To all Rolling Stones and Keith Richards fans, guitarists and admirers
alike! Here's your chance to download the ultimate tribute song to the great
Keith Richards--Nils Lofgren's haunting acoustic version of "Keith Don't
Go"--now available as a one hour guitar lesson at www.nilslofgren.com. This is the first lesson in Nils' new Guitar School series. You can preview this classic piece on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBq7XRa6uZM

The lessons are informal and entertaining, straight to you from Nils' home
studio, sharing 40 years of experience and guitar knowledge. Check it out!

Actually Keith hated that song. I've heard that song is the reason Nils Lofgren was not allowed to join Stones for the Black and Blue auditions.

The Worst. Wrote:
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> Actually Keith hated that song. I've heard that
> song is the reason Nils Lofgren was not allowed to
> join Stones for the Black and Blue auditions.


a bit unlikely as it didnt come out for two years afterwards!!

I think the song is more inspired by Keith's Toronto bust than anything else.

anyone have the mp3 for us?

Gazza Wrote:
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> The Worst. Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Actually Keith hated that song. I've heard that
> > song is the reason Nils Lofgren was not allowed
> to
> > join Stones for the Black and Blue auditions.
>
>
> a bit unlikely as it didnt come out for two years
> afterwards!!
>
> I think the song is more inspired by Keith's
> Toronto bust than anything else.

That's odd! But I guess you are right. I just remember the so called stones "expert" Bård Ose from Norway told that story on a national radio broadcast.

I got it from Limewire.

"No Anchovies, Please"

I haven't listen to that song for quite a long time, but what a good one. And Nils a great guitar player.

I can relate to the selfishness expressed in the lyric "Keith don't go, don't take MY fun." What if, in 1975, you had front row tickets to see the Stones, and you woke up one morning and heard the news that the tour was cancelled because Keith had turned up dead. Nils clearly understood that the first thought that would have flashed through your brain would have been "Stupid @#$%&' a-hole! He ruined MY good time!"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-09 04:26 by tatters.

I think somehow I have constantly missed out on Nils's great guitar playing. maybe I'm always too late. But with Bruce, Solo, with Lou Reed...I just never got it. And the song is embarrassing.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

Keith should've done "Nils, Please Go."

I thought Nils had gone, actually.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Worst. Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Actually Keith hated that song. I've heard that
> > song is the reason Nils Lofgren was not allowed
> to
> > join Stones for the Black and Blue auditions.
>
>
> a bit unlikely as it didnt come out for two years
> afterwards!!
>
> I think the song is more inspired by Keith's
> Toronto bust than anything else.



"Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)" was released in 1975.

Yes - released 1975, on Nils self-titled solo debut.

[www.amazon.com]

However I think I read that Nils either altered the lyrics or added another verse after Keith's Toronto bust.

Nils is featured in The Wolfgang Vaults and the little write up about the show mentionnes something about the "Keith don't go" song. It says that in 1975, it was thought that Keith wanted to leave the Stones! I had never ever heard that before. I believed that the song was about Keith killing himself with drugs. But Keith quitting his band,I don't think so!
Mops

largelingerie Wrote:
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> Keith should've done "Nils, Please Go."
>
> I thought Nils had gone, actually.


Nils is a great guitarist who makes great songs and "keith don't go"is one of these. Nils is a keith fan and certainly worried about keith life.
Keith don't go is a very good song and especially the acoustic versions.
If you don't know him, you must listen the "cry tough" album and the 2lp live album "night after night". This last one is not available on CD.
Great guitarist but good piano player too.

pretty guitar but the lyrics ... [cringe] never mind!
i remember a version with "to Toronto" added to the title phrase, which didn't help any.
didn't Keith ask how much Nils would pay for a chance to be auditioned?

"Cry Though" is a very good album. His trademark guitar sound(at the time) was playing harmonics on his strat. It has an Hendrix feel to it but he goes a step further at mastering that technique. The songwriting is good too. Nice rendition of The Yardbirds "For your love" His voice is very peculiar and catchy. The next album " I came to dance" was to commercial. Not that good.
mops

The song was a reference to Keith's Smack bust in Canada and at the time, everyone thought Keith would do "time" if he went to the courts up there to
face the music. Nils was saying: Keith don't go - to Canada and face the judge!

MLC

as has already been pointed out:
the song first came out in 75. Keith's Toronto bust was in 77.
he (or somebody!) did also do a "Keith don't go to Toronto" version,
after the bust (obviously!) which must be the source of the confusion.

with sssoul Wrote:
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> he (or somebody!) did also do a "Keith don't go to
> Toronto" version,


Think this is the version on his live album "Night After Night". Nils is a fabulous guitarist, who really doesn't get much chance to shine with Bruce. He rips a couple of nice solos on Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night", but his best studio work is still his first two discs ("Nils Lofgren" & "Cry Tough") and THE live Nils to find is "Back It Up", a radio station performance from 75 which also includes KDG. His work with Grin is also mighty fine.

Karl

Nils is a great talent who has made some fantastic records, including the first Crazy Horse album, the four Grin albums, his first self-titled solo album, and yes, "Back It Up" the authorized radio station bootleg, which I think he's selling on his website these days.



I thought "Cry Tough" was a letdown (except for the overlooked classic "Mud In Your Eye") His record company thought he was going to be the next new superstar (after Bruce in '75 and Frampton in '76). Somewhere I still have the "Nils Is Next!" button I got at one of his Roxy shows. But he never broke through. And when punk/new wave hit, suddenly he was in the old guard.

Joining Springsteen was an interesting development. I recall Nils saying in early '75 that he'd rather be in a great band--like the Stones or the Faces--rather than be a solo artist. (I don't know if he was ever asked to audition for the Stones, or if that was just the fantasy of some rock writer) Somebody in Hit Parader once compared Nils' first album (from 1975) with Born To Run, and decided that they liked the clean, stripped down production of "Nils Lofgren" better than BTR. As they noted, Nils album sounds pretty timeless. (Also mentioned was the fact that Bruce's people borrowed the tennis shoe motif used on Grin's first album for the BTR ad campaign)

He started out as Neil's boy-wunderkind. Ended up as a sideman again. So he's turned into the American Andy Fairweather-Low. Seems like a nice guy. And he certainly is an overlooked talent.

rollmops Wrote:
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> "Cry Though" is a very good album. His trademark
> guitar sound(at the time) was playing harmonics on
> his strat. It has an Hendrix feel to it but he
> goes a step further at mastering that technique.
> The songwriting is good too. Nice rendition of The
> Yardbirds "For your love" His voice is very
> peculiar and catchy. The next album " I came to
> dance" was to commercial. Not that good.
> mops


I think you meant to say "Cry Tough" there mops. But I agree with you, that is probably Nils best solo work...For what it's worth I have always liked Nils' work. Including Keith Don't Go. I beleive their was a live version of this played at the time by Lofgren which clearly says "Keith Don't Go,to the town, called Toronto"....Also Nils had a semi-hit a few years later with a pretty ballad called "Valentine".....I have seen him live with Bruce and think that he is still an outstanding musician.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

Does anyone have Nil's interpretation
of what he thought Keith's lyrics were for Happy...???

It was printed in Rolling Stone mag around late 70's....pretty funny...



ROCKMAN

Oh I remember seeing that somewhere Rockman. Something like "always had a hard on in my pants"?

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

Yeah something like that....Sweetcarmed...Very Funny

It was printed up in Rolling Stones Random
Notes section..but would take me days to go to find it...

Does the Nils site have a contact link?...Should ask him



ROCKMAN

The biggest venue I saw Nils at was the Santa Monica Civic in 1977 when I Came To Dance was released.

The opening act was Van Halen.

dunno much about nils solo stuff; just the bruce stuff...
but his early band Grin; when i was in d.c. for period in late 60's and early '70's, two of their albums particularly tho i can't recall their names now, really captured me...liked 'em quite a lot...but long ago and memory fades...dunno if they're available anywhere anymore...or what i would think now...but do have fond memories and remember intense period of really getting into 'em.

There was a Best of Grin collection about 10 years ago taken from their first 3 lps on Spindizzy/Columbia --Grin, 1 + 1, and All Out. (The fourth, Gone Crazy was on A&M) I couldn't bring myself to buy it because they missed one of Nils best songs ever, "Direction."

Nils also had a great song in '79 that he co-wrote with Lou Reed called "I Found Her." It's a heartbreaking tune worth seeking out.

The Toronto reference on Keith Don't Go was from the live version recorded in mid-'77 for his Night After Night double live lp. At that time Keith was in the middle of his mess up there and the song gained new relevance.

A year later it got more airplay than ever when Keith MOON died. It didn't make any sense, but that's rock and roll...

More about Nils and Keith.
Nils recorded "Happy" on the "I came to dance" lp. This album follwing the "Cry Tough" lp. The first time I saw a nils show was in 1979 at the Bataclan in Paris and it was really incredible. For all his concerts he came on stage with a tape recorder he put in front of the drums. In 1992 there is a good album "Crooked Line".

Hi everyone. I wanted to share with you the history of Keith Don't Go directly told by Nils.

"Keith Don't Go" by Nils Lofgren - a brief song history

Back in 1973 I (Nils Lofgren) was touring England with Neil Young in the "Tonight's The Night" band. It was an intense, crazy, and beautiful musical adventure for me. I have always been a passionate Rolling Stones fan and Keith Richards remains one of my greatest musical heroes, so he was a topic of frequent conversations on the tour, especially with Englishmen and women. Dozens of people kept claiming to be Keith's close friend and regularly expressed grave concern for his health. I didn't think most of them knew him as well as they claimed, however, it got me thinkin' about the extraordinary inspiration and contribution Keith has made to all our lives through his music. I had a great, dark musical riff that I needed to write lyrics for and realized it would be a good musical foundation for a piece about Keith. Thus the song "Keith Don't Go" was born. It is intended to be a giant thank you note to Keith on behalf of all of us fans. The ominous chords and melody, were also a great backdrop to implore Keith to take care of his health for his sake and ours and to continue sharing his great gift with us all.
Written in 1973, the song first appeared on my first self-titled solo album. In 1975, an electric version produced by the great, late David Briggs who also produced Tonight's The Night and was on that tour with us. In the late '70's it appeared on Night After Night, a live double album and I sang "Keith Don't Go, back to Toronto..." alluding to his trial at that time. However, this was years after the initial composition.
The song has become a centerpiece in my acoustic shows, perhaps my favorite version. It appears in this acoustic form on the Acoustic Live CD, the new DVD, Nils Lofgren and Friends, Live Acoustic, and is the 1st guitar lesson from my new guitar school adventure (all available at [www.nilslofgren.com]). You can also preview my live performance of the song as it starts the guitar lesson on you tube at

The first lesson breaks all the song sections down for you and the 2nd lesson addresses the harmonic techniques and licks featured in "Keith Don' Go". Hope you dig it!

Great links, thanks!