One of rock’s most influential guitarist Keith Richards has been discussing his roots, hailing the blues performers who inspired him.
It’s no secret that The Rolling Stones are huge blues fans. The group named themselves after an early recording by Muddy Waters, and even travelled to Chicago to record in the seminal Chess Studios.
The resultant recordings were issued as the ‘5×5’ EP, and helped the band progress towards their gritty rock sound. The sessions were even lampooned in the recent Chess biopic ‘Cadillac Records’. The Rolling Stones were pivotal figures in the British blues boom, scoring a number one hit with a cover of ‘Little Red Rooster’ by Howlin’ Wolf.
In a recent interview with BBC4, Keith Richards reveals that he was so in love with blues mythology that he even began to hate his name. “It made me sick – my name’s Keith Richards,” he said. “It hardly makes it against Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters, does it?
“On my first guitar I had Boy Blue written – just pathetic. But that was as good as I got at the time.”
The Rolling Stones are set to waltz down memory lane later this year. The band recently announced plans to re-release twelve studio albums, including a deluxe version of their ‘Exile On Main Street’ set.
The interview with Keith Richards will be shown tonight (May 1st) as part of the Blues Britannia season.
Read an interview with Chess Records’ Marshall Chess on ClashMusic
