I stumbled across this blog entry from 2005, written by a guy who obviously loves all things guitar:



Re: Where does Keith Richards rank in the pantheon of guitar gods?

Ah! An important question. I've got way too much to say on this subject, but Keef summed it up his own self: "all ya need to play guitar is five strings, two fingers, and one asshole" (Yeah -- five strings. He normally removes the low E and tunes down the others, making some of his stuff tough to copy).

As for style, he plays "loose," with a close connection to the instrument. I would call it "lean and unclean" -- a greasy, sinewy sound. He's one of those players who can't keep his hands off a guitar, whether he's backstage, around the house, etc. It shows in his playing (esp. acoustic stuff) -- it looks instinctive or intuitive, but the feel comes with decades of cradling the instrument. He reminds me a bit of Neil Young -- maybe 8 out of 10 on technique and a hundred million out of ten on soul. Both are underrated rhythm players (if you follow the Stones, Charlie Watts gets a lot of credit for the "bottom," but Richards shoulders the load in making their songs go). Neither compete with what Neil would call "fuckin' stock-car-racer guitar players" who do crazy speed work, but I see this as an advantage. He leaves a lot of space or "room" in songs. This is surprisngly tough to do when you have a great lick. He finds the groove but keeps things uncluttered so that everything functions to support the riff (except for Jagger's yammering, of course). I'm guessing that folks like Ron Wood, or Mick Taylor, or Bill Wyman just know to stay the hell out of his way.

Of course, he doesn't have the technical skills of a Clapton or the fluidity of Page either, but I think his riffs are often *much* more engaging than Clapton's (compare "Brown Sugar" with "Sunshine of Your Love"). In addition to the standard blues and Chuck Berry influences of his generation, there's a strong un-ironic old-school country (e.g., Hank Williams) vibe to his playing that most Brits never caught -- sort of like JJ Cale, if you know that reference. In fact, he's the only one I mentioned who regularly plays a telecaster (the standard Nashville-issue axe). Most of the macho guitar gods play Les Pauls to sound "fat like the butcher's dog" or Stratocasters if they want a little twang.

If I were to nitpick, I'd say that he doesn't typically display the touch or sensitivity of someone like Tommy Bolin or even Hendrix (in his quieter moments). And his off-nights are pretty awful in concert. Still, there are some nice exceptions (e.g., listen to the intro on "Angie"). And, of course, he doesn't have the ferocious attack of a Dick Dale or Link Wray when he plays with the Stones, though his solo work (X-pensive Winos, or whatever the name) is plenty tough. As for influence, he's certainly among the most copied players I know. Everything from Joe Perry with Aerosmith (who must be 60 now himself) to punks like Paul Westerberg with the Replacements (who attempted to duplicate his style in many ways), to melodic metal types like Slash of GNR, to modern roots rockers.

He's definitely one of the greats, partly because he is such an icon (I remember getting a super-long strap just so I could play the guitar slung down low like Keef). As Chuck Klosterman wrote in support of such iconography:

"It's difficult to think of rock artists who are great without being cool, since that's precisely why we need them to exist. There have been countless bands in rock history -- T.Rex, Jane's Addiction, the White Stripes, et al. -- who I will always classify as "great," even though
they're really just spine-crushingly "cool." This is why the Eagles suck..."

http://chrisuggen.blogspot.com/2005/05/keith-richards-and-other-old-guitar.html

The one thing that I find really cool about his playing is that he puts his whole body into it. Like when he strikes a chord he doesn't just strum it with his hands, he bends his whole body over his guitar to give it that subtle edge. His genius is very subtle. Same with the rest of the Stones. While the genius just flushes out of people like Zeppelin or Van Halen (flame on bitches) you really gotta pay close attention to Stones tunes to fully appreciate them musically. And no matter how many times you listen to the songs, you always discover something new each time you hear them. It's really damn cool.

He's me favorite guitar player - EVER!