"...boring shit, man. Sorry, Jerry."
In a new cover story with Billboard, Keith Richards is at it again, this time sharing his thoughts on the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia. "The Grateful Dead is where everybody got it wrong," Richards reportedly "scoffed." The guitarist added, "Just poodling about for hours and hours. Jerry Garcia, boring shit, man. Sorry, Jerry."
The publication also asked Richards about his thoughts on some more current artists, most notably Florence and the Machine and recent opener for The Stones, Ed Sheeran. When asked about Taylor Swift, Richards simply said, "Oh, I don't want to sound like an old man."
Richards also touched on his thoughts on drugs these days, saying, "The state of good drugs has gone down. In the ’60s and ’70s, you had barbiturates, which were great downers. And Quaaludes. These drugs were fairly simple. You took them, you pissed them out. But these new ones, the Xanax? I’m not there with that. [But] I still take Dilantin” -- an anti-seizure -medicine -- “since the knock on the head.”
http://www.relix.com/news/detail/keith_richards_the_grateful_dead_is_where_everybody_got_it_wrong
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...I never saw the Stones live, but I do own the "Ladies & Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones" DVD, which was filmed on the "Exile" tour. I loved "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile" and was pretty disappointed by "Goats Head Soup." I thought "Star Star" was a a fun Chuck Berry goof, "Winter" was a nice Van Morrison ripoff (Van certainly borrowed from Mick in the Them days), but as far as the rest of the album was concerned, I never liked "Angie" or "Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" or "Dancing With Mr. D," and thought Johnny Winter OWNED "Silver Train" on his "Still Alive And Well" album. I was a stone-cold, 100% devotee of Rod Stewart & Faces, and as a guitarist, and greatly admired Ron Wood. In terms of personality, I don;t think ANYONE has ever voiced the opinion that he WASN'T a better fit as a Stone than Mick Taylor. But even Mick and Keith have copped to the fact that, when Taylor was in the band, they were at the peak of their musical powers. That's not to say that the band hasn't had any artistic success since Taylor left...they just never recorded an album that came within spitting distance of "Exile" or "Sticky Fingers."
I've known a couple of Deadheads...and they were all about the "community vibe" of the concerts, being on the same wavelength with the band, etc etc etc. A lot of that came from the drugs they took, I'm sure.
But I do appreciate the guitar and vocals of Jerry, primarily during the years when he was healthy. Wier can be a kick as well but he also earned the nickname "Showboat" for doing that "reach exceeded his grasp" thing too often.
I know "American Beauty" and "Workingman's Dead" are the mainstream, most-accepted albums that found their way into many record collections. My personal favorites were "Skull & Roses" and "Europe 72," but after Jerry died...and after the band became an archive-issuing machine...some killer stuff became available outside of the "tape traders." Things like the extremely rare Fillmore 1969 box set...you can still get the 3-CD version, but the full set is insane.
People who have heard late-period stuff like 30-minute versions of "Fire On The Mountain" may not have an appreciation for Jerry in 1969 and 1970, blasting into "The Other One" like some crazed member of a hot, electric Miles Davis ensemble.
The good stuff is in there, and the good stuff is a matter of opinion. I personally don't care for the endless crowd chant versions of "Not Fade Away." But Jerry...I know the boring stuff exists, I know the noodling stuff exists, but he really was Hendrix. He was a pioneer. It's just that tape was rolling during a lot of less-than-stellar moments.
