It took Mick Jagger breaking ranks for his first solo fling outside of The Rolling Stones, 1985’s She’s The Boss, for a spurned Keith Richards to take the leap himself. Teaming up with future Stones drummer Steve Jordan as his production and songwriting foil, 1988’s Talk Is Cheap was loose and groovy: The sound of Richards liberated from the turmoil of his day job. Moreover, it was everything the Stones in the ‘80s weren’t: there was no bending to production trends, no intense discussions about to incorporate the synth sound of the month, just great songs that sounded - as on the twisting riffs of Take It So Hard and Al Green indebted Make No Mistake - just like The Rolling Stones used to.
Richards’ partnership with Jordan and his new backing band of crack players The X-Pensive Winos (dubbed so after they polished off one of the guitarist’s prized bottles of Lafite Rothschild 1936 one night) produced a follow-up in 1992, Main Offender, which placed its emphasis on smoky bar room vibes, X-Pensive Wino and co-producer Waddy Wachel adding a dynamic flourish to a hypnotic collection of rootsy rock tunes and soulful funk. The gentle ballad Hate It When You Leave, which again brought to mind the warm soul of Al Green, proved that as a vocalist Richards could emote and genuinely touch in a way that Jagger hadn’t manage for years.
Then, some 23 years later, came a third, Crosseyed Heart. Recorded in New York City and Memphis it was a record that found Richards criss-crossing between the solemn reflections of a man entering his seventies and someone keen to show his mischievous edge was still there. Amid the country-folk sway and serrated riffs, there’s an intimacy to tracks like Trouble, Heartstopper and Blues In The Morning that gives the record its emotional anchor, reflection the way it was made with just Richards and Jordan with any embellishments from the X-Pensive Winos bandmates overdubbed later.
With the Steve Jordan-bolstered Stones currently touring their 24th album Hackney Diamonds, it’s unclear whether we might see another Keef solo album. For anyone who found Hackney Diamonds a little too polished and lacking a certain bite at time, Richards solo work should prove just the tonic…
10.
Struggle
On: Talk Is Cheap, 1988
9.
999
On: Main Offender, 1992
8.
Heartstopper
On: Crosseyed Heart, 2015
7.
You Don’t Move Me
On: Talk Is Cheap, 1988
6.
Trouble
On: Crosseyed Heart, 2015
5.
Suspicious
On: Crosseyed Heart 2015
4.
Hate It When You Leave
On: Main Offender, 1992
3.
Eileen
On: Main Offender, 1988
2.
Make No Mistake
On: Talk Is Cheap, 1988
1.
Take It So Hard
On: Talk Is Cheap, 1988
Picture: Alamy