In 1989, I was on the staff at the Art Institute of Atlanta, which at the time had a music management program. One of our students, a very nice young girl by the name of Debbie, was working with a local concert production company at the time as an intern, and wound up with the job of being sort of a "hospitality flunkie" backstage when the Steel Wheels tour rolled into Atlanta in November, 1989.

As is usually the case in businesses of all kinds, there was sort of a "joke flyer" going around at the time, with a photo of five very elderly Russian men and the title, "Rolling Stones Tour, 2016....hear them do the hits, 'Moss on My Side,' 'Can Almost Hear You Breathe,' "Beast of Burden on the Family," and stuff like that. It had originated at the New Orleans Superdome, and somehow, my friend Debbie had procured a copy of it.

She was in the backstage area with Keith, and, thinking that I did not have tickets (turned out I won tickets in a local contest with a restaurant here in Atlanta called Ruby Tuesday's, and was there, after all!), showed the flyer to Keith. Keith laughed at the joke, saying, "oh yeah...ha ha...yeah...that's good," and stuff like that. She asked him to sign it for me, telling him that she was thinking that I did not get tickets to the sold out show. Keith signed, "To David, Best Wishes, Keith Richards 1989," and said "well....maybe your friend will be happy with this."

Right about that time, Mick came in the room, obviously in a bad mood about something technical that wasn't going well that evening with the show. Debbie asked if he would sign it, too, and he rolled his eyes and left the room. Keith called out, "Aw, c'mon, Mick, sign this for my friend," and walked out behind him. Keith came back in the room with what seemed to be Mick's signature, and, handing it back to Debbie, said, "There you are!"

Debbie gave this priceless piece of paper to me the following day at school, but, having seen Mick's autograph before, I could easily tell what had happened.

Mick had disappeared, and Keith didn't want to disappoint a fan....so he stepped arond the corner and scribbled Mick's name on the paper. He simply did want her (or me, for that matter) to be disappointed!

So...I am in possession of probably one of the few times in history that Keith Richards signed his own autograph and also the (fake) signature of Mick Jagger! Needless to say, I have it framed in my house, and that one incident made me one of the world's biggest fans of Keith Richards.

Do I blame Mick for not signing it? Nah....it just made Keith my favorite!

Thought I would share, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS, and HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! :-)

Excellent story; very cool post!!

Alright for Keith.

Thanks! It has become quite a conversation piece among Stones fans who visit my home!

That's a great story. I got Keith's autograph outside a hotel in Chicago in 1978 and he thanked me for asking for his autograph.

I have a picture of the Stones from 1978 that appeared in the Chicago Tribune, autographed by all but Mick. Tried to get Mick to sign it on his way to a show in Buffalo that year, but he declined. Oh well, hope springs eternal.

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-05 17:40 by Beelyboy.

That's a great story about one of the greatest men, who ever walked this earth ;-)

Great story. Are you still in the Atlanta area? My ex-girlfriend went to school there (Art Institute) in the early to mid -80s.

Great story. I love it. Thanks

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Lovely story. Nice gesture by Keith. Always good to read stuff like that

Great story - I love it! Proof that Keith is a true sweetie.

Great story. Stories like that always make me jealous!

Thanks Mongoose, that's a great story.

My pleasure! And, yes, Elmo, I'm still in Atlanta, living in Decatur.

Long live the Stones! :-)

rocks off Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's a great story. I got Keith's autograph
> outside a hotel in Chicago in 1978 and he thanked
> me for asking for his autograph.
>
> I have a picture of the Stones from 1978 that
> appeared in the Chicago Tribune, autographed by
> all but Mick. Tried to get Mick to sign it on
> his way to a show in Buffalo that year, but he
> declined. Oh well, hope springs eternal.


Hey rocks off, were you outside of the Whitehall?

A few years ago I was with Billy Gibbons from ZZ TOP and he was looking at one piece of my memoribilia and said "You still need Dusty's autograph on this" he grabbed a marker and right in front of me he signed Dusty's name on it.

First off, it looked nothing at all like Dusty's signature and I am glad he used a paint marker on the glossy surface. I removed the fake Dusty signature with solvents I have at home.

Back in the early 90's during an X-Pensive Whino Tour I had Keith sign a couple item for me in a hotel lobby, I called over Waddy to sign and put his elbow on one of the items smudging part of Keith's incription.

trainarollin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A few years ago I was with Billy Gibbons from ZZ
> TOP and he was looking at one piece of my
> memoribilia and said "You still need Dusty's
> autograph on this" he grabbed a marker and right
> in front of me he signed Dusty's name on it.
>
> First off, it looked nothing at all like Dusty's
> signature and I am glad he used a paint marker on
> the glossy surface. I removed the fake Dusty
> signature with solvents I have at home.
>
> Back in the early 90's during an X-Pensive Whino
> Tour I had Keith sign a couple item for me in a
> hotel lobby, I called over Waddy to sign and put
> his elbow on one of the items smudging part of
> Keith's incription.


I can't believe you removed Billy's signature of Dusty's. It was a cool thing he did--it's not every day you have a rock star joke around with you and forge their band mates' signature! I would've kept it because it was a cool enough thing to happen.

hey mongoose..can you scan it an post a picture of the item keith signed (twice)?
thanks. neo

Please post and let us view this cool piece of memorabilia that you proudly possess. I met Keith in October 2006 and he was very cool although I did not ask for his autograph.

Well, I tried, but I'm not as computer savvy as I would like, plus, I have an old computer on dial up. :-(

Scanning it was no problem, but I can't paste it on this site. Any suggestions?

Go to Photobucket ...free...upload from your PC
then dump it here....



ROCKMAN

OK, let's see if this works......

[i146.photobucket.com]

Awesome item you have there - thanks for the story and pic!!

Thanks for posting the picture - that's really a gem!

Isn't that just the sweetest story! Through the years I've heard (and sometimes seen) Keith taking very good care of true fans (and the band's reputation). He really is a very good hearted man. When he signs autographs these days, "Keith Richards - 2006 - One Love", it's a very natural thing. He loves people.
Thanks for sharing this story with us.

I guess it's priceless. Keith signing as Mick ;-) I would die to have look at it!!

rknuth! Take a look at Moongoose's last post here - and don't die! It's lovely. What a great guy he is. And I would have loved to hear what he said to Mick at that very moment when he refused to sign his autograph. Probably something that would be censored on this site, because of it's obscene content... Can you see yourself being so embarrassed on behalf of one of your colleagues that you actually go out of your way to make him/her appear in a more sympathetic way?

Yeah, probably. But I'm still one of Mick's biggest fans, anyway. I can only imagine how many times he's had a paper and pen shoved in his face over the past, what, 44 years? Keith was just such a good guy doing this for me that whenever I see the band live, my "KEITH!!" cheer when he sings his songs in the middle of the concert is usually the loudest in the arena!

Having been a drummer myself for many years, I would love to get one of Charlie's famous "Charlie Boy" autographs, maybe that will happen some day.

Cheers!

Well, I'm a fan of Mick's myself. But not because I think he's a warm hearted guy. I just like his singing, appearance, his stage work. But Keith ... I just love everything about the guy. I respect Jagger, and love Keith.

Well said! And, even though I love Ronnie to death, I STILL think of him as "the new guy!" If and when Charlie ever hangs it up for good, I think that'll be all, folks. I just hope we get one more chance to see 'em here in the USA.