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—referring to Muddy Waters and the

nature of expressing the blues

“He’s still around. Without the dope, we have a bit more of a chat these days. It’s been more of a truce."

—on that demon inside him

INSPIRATIONS and INFLUENCES

“It was a bit of a shock, but it was a great one, like, shock me some more!"

—on Little Richard

“ ‘A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop, a-lop-bam-boom.’ For me, the world then went from black-and-white to Technicolor. Just like that—there it is! That’s as concise as I can put it. It’s the best bit of English I’ve ever heard."

“Little Richard, Elvis, Chuck Berry were all flying at me like an artillery barrage."

“Such a mixture of spoiled, moody brat and innocent, prolific artist."

—on Chuck Berry

“They were exactly what was needed. It was a great enema."

—on the Beatles

“They were just as filthy as we were."

—on the Beatles

“The Beatles kicked the doors open, and we zoomed in behind them."

“Phil is, was, and always will be a complete weirdo."

—on Phil Spector

“I nicked a lot off him. I took him for all he was worth. That’s where you get ‘Honky Tonk Women’ from. His tuning, the fucking lot. I ripped him off."

—on Ry Cooder

“I just want to be Muddy Waters. Even though I’ll never be that good or that black."

“The only guy I know who could make every chick in the audience weep … Beautiful pain. He had that to the max."

—on Gram Parsons

“When you heard him, you knew that guy. Once touched, never forgotten."

—on Gram Parsons

“He was … very similar to me in that he was trying to find his own place to hide. He just hid too deep."

—on Jimi Hendrix

“Gram Parsons … Ian Stewart … They still join the band when we’re playing, in one form or another. You carry little shades of them with you."

“He’s part of my staple diet. As necessary as vegetables are … None of us are immortal, but if one of us is, it’s gotta be that guy."

—on Jerry Lee Lewis

“I want a strong opening act. If they’re good, it’s going to make me work that much harder."

“It started for me when I first heard Little Richard and Elvis and Buddy Holly. Without that, there’s no way we would be talking now."

“The amazing thing about Aretha is … when she sings, she’s chain-smoking. Dionne Warwick’s another one. And they’ve both got these voices! Maybe I should smoke more!"

“He was in the union. One of the troubadours. He passed it on. Everything he did … you still hear it on the radio today. He’s in everybody. This is not bad for a guy from Lubbock."

—on Buddy Holly

“John Lee Hooker: He’s seventy-eight, and he’s got fifteen girlfriends. We should all be so lucky!"

INSTINCT

“The more you try to literally perfect them [songs], the more you lose the instinctive thing. Instinct is what I want."

“We work mostly by feel. I find it’s better that way. I try not to think about it too much because I believe that people and their brains have probably screwed up enough things as it is, and rock ’n’ roll is better left to instinct, you know."

JEALOUSY

“You have to fight all these young, aging, balding guys that are so jealous of that fact that you can do this shit and they wish you dead."

“People want to pull the rug out from under you, because they’re bald and fat and can’t move for shit. It’s pure physical envy … ‘How dare they defy logic?’ ”

“We could have written all the jokes ourselves."

—in response to the cracks about the

Stones being over the hill

JUDGMENT

“You can’t climb inside of somebody else’s brain. Well, somebody climbed in mine once, but that was out of necessity."

KEITH RICHARDS

“I do what I do. Don’t try this at home."

“There’s been loads of wannabes. But it’s all posing with a guitar. And not playing right, not looking right, so—not being me. It’s amazing so many people would try to emulate me."

“To some, I’m a junkie madman who should be dead, and to others, I’m a mythical genius."

(SEE ALSO SANITY)

“I say good luck to people who want to emulate me, but they better realize what they’re getting into; they better know that there’s more to this than attitude.