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| Monkey Woman |
Posted by mboston in Shidoobeeland:
http://pub6.ezboard.com/fshidoobeewithstonesdougfrm15.showMessage?topicID=4467.topic
MARCH 20, 2003
No Stones left unturned
Let's spend the night together? Hardly, but Life! spends quality time with rock's baddest boy, Keith Richards
By Loh Keng Fatt
KEITH RICHARDS is confused. The censors in China have banned four songs at the Rolling Stones' gigs scheduled for Beijing and Shanghai next month and the decision has left him perplexed.
'I heard about it, but I don't know why they've banned them,' he says over the telephone from Tokyo where the rockers are currently ensconced.
'It's a shame if we really can't play the songs. But two of them are love songs about women,' the 60-year-old guitarist adds.
He is referring to Let's Spend The Night Together and Beast Of Burden.
The lyrics may be suggestive - Am I hard enough/Am I rough enough (Beast Of Burden) - but they are also about lovers trying to connect emotionally and intimately.
Beijing has also deemed Brown Sugar and Honky Tonk Woman unsuitable, but few would dispute the naughty content about one-night encounters.
'If there are restrictions on what we can do, that's okay,' he says.
'If they want us to tone down our act too, that's not a problem.
'We'll get on stage and do what we can, but first we need to be there and have a dialogue.'
Together with 60-year-young Mick Jagger, drummer Charlie Watts, 62, and guitarist Ron Wood, 56, Richards is currently on the Asian leg of the Stones' worldwide Licks tour, with two Singapore dates slated for Monday and Wednesday.
The Stones are particularly excited about parting the Red curtain.
'It's a fascinating place to go to - a closed culture for, what, thousands of years?
'I've been to Hongkong, but, no, we've never been to China. And Shanghai is such a great word and a romantic city. I'm sure we're going to learn more about the Chinese than they will learn about us,' he says.
'I want to visit the studios and see how they make records. Am I learning some Chinese words? Sure, let me find a book,' he says, letting out a laugh that softens his raspy voice, scarred by too much smoking and drinking over the years.
One supposes that laughter will also do wonders for his face, so incredibly time-ravaged that even Madame Tussaud's would find it hard to duplicate.
'It will be a drag if I can't say at least 'hello',' he continues.
'It's like the band visiting Russia five years ago. It's fascinating we're still finding and opening new doors, perhaps for other bands to come.
'When I grew up, I always thought that there would be a few places that would be shut to me forever.
'Now, here we are, China's up ahead.'
Beijing has had no use for rock 'n' roll all these years, until now.
The word is that the Stones have been allowed in because Beijing wants to prove that it is ready to play host to the world.
After all, China is prettying up already for the 2008 Olympics and Shanghai has bagged the 2010 World Expo.
Richards is not sure whether the Chinese know much about the Stones.
'But they do know the band in other places and the Chinese are travelling to and fro these days so they are taking our name and music to China.'
In fact, some band members are taking their families with them for the Chinese dates of the tour. 'I think Mick is. So's Ron,' he says.
Richards will certainly be accompanied by his wife and their two teenage daughters.
'We had to ask the school to allow the girls to come out to China. So the school said: 'Yes, you can go there and do a reflection. Then, you come back and tell us about it',' he says.
'Yes, it'll be a privilege to play there,' he continues, sounding slightly in awe.
For a moment, you sense that he is getting a rush akin to that perhaps from way back in the 1960s when the Stones spearheaded the Brit charge into the United States, along with the Beatles.
The Fab Four were, well, all about I Want To Hold Your Hand. The Stones had that sharp, Jagger-ed edge and flaunted album titles such as Their Satanic Majesties Request and Exile On Main Street.
THE LAST GREAT WALL
'IN FACT, it's a privilege to wake up every morning,' Richards tells you, with another burst of laughter peeling off more years from his voice.
His mellow stance seems at odds with his image of a defiant rock 'n' roller. Has the edge worn off the man whose hedonistic lifestyle is one reason why people worship rock 'n' roll?
Perhaps the chance of playing in the world's most populous nation more than makes up for any indignity such as song bans.
The China gigs must present the last Great Wall of a challenge for the Stones - and one suspects Richards is thankful for that.
After all, the band, in four decades of playing since the early 1960s, must be running out of new worthy places to find Satisfaction.
Despite that, the rockers rouse themselves, tired bones and all, every couple of years to show the world who's boss.
The money is not bad, of course - the band reportedly made US$44 million (S$77.8 million) last year, largely from touring.
It is not without some sacrifices. Former bassist Bill Wyman called it quits 11 years ago when the rigours of the road got to him.
For this current global adventure, the Stones have had to rehearse 130 songs so that no two shows in any one city need to sound too similar.
But why are ticket prices for the Asian tour so high? Even in relatively prosperous Singapore, the best $500 tickets will eat up half a month's take-home pay for many.
You sound him out on whether the band is in danger of losing its hard-core fans and gathering just the richer folks who want to be seen in all the right places.
'You have to talk to the business people about that. Certainly, I don't need the money. I'm not interested to make more. But what we make, we also distribute,' he says, a tad defensively, citing contributions to help children in Nicaragua.
'We've to pay the crew. There are certain economics we cannot run away from.'
The band has a 120-plus crew and a 747 airplane to move all its equipment, which includes a 180,000-watt sound system.
Maybe, you ask, the band could have scaled down their stage act, lowering costs and allowing promoters to bid more sensibly?
'Thank you for the suggestion, but I never see the Rolling Stones show. I'm on the other side. But I don't think our show is elaborate.
'We want to see people when we tour, we are not there to blind them with lighting. I get up to play, I'm a musician, I'm critical of myself,' he says.
But to be fair, the band has shown a heart of gold too. Only last month, 12,000 fans turned up for a free gig in Los Angeles, organised to raise awareness about global warming.
CHANGING TIMES
RICHARDS does remember playing in Singapore in 1965 at some tiny venue - you remind him it is the Singapore Badminton Hall.
'Yes, we were coming from Australia then. Singapore... it was a different time, a different country,' he muses.
'We haven't been back since. I can't wait to see the changes. I've seen pictures of the new Singapore, of course, and I look forward to this visit.
'The people were nice the last time we came. We had lunch with the British governor-general.
'I remember hearing the sound of firecrackers. I was thinking: 'Oh no, what's happening?' Later, they told me it was Chinese New Year.'
The Stones' PR woman cuts in at this point. Earlier, she had asked me if I spoke English, perhaps fearing that Richards would explode if he were to waste his time on some uncomprehending journalist.
She was assured that Singaporeans probably speak more English than they need to. She now extends a small generosity and allows one last question.
'Yes, we have a volatile relationship,' Richard says of his relationship with Jagger.
'But we are best friends, that's why we can fight.'
The Rolling Stones will perform here on Monday and Wednesday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Tickets at $100, $151, $226, $351 and $500 from Sistic. |
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| Child of the Moon |
Great article! (Despite the fact they got Mick's and Keith's ages wrong - they ain't 60 quite yet!) Thanks, Monkeywoman! |
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| Martha |
Aint' Keith grand!!!!!!!
I just love him!
Thanks for posting the article MW! |
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| Factory Girl |
Great article! Thanks for posting it! |
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