What would Keith Richards do_ - Jessica Pallington West [37]
“I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared. It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive."
“It was a life wish. It’s knowing yourself. If I ever felt that I was really going over the top, I would’ve done something about it. I was just testing my limits. And I stayed, as far as I’m concerned, well within them."
—when told he had a death
wish for most of his life
“Up until the middle sixties, the most obvious method of rock ’n’ roll death was chartered planes."
“I was number one on the death list for half of the seventies … A lot of people lost money on me."
“I let other people do that. They’re experts, apparently. Hey, I’ve been there—the white light at the end of the tunnel—three or four times. But when it doesn’t happen, and you’re back in—that’s a shock."
—in response to the question, “Do you
contemplate your own death? ”
“I’ve been closer to death a few more times than a lot of people. And what I’ve found out is that whatever it is, it’s worth waiting for."
“People’s perceptions change radically when you croak."
“When I’m gone, I’m gone. Everybody else can decide what to do with me."
“Later."
—when asked how he would like to die
DECISIONS
“It was one of those moments where you have to make a decision: take it on the ribs or take a shot in the temple on the desk. All part of life’s rich pageant."
—regarding his fall in his library, where
he was suddenly attacked by, and buried
under, the Encyclopaedia Brittanica
DESIRE
“No, but if someone can come up with something, I’ll have it."
—when asked if there’s anything
he wants that he hasn’t got
THE DEVIL
“It’s just a matter of looking him in the face. He’s there all the time. I’ve had very close contact with Lucifer—I’ve met him several times."
“You might as well accept the fact that evil is there and deal with it any way you can. ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is a song that says, ‘Don’t forget him. If you confront him, then he’s out of a job.’ ”
DRUGS and ADDICTION
“I’ve never had a problem with drugs, only with policemen."
“I’ve never turned blue in someone else’s bathroom. I consider that the height of bad manners."
“I gave up drugs when the doctor told me I had six months to live."
“If you are going to get wasted, then get wasted elegantly."
“I don’t think there’s anything fantastic been written under the in-fluence of drugs that couldn’t have been written without."
“You ain’t gonna inject talent into yourself."
—on heroin
“When I was a junkie I used to be able to play tennis with Mick, go to the toilet for a quick fix, and still beat him."
“I come from very tough stuff, and things that would kill other people don’t kill me. To me the only criteria in life are knowing yourself and your capabilities, and the idea that anybody should take on what I do or did as a form of recreations or emulation is horrific."
“The wife’s always asking, ‘Why are you lighting up another cigarette?’ I tell her it’s because the last one wasn’t long enough."
“I am my drinking partner."
—when asked if he misses
having a drinking partner
“Intoxication? I’m polytoxic."
“People think that it’s a matter of recreation, and it ain’t … As I said before, the drugs to me was something, like, to get the job done."
“That period of moral ambivalence."
—referring to his super-heavy drug years
“Nobody gets up and says, ‘I’m taking drugs and you should too.’ It’s only when they come busting into your room and then splash it all over the newspapers that anybody knows about it."
“Musicians don’t start off thinking, ‘We’re rich and famous; let’s get high.’ It’s a matter of making the next gig. Like the bomber pilots— if you’ve got to bomb Dresden tomorrow, you get, like, four or five bennies to make the trip and keep yourself together."
“All the people that I’ve known that had died from so-called drug overdoses have all been people that’ve had some fairly serious physical weakness somewhere."
“Showtime in the seventies was whenever I got up. It had nothing