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Keith Richards: Jagger is great showman

18th October 2010

(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Keith Richards wishes Sir Mick Jagger was as good at singing as he is at playing the harmonica.

The pair are in rock band The Rolling Stones together, and Keith reminisces about the groups early days in his new memoir Life. He spends a lot of time discussing how the bands distinctive sound came about, including Micks command of the mouth organ.

Keith still finds himself blown away when he hears Mick play the harp, and doesnt think his talent is appreciated enough.

Everything else we know he can do hes a great showman but, to a musician, Mick Jagger is a great harp player. I find it hard to listen to him without awe. His harp playing is the one place where you dont hear any calculation, Keith writes. I say, Why dont you sing like that? He says theyre totally different things. But theyre not theyre both blowing air out of your gob.

When the group started, Keith spent a lot of time practising with former bandmate Brian Jones. The two got on famously and enjoyed spending time together, and Keith thinks thats part of the reason Mick began learning the harmonica. Brian originally played it, and Mick was keen to show he was just as talented.

Brian and I, we had the Jimmy Reed stuff down. When we were really hunkering down and working, working, Mick obviously felt a little bit out of it. Also he was away at the London School of Economics for much of the day to start with. He couldnt play anything. Thats why he picked up on the harp and the maracas, Keith writes in his autobiography, which is being serialised in British newspaper The Times. Brian had picked up the harmonica very quickly at first, and I think Mick didnt want to be left behind. I wouldnt be surprised if from the beginning it wasnt just from being in competition with Brian. (C) Cover Media

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