![]() “And that turned out to be easier than I’d thought. “Whether Mick and I could put it back together with Steel Wheels was really the last big crunch point,” says Richards. Drawing back together again became a strain. ![]() You don’t have to work yourself to death necessarily, but if there’s no reason to, you let yourself get slack. “As a musician,” Richards continues, “you’ve got to have something to do pretty much all the time. And playing with different guys, especially of this caliber, makes so much difference for me when I work with the Stones.” With the Stones, that feeling is long gone. In a way it reminds me of working with the Stones in the early days. “Of course,” Richards says, “the minute you start working, you get into it. On “Hate It When You Leave,” Richards supplies the keyboard to free up Neville for bass. The reggae track “Words of Wonder” is literally a game of musical chairs: Richards takes over the bass for Drayton, who climbs behind Jordan’s drums, and Jordan picks up a guitar. But on several tracks, Richards and members of the band swapped instruments to take advantage of the multi-instrumentalists in the band. The core lineup of Richards’s band hasn’t changed on Main Offender like Talk Is Cheap, the album features Richards on guitar and lead vocals, guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Charley Drayton, drummer Steve Jordan and keyboardist Ivan Neville, as well as a return appearance by vocalist Sarah Dash. We had the songs ready in front, and everybody was ready to expand on the thing.” This one was two straight sessions of ten days each. You couldn’t really say where the rehearsing left off and the recording started. We were forming this band, and it kept changing. “With Talk Is Cheap, we just kind of drifted from rehearsals into cutting tracks. While Richards’ name leads the list of contributors on this performance, it is the coming together of artists - as well as the alchemy of this meeting - where the true musical magic lies.“This time around, it was a lot easier,” says Keith Richards, describing the recording sessions for Main Offender, the recently released follow-up to his 1988 solo debut, Talk Is Cheap. The completed composition is truly celebratory, and encourages the listener to be taken away by a multitude of talent and diverse musical perspectives. The seamless transition into “Get Up, Stand Up” leads to a beautiful sandy groove only increased by ‘Norm’ from Australia’s deep didgeridoo blasts, Keb Mo’s appearance and the collaborative vocal attack hailing from all over the world. The powerful video allows each artist’s contribution to be noticed vividly when highlighted in the frame of the performance. Titi Tsira from South Africa takes verse two and coasts beautifully on the melodic gusts created, while also joining with Richards on the chorus. “Words of Wonder” flutters on a sweet-scented reggae groove, with Richards’ smoky preaching working in contrast to the squishy island rhythm. It’s this diverse musicality that makes this collaboration such a joy to behold, each sonic addition a smile-inducing tonic. The bass licks hail from the Congo, the horns from Mexico, a stiff washboard sounds from a street in New Orleans and Johnny Herno’s mouth music and bird sounds call out from Brazil. ![]() The tunes performed mesh like key in lock, their groove similarly triumphant and inspirational. Richards is cool as ever, acoustic in hand, raging fire behind him, riffing when feels it, just another musical shade in the color wheel of the song. ![]() In a corresponding video, the musicians are shown virtually jamming from their respective locations with headphones on, as well as respective instrument - adding their unique flavor to the stew of influence. Also contributing their time and abilities to this world music recording are a host of popular musicians including but not limited to, Keb’ Mo’, Mermans Mosengo, Natalie Pa’apa’a, Sherita Lewis, as well as far reaching local musicians from Mexico, Zimbabwe and Jamaica. Recently, Keith Richards dedicated his time and musical prowess to a Playing for Change version of his own “Words of Wonder” from the 1992 album Main Offender cross pollinated with the Bob Marley/Peter Tosh reggae burner “Get Up, Stand Up.” The proceeds of the recording are to help erect music and art schools for children around the globe. ![]() One Track Mind: Keith Richards and Friends, “Words of Wonder/Get Up Stand Up” (2014) Playing for Change is a charity movement that spotlights music’s transformative powers, hoping to harness that power to bring about unity between people and various cultures. ![]()
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