Corruption and stupidity generally travel in pairs. For the perennial rock star Keith Richards it was just the latter part of the equation.
Hardly the picture of youthful exuberance, I can still identify with the lure of a tree to climb. For Richards it was nearly his last.
Following another sell out tour of Australia, Stones – Richards and Ronnie Woods were kicking back and monkeying about on a Pacific Island.
Having shimmied the 10 meters up a coconut palm, Richards lost his grip and fell, landing on his head.
He was rushed to a New Zealand hospital, where his NY publicist claimed he was having minor treatment for the incident. Not so minor, as it turned out, with some pretty complex neurosurgery involved.
The good news, (see the pic) is that Richards will rock again. At least it was his head and not his amazing fingers.
As Richards likes to say: "Good to be here, good to be anywhere."
So no apology for being off topic, and fan pieces aren't about to feature regularly. But there you have it, the great thing about blogging is the freedon to go out on a limb occasionally; get off the main agenda and celebrate the quirks of humanity.
3 comments:
Here's my question: who looks worse for wear, Richards or Ronnie Wood?
I heard Ronnie had sobered up a couple of years ago (apparently his alcoholism was quite advanced), but I have to say he doesn't look much better these days. Still, he didn't fall out of a tree, so I guess he's got something going on.
BTW, I like reading and/or writing a fan piece occasionally. It's a fun diversion from all the serious talk.
Taking up the challenge
Okay, I was thinking, ‘Ronnie must be a sprightly young bloke, just a couple of years older than me after all’. I shouldn’t have googled it, I really don’t want to look that beaten in a few short years.
But then my presence in the 60s has been hotly disputed because I can actually remember it. I recall that the drug related deaths of a few school mates and reading Ginsberg’s Howl had a particularly sobering effect on me.
There have been some humorous asides to all this. One pedantic Australian took issue with news reports describing a ‘coconut tree’. “When did the bloody things stop growing on palms?” he demanded to know.
Another scribe was curious to know if the more sprightly Woods might not have helped the old bloke down. I doubt he needed help.
But all in all, I expect we can discount the horror stories that ‘serious brain damage will end Richards’ career’. Given what he has been through, and still performing brilliantly, I doubt if a few more dead brain cells will matter.
I posted a picture of Ronnie at the bottom of the story, you work it out :)
There'a Stones album cover from the mid to late 90's (it's called "Stripped" a live album of their countrified early 70's tunes) where Mick looks anorexic, Ronnie looks green and corpse-like, and Keith looks dead. Only Charlie Watts looks semi-okay in the picture. Ironically, Charlie Watts had cancer at the time.
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