I love Keith Richards

Always have. Not as much as Peter Buck or Michael Stipe, but Keith is high on the list. He’s cool, he’s rock ‘n’ roll, he’d be fun to hang with. And maybe you'll find this a bit gross, but I think he’s kind of cute; he definitely has his own style. And, damn, is he cool! Even Johnny Depp recognizes it, modeling his Jack Sparrow character after him.

Some of you have given me grief about yesterday’s post … so I thought I’d list some of my favorite things about Keith Richards and see if you come around:

— His guitar work in “Jumping Jack Flash”; you really hear the Chuck Berry influence.

— His solos with the Stones, especially “Happy” and “Little T&A.”

— His quote about wife Patti Hansen in a Vanity Fair interview: "I just love the bitch." Coming from Keith, it’s a wonderfully romantic line; coming from the rest of you, not so much.

— His Spanish guitar in “Almost Hear You Sigh” (and he looks cool in the video).

— “Make No Mistake,” with Sarah Dash on backing vocals, from his solo album “Talk Is Cheap.” (That's Sarah Dash on "Gimme Shelter"; she was also a member of Labelle.)

— The guitar in “She’s so Cold”; something about the way he plays the strings makes me think naughty thoughts that I'd best not mention here.

— His friendship with Gram Parsons, and the music that came from it.

— His not holding back on giving Mick shit for his tomcat ways and trying to be young.

— The fact that he’s 61 years old and climbed a palm tree, fell out of the tree, then jumped on a jet ski. And, while he was in the hospital, he had three guitars brought in. Talk about your joie de vivre!

I saw this on a Rolling Stone board, I believe it’s from Christopher Sandford’s “Keith Richards: Satisfaction.”

Richards married for the first and only time on his 40th birthday in 1983, and it probably saved his life. His bride was the 27-year-old Patti Hansen, a home-town girl from Staten Island, New York, and a devout Lutheran. His in-laws gave a startling interview in which they portrayed Keith as an ‘enthusiastic disciple of Christ’ and that he ‘embraced Christ as a way of life’. Under Patti’s influence, Richards cut back on drugs, attended church from time to time and even started a gentle exercise regime. ‘She’s a wonderful girl; I ain’t letting the bitch go!’ he confirmed in a speech at his wedding reception. Keith may have written ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ back when, but these days much of his life is spent with a woman who attends a weekly Bible study group and who won’t stand for swearing around the house.

Yep, I love Keith Richards.

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