Keith Richards didn't really have a huge amount of spare time in the 60's to play on other artist's records, as being the guitarist and songwriter in the Rolling Stones was a full-time job, but he did manage to sneak off to appear on the TV broadcast of The Beatles' 'All You Need Is Love' in 1967, and to provide bass guitar with The Dirty Mac - the all-star band who played on the 'The Rolling Stones' Rock & Roll Circus' film. While he had his bass guitar handy he helped out Billy Preston on his 'That's The Way God Planned It' album in 1969, but the first time he actually added his guitar to someone else's record was in 1974, when he was heavily involved in Ron Wood's 'I've Got My Own Album To Do', providing guitar and backing vocals on a number of songs, and even co-writing two of them with Wood. Around this time he recorded with Alexis Korner, adding guitar to his own 'Get Off My Cloud', which would eventually appear on a Korner anthology in 2003, and also in 1974 he was invited to appear at the final concert of the Faces tour of that year, adding guitar to three tracks which would later appear on a recording of the show in 2000. Between 1976 and 1977 he recorded some tracks with John Phillips, alongside band-mates Jagger, Wood and Taylor, and he also co-produced what would become the 'Pay Pack And Follow' and 'Pussycat' albums. If you've heard my Rolling Stones reggae compilation you'll know that the Stones always had a fondness for reggae, and that was mostly down to Richards, so it's no real surprise to find him adding his guitar to albums by Peter Tosh and Max Romeo. In 1979 Richards and Wood contributed guitar and backing vocals to Ian McLagan's 'Troublemaker' album, on another reggae-inspired song 'Truly', and he also played guitar on Screamin' Jay Hawkins' remake of his classic 'I Put A Spell On You' for an anthology of the famed 50's rocker. In 1985 he added guitar and backing vocals to Tom Waits' 'Rain Dogs' album, and that was the beginning of a lengthy working relationship between them, with Richards also contributing to Waits' albums 'Bone Machine' in 1992 and 'Bad As Me' in 2011. In 1987 he was one of an impressive list of guitarists who played on songs from The Neville Brothers' 'Uptown' album, and although Richards career has spanned an impressive sixty years, this collection just covers a decade of guest appearances from the mid 70's to the mid 80's, which gave him the opportunity to play on songs which he wouldn't have been able to do in his day job. From 1988 to date he's guested on another 40 or so albums from friends and colleagues, but this is where it all started.
Track listing
01 Get Off My Cloud (from 'Musically Rich...and Famous: Anthology' by Alexis Korner 2003)02 Act Together (from 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' by Ron Wood 1974) 03 I'd Rather Go Blind (from 'The Faces' Final Concert' recorded 1974, released 2000)04 Pussycat (from 'Pay Pack & Follow' by John Phillips recorded 1976–77, released 2001)05 Stand Firm (from 'Bush Doctor' by Peter Tosh 1978)06 Truly (from 'Troublemaker' by Ian McLagan 1979) 07 I Put A Spell On You (from 'Portrait Of A Man: A History Of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 1979) 08 Bell The Cat (from 'Holding Out My Love For You' by Max Romeo 1981)09 Big Black Mariah (from 'Rain Dogs' by Tom Waits 1985) 10 Midnight Key (from 'Uptown' by The Neville Brothers 1987)
