Dear Abbey,

I've seen Keith's name spelled both ways....seems like Richard was used in the begining, then it became Richards?
What's the story?


---Confused in NYC.

I think I once heard that around 67 or so, Loog Oldham had the lame idea for Keith Richards to drop the "s" off of his real name, to make it more like Cliff Richard or something. Keith went along with the idea, but just briefly.

I think that's what I heard.

Keith's name is Richards. he dropped the S for a while in his pen/stage name
but by the late 70s it was back for good.

some people say he dropped it because of being estranged from his father
(i don't think that story holds water); other people say it was ALO's idea.

>> around 67 or so <<

more like 64.

>>> or so so<<



I trust that you are correct

Birth name is Richards

Dropped at the start of his recording career (Oldham's idea apparently - maybe to suggest a family link to Cliff Richard, although considering the two men's differing public image, that seems quite bizarre)

Reverted to Richards from the time of his trial in Toronto in 1977-78.

Thanks everyone.

>> I trust that you are correct <<

smile: thanks for the confidence, but i meant to write "64 or so"
because it might well have been 63. i remember that knowing his name was Richards
was a real point of honour among little fans - we even had fistfights over it. :E

the "to resemble Cliff Richard" version of the story is pretty widespread,
but it doesn't make much sense to me either. another version of it is that
ALO wanted someone in the band with a first name as a surname because he thought it was cool
(so wtf was wrong with Stewart??) but i think it's more likely that
he just couldn't decide what the right genitive form is: Richards's or Richards'?

anyway it was never a legal name change; and Keith included the S quite regularly in autographs
all through the years, and in band intros Mick real regularly called him Richards
before Keith went back to the S full-time. (and sometimes still called him Richard after that too).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-27 17:57 by with sssoul.

Also heard that a "psychic friend" suggested the name change.

Have no idea how true this report is:


EARLY LIFE
Keith Richards was a World War II baby born in the "crossfire hurricane" (mentioned in the lyrics of "Jumpin' Jack Flash") of German bombings in the Battle of Britain. He was an only child, reportedly conceived as a way to get his mother Doris Richards off the wartime factory production line. Richards' father, Bert, was a disabled war veteran and working class factory labourer. Despite the family's modest station, Richards' paternal grandparents were socialists and civic leaders. His maternal grandfather toured Great Britain as a jazz/big band musician. In interviews, Richards often cites his mother's father as a leading influence in his young life. He also admired the singing American Western film star Roy Rogers.
His parents divorced around the time that Keith was expelled from Sidcup Art College. The divorce led to a long period of estrangement from his father, and led to him dropping the "s" from his surname from the mid-1960s onwards. For almost twenty years, Keith "Richard" did not see or talk to his father, but remained close to his mother who eventually remarried. During the 1980s, father and son reconciled, and Keith reclaimed the "s" at the end of his surname. This reunion was touchingly illustrated by Bert Richards accompanying his son on Rolling Stones tours during that period.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-27 21:34 by Marmalade.

ahh - good old wikipedia! the concept that anyone can edit anything is tres cool
except when people keep changing the corrections back to wrong/dubious stuff.

but sticking just to that S for the moment: Keith reinstated it a few years before the reconciliation with Bert,
so that's one way in which the idea that he dropped it for emotional/familial reasons doesn't make sense.
the fact that he used the S regularly in his signature throughout the time he had dropped it from his pen name
also seems like there wasn't any Big Emotional Issue behind it.

I didn't know that bit of information came from wikipedia, sssoul. That's not where I found it, so I didn't realize that was the source. Thanks!

Ronnie made fun of the Richard-S on the cover of I've got my own album to do. His name was spelled Ron Woods and the S was scratched.