Keith Richards is 70

Yes, I’m as surprised as you are. Maybe he is too.

Early in the blog, on the significant birthdays of musicians, I would do this meme, answering questions based on the songs of the artist. Later, I started picking my favorite songs by the person, or group, but since I did that for the Rolling Stones only five months ago – around Mick Jagger’s birthday – thought I’d regress a bit.

Artist/Band: Keith Richards (b. 12/18/1943)
Are you male or female: Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Monkey Man
Describe yourself: Happy; I Got The Blues; Mixed Emotions; Sittin’ On A Fence
How do some people feel about you: Complicated; Out of Time; 19th Nervous Breakdown
How do you feel about yourself: I Can’t Get No Satisfaction; Waiting On A Friend
Describe what you want to be: I Wanna Be Your Man; Like a Rolling Stone
Describe how you live: Ain’t Too Proud to Beg; 2000 Light Years From Home; Tumbling Dice; You Gotta Move
Describe how you love: Blinded by Love; Empty Heart; Everybody Needs Somebody to Love; Heart of Stone
Share a few words of wisdom: Don’t Lie To Me; Get Off My Cloud; It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll; You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Mick Jagger is 70, tomorrow

Mick Jagger at the White House

I started reading this Philip Norman book about Mick Jagger last month, and I’ve never understood the physical appeal of the man, but it is palpable from the very first chapter. He continues to be such an icon that there was a (relatively) recent song about him, Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5. A lock of his hair fetched $6,000 at auction recently; it was for charity to be sure, but still.

Anyway in honor of Sir Michael’s 70th birthday, here are my 20 favorite Stones’ songs. The album references are to the UK releases; worse than with the Beatles, the US record company could be swipe one song and stick it on another album, or two.

20. Start Me Up -Tattoo You (1981)
Not sure I liked this song as much as appreciating another’s enthusiasm for it. I went to my 10th high school reunion, and it was deadly boring. Afterwards, a bunch of us went to our friend Cecily’s house and partied until about 6 a.m.

Put Billy Preston in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Billy Preston, George Harrison, President Gerald Ford, all deceased.

While I’m less and less caring about who gets selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the performer category, I’ve become more and more interested in categories such as early influences and non-performers. I’m especially intrigued by the sideman category since Leon Russell was inducted in 2011. After all, he was a performer of some commercial success, but not enough to make it as a performer. But he played on a lot of albums for other artists, and was inducted based on that.

The late Billy Preston is similarly situated. He had greater singles success than Russell

July Ramblin'

I was moved by this:
Why didn’t I scream when I was raped?
I was 15 when it happened. Now, after a career as a terrorism expert, I want to find out what took place, and why, By Jessica Stern

I was encouraged by this:

There are now about 250 million people worldwide living in jurisdictions which provide for marriage equity, as this colorful chart will help to demonstrate.
The big spike you see in 2008 is California recognizing gay marriage through the courts, and then un-recognizing it through the passage of Proposition 8. Right now, it’s possible to marry your same-sex partner in Buenos Aires, in Mexico City, in Ames, Iowa, and in Pretoria, South Africa, but not in San Francisco. With countries like Argentina and Portugal now recognizing same-sex marriages, however, the global trajectory has returned to its slow-but-steady upward pace.

I had forgotten about this