What would Keith Richards do_ - Jessica Pallington West [74]
March 1987 – Keith and Mick duke it out through the London tabloids.
It’s The Daily Mirror (Mick) vs. The Sun (Keith). Keith: “He should stop trying to be like Peter Pan and grow up. I didn’t change but he did. He became obsessed with age. I don’t see the point of pretending that you are twenty-five when you are not. He has told me to my face that he cannot work with me, but he cannot say why. I don’t think he knows himself."
July 1987 – Signs solo deal with Virgin Records.
September 11, 1987 – Peter Tosh is murdered.
The Jamaican reggae artist signed by Rolling Stones Records was Keith’s protégé. He was also a Keith headache. At one point, Tosh refused to leave Keith’s house, saying Keith would need a gun to get him out. Keith eventually showed up with a machete. In the end, though, someone else did Tosh in.
January 1988 – Keith becomes Brenda.
As World War III intensifies, some insiders notice Keith and Brenda have taken on bits of each other’s personalities. Keith is more “fey and camp,” Brenda more “human and earthy."
May 18, 1988 – Reported meeting between Keith and Brenda
at London’s Savoy Hotel to salvage the relationship. Keith tells Brenda: “Listen, darling, this thing is bigger than both of us."
October 1988 – Talk Is Cheap is released.
With this first solo record, Keith gives a screw-you to Brenda. On December 15 he takes the screw-you live: Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos Live at the Hollywood Palladium. The album, which many reviewers refer to as being the best Stones album in years, includes the anti-Brenda song “You Don’t Move Me."
1989 – World War III comes to a close in Barbados.
Keith and Brenda are back at work together again, laughing about what they called each other in the press, and quickly get down a string of songs.
January 18, 1989 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Pete Townshend introduces them with the compliment, “Whatever you do, don’t grow old gracefully. It wouldn’t suit you."
August 1, 1989 – Steel Wheels is released,
includes songs “Mixed Emotions” and Keith’s “Slipping Away.” Steel Wheels tour begins in the U.S.
1990s – MORE TROUBLE. WHAT ELSE?
May 1990 – Urban Jungle tour.
July 1990 – Keith’s finger is punctured and infected.
Concerts are delayed. Luckily, finger is insured for $1.6 million. More Stones catastrophe soon ensues, when, four months later, Keith Jr., aka Ron Wood, breaks both legs in a traffic accident. No specific insurance there, however.
April 1, 1991 – Flashpoint, another live album, is released, but otherwise it’s a dud year.
“The Stones have got too big … they work on a gigantic scale and you’re either doing that or you’re doing nothing for two years."
October 1992 – Second solo album, Main Offender is released,
includes reggae-inspired “Words of Wonder.” The original album title is Blame Hound.
January 1993 – Bill Wyman leaves the Stones; Keith does not take it in stride.
“I thought of making him play at gunpoint."
“How dare you? Nobody leaves."
“It was a huge surprise when he actually said, ‘I’m going to leave the group.’ Nobody says that—that’s a kind of Spinal Tap line."
July 19, 1994 – Voodoo Lounge is released.
Title attributed to stray kitten Keith took into his house and named Voodoo, and the area Keith created for him called Voodoo’s Lounge. Songs include Keith’s “Thru and Thru” and “The Worst.” Voodoo Lounge tour follows.
October 1994 – Son Marlon marries model Lucie de la Falaise,
from family of Yves Saint Laurent’s muse Lou Lou de la Falaise.
1996 – The public sees a rare side of Keith with At Home with Books,
a coffee-table book about great home libraries and their collectors, which includes a chapter on Keith’s lair.
May 1996 – Keith’s granddaughter Ella Rose is born to son Marlon.
1997 – Feud begins with Elton John.
Keith says Elton only writes songs for dead blondes. True enough. Elton says Keith looks like a monkey with arthritis. That’s low.