Rolling Stones
When The Whip Comes Down (10 minute version)
Roy Carr interviews Keith Richards for New Musical Express. Reprinted in Creem magazine (RIP) January 1979. Edited by Flip.
Q: Would you agree that of all cities, Los Angeles is the worst for feeding off a person’s weaknesses?
KR: You’re damn right. Hollywood is the end of the line for so many people. It’s a killer and if you’re weak you can be sure it’ll get to you. It’s like when we were rehearsing in New York, we tried to find John Lennon and get him back into the scene. I mean, what the fuck is Lennon doing farming cows in upstate New York…what’s that all about? Everyone reacts to a particular situation in a different manner. The music business has obviously got the very best and the very worst of everything simply because nobody needs a diploma to work their way into this industry on any level. All you’ve got is what you’ve got, and for some people the fact that it’s all down to what you are and what you can do – along with timing and other intangibles…unfortunately, that’s something many people never get right.
Q: Though the Stones have tried as hard as anybody not to lose contact with their public, Mick Jagger has often come in for harsh criticism due to his jet-set connections.
KR: That’s Mick, he just likes to gallivant all over the place. But people only hear the parts when he turns up somewhere flash, where there’s reporters and photographers hanging out. They don’t know about the other half of the places he hangs around. So people just hear about his much-publicized high life. They rarely hear about his low life [laughs], and as far as I’m concerned Mick can get lower than anybody else I know. Mick’s not dumb. He knows that only a certain side of his social life is going to make the papers and he’s learned to live with it.
Q: As things like Some Girls corroborate, the Rolling Stones have never put reality into soft focus.
KR: We write our songs from personal experiences…[laughs]. OK, so over the last fifteen years we’ve happened to meet extra-horny black chicks – well, I’m sorry but I don’t think I’m wrong and neither does Mick – I’m quite sure of that.
