Keith Richards’ snarling reaction to being told that the Sex Pistols said he should retire
When Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards found out the Sex Pistols had been calling for the band to retire and “get out of the way”, his reaction was like “a volcano erupting”
It was into a changing world that the Rolling Stones released their 1976 record Black And Blue, but there were shifting sands inside the group too. They’d put out a run of era-defining records from ’68-’72, culminating in Exile On Main St., but the hangover had seeped long into the next decade. Black And Blue was meant to restore the balance, melding their rock’n’roll swagger with reggae, funk and disco influences. However, the record wasn’t received with the open arms the band might have expected – far from it. Instead, critics lamented a group thought to be past their best.
It was into this context that Classic Rock’s John Ingham found himself backstage with Keith Richards in Frankfurt in April, 1976. Fellow journalist Charles Shaar Murray had already been admonished by Richards, as well as Jagger, for a lukewarm review of the new album and Ingham found himself getting involved.