{"id":496577,"date":"2026-03-26T15:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/496577\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:05:12","slug":"how-keith-richards-wrote-one-of-the-rolling-stones-greatest-riffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/496577\/","title":{"rendered":"How Keith Richards wrote one of The Rolling Stones’ greatest riffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Keith<\/p>\n

(Credits: Bent Rej)<\/p>\n

Thu 26 March 2026 9:37, UK <\/p>\n

Keith Richards<\/a> has long surpassed expectations laid upon him as he met Mick Jagger as a grotty teenager on the platform of a railway station.<\/p>\n

Equipped with records under his arm, Richard and Jagger would form a friendship that would blossom into one of the most pivotal songwriting partnerships in rock history. But while what they have achieved can\u2019t be denied, assuming that Richards would be the driving force behind it was a little out of the blue.<\/p>\n

The reason is that Richards has never been a particularly proficient guitarist. Well, at least to those unwilling to see the value he brings. Richards brings a sense of roll to the rock that makes his and The Rolling Stones\u2019 sound completely unique. He has an ear for a riff and a vibe that is unmatched to this day. It has made the band\u2019s catalogue of songs suitably impressive.<\/p>\n

There is perhaps no greater song in the Rolling Stones\u2019 prestigious canon than \u2018Gimme Shelter\u2019. Largely, because the song encapsulates everything we know and love about The Rolling Stones, namely the inventive way in which the band\u2019s guitarist, Keith Richards, wrote some of the group\u2019s finest riffs.<\/p>\n

Featuring on Let It Bleed, the band\u2019s esteemed 1969 album, the song will always be remembered as the death rattle of the 1960s. A decade that was so free and peace-loving, a decade that championed creativity and thinking outside the box, was coming to an end, and the heinous hedonism of the \u201970s awaited. This track captured that sadness and the danger that had been hiding behind the thick smoke of cheap hash and patchouli. <\/p>\n

\"Keith<\/a>(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n

\u2018Gimme Shelter\u2019 is a track that would be wholly impossible without Merry Clayton\u2019s perfect vocal performance<\/a>. The song is a shattering reminder of her talent and her sad story, but also works as a deeply political song<\/a>. \u201cWell, it\u2019s a very rough, very violent era. The Vietnam War,\u201d Jagger said in an interview with Rolling Stone. \u201cViolence on the screens, pillage, and burning. And Vietnam was not \u2018war\u2019 as we knew it in the conventional sense. The thing about Vietnam was that it wasn\u2019t like World War II, and it wasn\u2019t like Korea, and it wasn\u2019t like the Gulf War.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding: \u201cIt was a real nasty war, and people didn\u2019t like it. People objected, and people didn\u2019t want to fight it \u2026 That\u2019s a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It\u2019s apocalypse; the whole record\u2019s like that.\u201d If there was one band we could guarantee to be around when the apocalypse finally does arrive at our doors, it would be The Rolling Stones.<\/a> And we hope they\u2019re playing this song too. But that doesn\u2019t answer how Richards crafted the notorious riff.<\/p>\n

The truth is, the song was born out of an accident. Richards\u2019 home at the time was a Mecca for musicians and welcomed a fine array of 1960s heroes throughout the years. One such unnamed guitarist would forget his guitar and become a part of history. \u201cThat was done on some nameless Australian full-bodied acoustic [a Maton]. It looked like a copy of the Gibson model that Chuck Berry used,\u201d Richards remembered of the riff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing had all been revarnished and painted out, but it just sounded great. Some guy crashed out at my pad for a couple of days, then suddenly split in a hurry and left that guitar behind, like, \u2018take care of this for me\u2019, I certainly did.\u201d The guitarist would often use the different \u2018feel\u2019 of guitars, finding nuances in notes that few rockers would ever pick up on. This guitar would be an instrument he would never pick up again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the very last note of the take, the whole neck fell off. You can hear it on the original track,\u201d recalled Richards. He expertly provides a cathartic creative vision of the instrument\u2019s last moments. \u201cThat guitar had just that one little quality for that specific thing. In a way, it was quite poetic that it died at the end of the track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to The Rolling Stones\u2019 song \u2018Gimme Shelter\u2019<\/a> and keep your ears ready for the final triumphant notes of a mysterious, broken guitar.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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