[HOME] Let's take a closer look at the genius of Keith Richards

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I n his prime, that approximately lasted from '68 to '73, Keith Richards composed a couple of excellent songs, that belong to the best the Stones ever recorded, possibly the result of his excessive drug consumption in those days. His creativity gradually waned after this productive period, maybe likewise due to the before mentioned drug abuse, who knows !? Anyway, what's been achieved in those prolific years is worth to take a closer look at.

One highlight at the time was the Stones' version of Robert Johnson's LOVE IN VAIN, released on the album LET IT BLEED in 1969. While Mr. Johnson's guitar playing is nothing much to get excited about, his lyrics are excellent, a circumstance that led to many cover versions of his songs by other musicians in later years. Apart from the lyrics, these versions have - thank God - nothing in common anymore with the original recordings.
The Stones' version of LOVE IN VAIN is in 6/8 time and in the key of C. Keith is flat-picking this song on a steel-string guitar in standard tuning. If you play finger-style, it's not advisable trying to play exactly the same, but find a good alternative instead for your nylon-strung acoustic model ...

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Another great song that saw the light of day some four years later, was the ballad ANGIE, released on the 1973 album GOATS HEAD SOUP. Too schmaltzy for my taste, with all those string arrangements and stuff, but who am I to argue. The song was composed by Richards alone, even if Jagger is mentioned in the credits, as usual. ANGIE is in 4/4 time and in the key of Am.

WiKIPEDIA: "Released as a single in August 1973, ANGIE went straight to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 5 on the UK singles chart. The song was also a No. 1 hit in both Canada and Australia for five weeks each and topped the charts in many countries throughout Europe and the rest of the world".
Vom Intro wurden damals 25 Aufnahmen (Takes) gemacht! Da es alles andere als einfach zu reproduzieren ist, kann es kaum verwundern, daß Richards nie das exakt gleiche Intro auf Konzerten der Stones gespielt hat. Daher ist es auch müßig darüber zu streiten, wie das Intro korrekt gespielt wird/werden muß. Apropos: Dem unten aufgeführten Beispiel (der Tabulatur) liegt die Aufnahme Nr. 26 zugrunde :-).

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ACOUSTIC INTROS: LOVE IN VAIN
                 ANGIE

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Keith and Open G
... this will be continued soon, maybe in summer '24. Old geezers like me need a timeout once in a while, goddammit ...