up. It just had to be done. So we did it.”

Richards, however, was saddened to hear for the first time about the passing of New Orleans music legend Dr. John at the age of 77 from a heart attack on Thursday night.

“I’m so sad — Mac Rebennack,” said Richards, using Dr. John’s real name.

“We often played together a few times, many years ago now. We always had a great time. He liked to have a great time and so do I.”

Still, the delay in the Stones coming to North America “was a bit of a jolt to start with” says Richards, but then they went back to recording the new album they’ve been working on since February.

Richards also saw his 1988 solo album, Talk is Cheap, partially recorded in Le Studio in Morin Heights, Que., get a 30th-anniversary re-release earlier this year.

“That was great because that was mostly a Canadian piece of work,” he said. “I never expected to sort of see a 30-year-old record come out again. And they did a great job on it so I was very, very happy about it.”

Richards said that solo disc definitely made him value Jagger’s role as frontman with the Stones.

“Doing my time with the (backing band X-Pensive) Winos, yeah, it made me appreciate a lot more what Mick has to do and what a frontman has to do,” said Richards.

“So yeah, you live and learn, you know.”

In the meantime, Richards says the Stones tour rehearsals are going great with some changes from the No Filter set list in Europe for the North American leg.

“We’re rehearsing, going through it all, we’re doing maintenance,” he says with a laugh.

“It’s coming along very well. It’s cool yeah. We’re making a few changes. We’re trying to come up with some lesser known favourites, Stones things, so that’s been interesting. Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years.”

[torontosun.com]

Thanks bye bye johnny - nice to hear there will be some changes for the upcoming tour.


"Still, the delay in the Stones coming to North America “was a bit of a jolt to start with” says Richards,
but then they went back to recording the new album they’ve been working on since February"

I'm assuming that would be February, 2016? lol

As I suspected though, the extra time allowed them to get back to work on the new album - at least Keith and Ronnie individually - and had nothing to do with any 'pressure' from UMG.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Fanks johnny ……………



ROCKMAN

“It’s coming along very well. It’s cool yeah. We’re making a few changes. We’re trying to come up with some lesser known favourites, Stones things, so that’s been interesting. Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years.”


This news should please the Setlisters

'trying to come up with...'

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peoplewitheyes
'trying to come up with...'

I would like to add that he said 20 years so that means they are trying songs from Year 1999 - that can't be


Hopefully he meant 40-50 years ago.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-06-08 17:14 by Chris Fountain.

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peoplewitheyes
'trying to come up with...'

Shouldn't be so difficult. There's enough ER and post-Tattoo You stuff to fill several shows.

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Chris Fountain
“It’s coming along very well. It’s cool yeah. We’re making a few changes. We’re trying to come up with some lesser known favourites, Stones things, so that’s been interesting. Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years.”


This news should please the Setlisters

He was talking about the rehearsal setlist not the show setlist

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Rokyfan

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Chris Fountain
“It’s coming along very well. It’s cool yeah. We’re making a few changes. We’re trying to come up with some lesser known favourites, Stones things, so that’s been interesting. Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years.”


This news should please the Setlisters

He was talking about the rehearsal setlist not the show setlist

Well I have LD Tix for the Miami concert. Hopefully they will play obscure songs that are not to us. Such as Let it Loose . Out of time, Mother's Little Helper (Still relevant today) etc. etc.

We ought to be very happy to still have Stones around.....

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jumpingjackflash5
We ought to be very happy to still have Stones around.....

True - But here is the deal- IMHO- they will play more variety from catalog and change from a 19 setlist to a 20. Nothin to lose. It seems they like that number 19

If Eric Clapton can mix it up, then so can the Stones.

Purple Rain anyone?

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Chris Fountain

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peoplewitheyes
'trying to come up with...'

I would like to add that he said 20 years so that means they are trying songs from Year 1999 - that can't be


Hopefully he meant 40-50 years ago.

To be clear though, he says "Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years"...this could mean anything from the last 50 years, not necessarily songs that are from 20 years ago.
At least that's the way I interpret it.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Chris Fountain
I would like to add that he said 20 years so that means they are trying songs from Year 1999 - that can't be

Hopefully he meant 40-50 years ago.

He said, "Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years" - which perhaps means songs not played since No Security in '99...or Bridges '97-98.

Or just that Keith is rambling with the usual bs. Let's be honest people, we know what songs we're gonna get. It's not going to be a radical, fresh set list. But it sure as hell will be fun if you're there.

They will play new songs that is for sure. No reason to run the "my beer glass is half empty" story...

Bjornulf

Hopefully a few of those lesser known songs they're rehearsing will actually MAKE IT TO A SET LIST!! They famously PRACTICE deep cuts but never play them LIVE during a show....a massive disappointment for me so I won't hold my breathe waiting for a gem to make its way to the stage!
It's nice to hear Keith admitting his appreciation for Mick's role as FRONT MAN....finally...look what it took for him to show appropriate appreciation. Some say we should just be happy that they still tour...I know, but if you have a band with well over 53 years of performing and a catalog like no other band on the planet...and the ability to play a few different songs each show, I sure would love to know why they resort to a set list so predictable and top heavy with War Horses. And I don't accept the theory that they feel they'll lose the audience! Where would the audience GO?? To get another BEER!? So WHAT! Take a chance, they have NOTHING TO PROVE! They ARE the GREATEST! Take a walk on the WILD SIDE and LET IT LOOSE...PLAY A FEW HIDDEN TREASURES....please!!

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bv
They will play new songs that is for sure. No reason to run the "my beer glass is half empty" story...

Wait a minute...before I get carried away, do you mean brand new songs?!!!
Or maybe old songs they haven't performed before which can be considered "new" to the setlist?

Probably the latter, but there's still some hope of one (or two) brand new songs!

15 days until blast off!

Edit: I meant to say 13 days until blast off!

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-06-08 19:56 by Hairball.

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mickschix
It's nice to hear Keith admitting his appreciation for Mick's role as FRONT MAN....finally...look what it took for him to show appropriate appreciation.

Keith has been saying this for a while now since he first started promoting Talk is Cheap Deluxe - prior to Mick's health scare.
In fact he's been saying Mick is the greatest front man in the world for as long as I can remember.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

This is business. No promoter/investor would offer the the Stones who demand a million/bandmember a contract without a warhorse-heavy setlist guaranted. If we are lucky they will throw in a few gems rarely heard before but I don´t bet on that. Crazy Mama, Lies, Just My Imagination, something like that, hardly anything from SW, VL, BTB, ABB imo. No chance for new unreleased songs, imo. They will of course stick to the concept that has been successful for the last 30 years. Keith is talking much when he has a microphone in front of his face and not all what he says becomes real. They are not going to change the setlist very much each night, not at their age, not with an audience demanding warhorses, not with promoters demanding warhorses, not with their rather limited musical skills. Be happy with what you get and stay away if you dont appreciate their formula. It´s about money and not about the wishes of some die-hard fans.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-06-08 20:15 by HMS.

I think it´s 20...no 28 years since I listend to Off the hook...and 17 years since I heard Good times, bad times...

New songs means songs most Stones fans have never experienced live.

I think it is a bit premature to discuss the final set list here, I will leave that to The Stones, they will probably decide on it in a week or so.

Keith is simply saying they have great fun diving deep into songs rarely played live.

Bjornulf

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Bjorn
I think it´s 20...no 28 years since I listend to Off the hook...and 17 years since I heard Good times, bad times...

I think Keith mentioned "she said yeah" at a given time, but that is a short song - less than 2 minutes. The songs from the early 60'ies are in general short 2-3 minutes songs. But a great addition to the set-list

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mickschix
It's nice to hear Keith admitting his appreciation for Mick's role as FRONT MAN....finally...look what it took for him to show appropriate appreciation.

Keith does so for about 30 years now, since his first Winos tour. "Finally" is a bit out of place here.

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not with their rather limited musical skills

Is this the Aerosmith drummer? I kid....

Keith and the boys are going to rip the roof off, they're primed and ready.

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bv
New songs means songs most Stones fans have never experienced live.

OK, so that sounds like rarities rather than new originals off the work in progress. I wouldn't complain either.

As for rehearsals, it appears they always rehearse a bunch of songs that won't make it into an actual setlist. Thinking of tapes from rehearsals from the 1990s - there was a 4 CD set, can't recall what name it was given (Voodoo Stew? Voodoo something?), that contained quite a few such rarities. Also the 2002 (?) rehearsal of Slave, etc.

Thanks bbj for posting the interview with Keith.
I am really looking forward to the nights of the gigs in North America when I can follow it from from Kingston and Epsom in London area.
Seeing all the live comments and social media video clips coming through from fans on IORR is definitely a must for me when The Rolling Stones are live on stage...……..and I can't be there in person with all you fans.

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Hairball

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mickschix
It's nice to hear Keith admitting his appreciation for Mick's role as FRONT MAN....finally...look what it took for him to show appropriate appreciation.

Keith has been saying this for a while now since he first started promoting Talk is Cheap Deluxe - prior to Mick's health scare.
In fact he's been saying Mick is the greatest front man in the world for as long as I can remember.

Totally agree, Keith's is always saying how good Mick is, also he gives praise to all the band Members inc Bill and Mick Taylor.
Can't ever seem to recall Mick praising Keith as a performer though.

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Chris Fountain
“It’s coming along very well. It’s cool yeah. We’re making a few changes. We’re trying to come up with some lesser known favourites, Stones things, so that’s been interesting. Some of them I haven’t heard in 20 years.”


This news should please the Setlisters

I have heard the same thing said before each tour,l guess it must be to try to sell a few more tickets,but when the tour actually gets going they go back to the same songs they have been playing tour after tour,hope l am wrong this time......

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-06-09 01:22 by ROPENI.

Dito, Ropeni. Something makes Keith Obliged to make the impression they are "working on new songs". Before every tour. Maybe if he had the final word that would be true?
But as it is now it seldom (never...) is.