Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones answers a fan question about the 'thin' guitar sound of George Harrison on Beatles records. Posted on Keith's website (Ask Keith) around 2004: www.keithrichards.com/ (I don't not own any copyrights)
Most people who don't do drugs like "Keith" and have with common sense (ie: "Trump voters") realize that "Climate change" is a HOAX designed for elitist global control.
@@AndrewGrey22 exactly, look at the one dude he may be dead now but he lived to be I think 103/104 and he even in the interview was smoking and drinking saying he’d been doing so for 8 decades so why should he stop now lmao.
I guess. He quit smoking in oct. 2019. But God bless him..but I'm really sayin?? Whats the use ???? Hes 77 right now. Quit when he was almost 76. Probably started when he was like 14..with all tge other dhit he's put in his body..including His fathers ashes.lol.. think! Maybe! Its a little late??? Maybe not?? Who knows????.
@@jonasrmb01 you would think! But most people get lung cancer anyways. ..even after one does quit after a long period of time. I mean yes! Its a great thing if o e could end up quitting. My farther! Only quit. Right after his diagnosis of lh g cancer Jonas. It really a crap shoot imop!. But it is always great to quit.
After watching Get Back I understand the loss of George, lung cancer is a bad dice roll but John getting executed the way he was, I'm incensed all over again. John's personality really shone thru. Amazing footage of the creative process these guys engaged in, magick! George was always my fav beatle tho, the kid that I think went on to create music even more timeless than his bandmates did. Don't think any of them solo tho matched the magick of the beatles.
looking at George's accomplishments is astounding. Lead guitar on the most famous songs ever. Wrote Something, Here Comes the Sun, All Things Must Pass, Slide guitar - all before aged 30. Wow.
the thing that doesn't get said about george enough is that he was THE GREATEST SLIDE PLAYER no one played like him, george harrison slide was a style all to itself
yes, because HE NEVER PLAYED THE HACKNEYED BLUES STYLE IN OPEN TUNING LIKE EVERYONE ELSE INCLUDING RY he did his own thing that had never been done before and if you listen close you can hear that harrison style of slide all over seventies hits
George Martin had no say in it.. sir fuckin paul couldn't stand loosing the attention and the recognition,he even tried telling Clapton about chief changes..fuck Paul and Richards too
But in actuality within that band, George WAS lead guitar-it’s just that his leads were integral and not so front and center. And he sure was a great rhythm guitarist as well, of course.
With all the wonderful musicians we lost the past years I'm extra glad there are still artists around like Keith Richards who made rock&roll legendary in the sixties and decades after that.
Keith Richards is an original among originals. It was sad to have lost George Harrison at such a relatively young age but we can't choose everything in life. I remember watching The Concert For George and couldn't get over how much George's son looked just like he did around the Hamburg days. RIP George! Keep rocking Keef!
Hey Paul I am Mr. Richards assisatant and he just wanted to tell you that he read you comment and really appriciated your kind kind words and hopes that you too will "keep on rocking" but in the future he asks if you would not refere to Mr.Richards as Keef. Thank you & Rock n Roll
What impressed me with that Concert for George was the extent of music he gave us....just hit after hit. Next was the large number of stars who came out to perform and they played it with heart. That was the best tribute concert ever. John Lennon's didn't even come close.
He didn't hang around endlessly doing wanky solos around the pentatonic scale like some of the British Blues-hound guitarists (you know who I am speaking of not and it is not Keith Richards). His work always supported the song. His work on Rubber Soul and Revolver in particular is just sublime.
I love Keith Richards. What more can I say. I loved George Harrison and was very sad to learn of his passing. However Keith is one of these dudes you hope will still be around when it's your time to go. He's 30yrs older than me but 1000yrs more grounded than me. I love that about Keith and if I ever get the chance to meet him and have a beer or 2 with him then I would be most definitely be delighted. Get the guitars out and I'll do it justice. But I'll be following his lead.
Great comment mate. If you're a player too at least you got something in common with Keith ... I don't play so I'd just look at him awestruck and tell him something daft like the best method for cooking shepbard pie!
Re my earlier comment - I wouldn't tell Keith, I'd ask him. (And thanks for giving the correct spelling of it - It's shepherd's pie, not the silly bollocks I gave it!) ... Keith is in his seventies now and has kids and grandkids and I think he would be a great patriarchal head of the family - A really cool guy to look up to. But don't touch his pies or interrupt his sleep ins ... He'd chase you out of the house with a knife!
@Bunta F. - I realize that. What really tipped me off was the way in which you used quotation marks and attributed the comment to Keith Richards - I ain't as dumb as I look. I addressed my comment to you merely as a courtesy to you, since I was responding to your post, but your point is well taken - next time I see Keith, I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind.
Harrison was very underrated as a guitar player. I actually believe without him and Ringo as well, the Beatles would have just been another British band.
lennon and mccartney would have been the worlds greatest duo ....love george and ringo or not The Beatles were 99% john and paul ...the other two could have been anyone
John T That’s a ridiculous comment. Both John and Paul realized that George was a better guitarist than either one of them. John would not allowed the much younger Harrison in the band otherwise. Plus his contribution to their harmonies should not be underestimated either. And Ringo’s drumming was also an integral part of their overall sound.
well, those early BEATLES records were recorded way before the guitar explosion of the Yardbirds, Hendrix, etc. George's playing/sound and The Beatles music was just fine...to say the least.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.....he's forgetting early rock didn't have strong lead guitars blasting away. Hell, even the early Stones had the "thin" guitar. I think Richards may have been either drunk or stoned or both.
The Good don't always die young Keith -- you're still kickin'. Much respect Bro', especially after reading 2 of your recent biographies (one by you, and the other by...forgotten his name, but it was just as big and recent ;) I'm really impressed by your guitar and Production of 60's / early-70's Stones Keith, well done.
George is greatest in his music guitar and hid gentle caring heart and soul. I loved him dearly RIP and will always do and miss him terribly. LOVE AND PRAYERS XXX
Maybe so but many of those early studio recordings-stereo and/or mono-at least sounded less distorted and more dynamic, despite the added compression-than practically all of their live stuff, except for those amazing Ed Sullivan concerts. Ditto quite a few of those backing tracks from those Anthology and Past Master Series CDs. Big kudos to Sullivan and the CBS-TV sound staff, but then numerous musical guests on that show enjoyed the same quality sound, all things considered. No wonder those kids went berserk with pleasure throughout those February nights. You watch and listen to that DVD release and today it's still so electrifying.
One can really see that in the Get Back documentary which is really about them returning to their roots as live rockers. The tech of that time is much better able to capture their live rock sound and we get to hear it "naked," without all the studio orchestration.
I guess there is something utterly deep when Keff says the good die young!!! Just look at those eyes that posture the cigarette going up. hes been there, several times on that edge and somehow always found the ways to comeback just for one more lick!!!!
Maybe Attitude, Confidence and an unfettered belief in one's actions, rather than doubt, stress and the inability to move forward are the keys to Mr. Richards amazing survival?
I have the greatest respect for Keith Richards. Why? Because he is a very honest person who speaks his mind and doesn’t tear anyone down. A really gentle soul with a mountain of talent. It really pissed me off with the way that the self-important Chuck Berry treated him. But Keith just said, “Whatever”. Keith has far more talent and skills than Berry. But Berry was always on a power trip. I salute you, Keith Richards, for being a very special human being. You are one of the greats.
Keith was a more advanced guitarist compared to Chuck. I will agree with that. But thats one aspect. When it comes to song-writing and Rock and roll poetry, few are Berry's equal. He was the original master
If you want to take this video in context, you need to read Keith's autobiography. Actually, listen to it, it's read partly by Johnny Depp and also by Keith and it is GREAT! I used to hate his guts, but I love him now. He is getting legitimately emotional here. He is a wonderful person who loves having a good time and is all about the music, not his ego. Did you know he was the leader of a Boy Scount troop in England? And he is still VERY proud of it. RTFB. Love you Keith. (I'm sure my name will tell you what side of the Beatle/Stones fence I landed on.)
George had his own style that perfectly fit with The Beatles music. George guitar's work was influenced by country and western and rock & roll. Listen to his first good solos as "Can't buy me love" or "All my loving" or all his arpeggios in first part of The Beatles career. You can hear that in Beatles music there was no space for ad lib guitar improvisations. George and the other Beatles weren't part of British Blues revival. John himself wrote "Yer Blues" as a sort of mockery, a joke about Blues Revival. The best English guitar players came from blues revival: Beck, Clapton, Alvin Lee etc. The Beatles opened an era and soon after the players improved a lot. Keith was a good riff player and the Stones, thanks to Brian Jones too invented the "weaving sound" that sounded very good. Keith himself has never been as good as good as Jeff Beck or Clapton and honestly I don't think he was better than George.
@Brian Goss Yeah but Americans think 1964 was when The Beatles started. That's when they arrived in the US. They'd already been going several years. In fact since 1957 if you include the band "The Quarrymen". John Lennon's band who Sir Paul went to see one day in Liverpool and Lennon asked Sir Paul to join the group after seeing Sir Paul play 'Twenty Flight Rock" by Eddie Cochran back stage.
Frankly, I’m with Keith on this. I think this is one of the greatest solos ever, but I do think that it could have sounded better and I do wonder whether part of the problem was that Martin was so far up McCartneys bum by this point that Harrison and the others just didn’t get the first class treatment they deserved. Would love to be wrong about this, but it was surely no coincidence that they dropped Martin when they went solo.
I think Martin’s production didn’t really let George shine. Phil Spector production on all things must pass was excellent and really helped make George’s song shine
Keith is such a warm, unabashed decent person that has the utmost respect for his peers. I've never heard him say a bad word about anyone in music, and being who he is, he could very easily say whatever he wanted and no one would challenge him
@@Revolver1981 I was talking about the videos where he's not intoxicated, and your right there are very few of those in existence. I apologize, what was thinking? It's this damn pandemic, I need to get out of the house
On the one hand, I totally get what he's saying. On the other, I love the way the early Beatles' stuff sounds. You also have to realize that he and George are guitar players and, like all musicians, want their sound front and center in the mix. I thought the early sound allowed all the instruments to equally shine, and especially put the vocals out front which we know the Beatles were famous for their harmonies. Also, I think George Martin let the individual instruments stand out at different points in the song (bass run, guitar lead, etc.). You also have to consider the types of guitars and pickups and amps used. So it's not just a producer/engineer decision. BTW, love the early Stones' stuff too.
I like the early Beatles and Stones stuff. Distorted guitars annoy me after a very short time. Early George H was rockabilly. George also threw in a lot of unusual chords with John in the early love songs I appreciate so much.
What is interesting about the Beatles is that they all had solo careers that were incredibly successful. There is no other band in the history of music that broke up and ALL the members had huge solo records.
@@MiguelBaptista1981 Yes, he's referring to hit singles. "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen" both went to number 1 on the Billboard chart, and he had many other hit singles besides. He actually had more hits in the 70s than Lennon did, that's a fact.
Wow! Before I scrolled down on the comments and saw yours, that’s exactly what I wrote. Even to this day, Keith doesn’t even know how to tune his guitar! (lucky for him there are tuners now😛)
They tried for the "garage band" sound. Things were supposed to be less than perfect. It was the goal. Never sound like a perfect symphony with everything exactly as it should be, exactly on beat, exactly tuned to the Nth degree. So in other words, in your opinion, they succeeded in meeting their goal. Interesting in that Mick and Justin Hayward were talking about having their own studio together - talk about night and day, garage band vs. symphony.
They were great musicians for their time. George could play any style on guitar. Lennon was the best rhythm guitarist at that time. Paul was great , Ringo very good.
I agree, they might not have been the best musicians or had the greatest voices or knew how to read and write music or had a musical education of any kind and really never developed a 'style' of any kind because they were borrowing so much from other people and were utterly dependent on George Martin to realize their musical ideas etc; but you gotta admit Bryan they had really cool haircuts when they initially came out and the chicks liked them so you had to kinda dress like them and talk with a phony Phillipino accent etc; get the picture Bryan? man I glad they broke up so that we could get back to reality with short hair and khaki pants and a job at the gas station
@2 Other we all have to keep in mind that by the time John and Paul went solo they'd already used up a couple hundred songs worth combined for The Beatles. I think it's still very impressive with some of the quality songs they all wrote during their solo years since most of their best stuff was already done if you get what I mean.
Keith and Mick never really got over being the 2nd best band from England. I love the video of the "All You Need Is Love" session with Mick and Maryanne sitting cross-legged on the floor looking up at the greatness that was THE BEATLES! Don't get me wrong, I love the Stones and they are the greatest rock and roll band of all time, but the GREATEST band of all time was the Fab 4. As good as the Stones records were, they never really had an album as good as Revolver or Sgt. Pepper.
They were never second. It was and always a competition between led zepellin and beatles, even though they came into prominence in different decades. If considered only the 1960s they were the second best band. But overall not really against beatles, Led_Zeppelin, pink floyd, etc.
Keith was just speaking as a musician on their earlier tunes especially the big hits pre Rubber Soul, the guitars werent up in the mix, considering that George was pretty good and John was always a fantastic rhythm player. A few songs the guitars were up but a lot of em just focused on the vocals and harmonies that were brilliant. I'm a serious Beatle head from 69 on up so it aint like i dislike them. Love the Beatles and Stones.
I really liked the stories in “Life.” Mostly because Keith speaks about his friends in such wonderful tones. Keith loved his music, but it would have been nothing without his friendships. He really has it in perspective.
Interesting point by Keef and have wondered myself about the simple, sometimes underwhelming sound of early Beatle guitar. But take into account the time and the strength of the early Beatles vocals and harmonies. George Martin, no doubt saw this, along with the song writing of L-M, as the most dynamic and powerful force of the group and was right to highlight. The potential sound capabilities of the electric guitar was still in its infancy so no fault of Martin to not pay more attention or perhaps even recognize the possibilities or let become the centerpiece of any tune. No diss on the great Stones but even with a great front man like Jagger, vocals and harmonies are not what they're known for. The Beatles vocals as a contribution to their success and influence on other artists speaks for itself.
Early Stones music on the other hand about the same period was a lot of old guff music. Nothing exceptional and not anything worthy of praise as it was always usually anti good in it's no good Stones style. Bad boy style does not float every-ones boat. Richards has plenty early sixties Stones rubbish to dish if he needs to dish successfull artists who at one time held all 6 positions of the music charts.
@@jbstonesfan even Mick Jagger said at the RARHOF that there would be no Rolling Stones without The Beatles. I love The Stones and Gimme Shelter one of the best songs ever made. I listened to both bands in the 60s and loved how they complimented each other
@@johnurban7333 They certainly did and Mick and Keith have always been gracious as far as saying the Beatles were the first to "break the door open" for English bands. My personal preference is the Stones, but it's totally subjective as I am sure Led Zeppelin fans think Zep blows both the Stones and Beatles away. I guess looking at music as a competition is more of a fan thing. Bottom line is I am grateful to be a a kid who grew up on classic rock as it's a dying art form.
@@jbstonesfan I totally agree. It's funny because I love Yes band, especially their 70s stuff but never cared for Led Zeppelin. So you're right, it is subjective.
Hahahaaa Keith is awesome! Such a kind guy and speaks so positively of George, and ends with "the good die young", such an ode to himself, what is Keith? 143? Doesn't look a day over 40!
I think that thin guitar sound is a key part of the Beatles sound. Its a production decision in my opinion. Its what I think of when I think of early Beatles records.
I agree with Keith, the Beatles guitar sound wasn't well produced in the beginning. But I like the way it sounds on "I saw her standing there". But George always had feel for harmonic melodies n stuff
