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Tue 21 October 2025 19:30, UK
Keith Richards has lived a very full life in his 81 years on this planet; from high-profile drug busts to snorting his own father’s ashes, and an endless schedule of colossal world tours. Alongside his wildly anarchic existence, though, the weathered Richards has also found time to record a plethora of the most iconic rock and roll albums of all time, and some tend to stand out among the rest.
Rock and roll was built upon guitar heroes, and it was early years spent worshipping the likes of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf that set a young Keef on his musical journey (though, in fairness, it’s hard to imagine what else he would have done with his life – librarian, fish monger, tailor, none seem overly suited to his personality). Soon enough, though, Richards found himself on the upper echelon of rock and roll expression, rubbing shoulders with the artists who first inspired him, while simultaneously earning himself a reputation as one of rock’s leading axemen.
Being a Rolling Stone doesn’t leave you much in the way of spare time. If Richards wasn’t touring, he was writing, recording, or concocting a cocktail of substances with which to pass the time. Without that packed schedule, perhaps the Stones would have never reached the dizzying heights that they did. Either way, as the guitarist grew older and, mellowed would be an overstatement, let’s say eased his foot off the accelerator slightly, he took every opportunity presented to him to perform and record with his fellow artists, particularly those ingrained in the American blues scene.
After all, blues was the first love of Keith Richards, and it was the genre which made a rockstar of him. So, in addition to performing alongside the likes of Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck Berry, the guitarist also found time to record with figures like Hubert Sumlin, perhaps one of the greatest blues guitarists ever produced by the great city of Chicago.
Given that Sumlin made a name for himself performing with Howlin’ Wolf during the early 1960s, the guitarist was firmly on Richards’ radar even before The Rolling Stones had achieved rock and roll stardom. Still, it wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that the pair finally got the chance to work alongside each other, with Richards helping to carve out the foundations of Sumlin’s 2005 record About Them Shoes.
Practically bursting with legendary rock and roll talent, that album – largely made up of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf covers, featured the likes of Eric Clapton and New York Dolls frontman David Johansen at various points in the tracklisting. The crowning jewel of the record, however, came with the track ‘Still A Fool’, which saw Sumlin and Richards joining forces as two titans of blues-rock guitar.
Although the record didn’t gain much in the way of mainstream attention upon its release, particularly in comparison to the constant commercial triumphs of The Rolling Stones, About Them Shoes remains one of Richards’ proudest musical moments. During one interview ahead of the record’s release, he explained, “I’ve been involved with Hubert for a while and the record has made it, and I’m very glad for Hubert, and myself because I’m pretty damn good on it.”
Richards’ characteristic self-belief aside, the guitarist did seem to have a genuine affinity for Sumlin, having worshipped his playing style since his adolescence. In fact, when Sumlin passed away in 2011, at the age of 80, his funeral costs were all covered by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, as a means of paying tribute to their fallen blues guitar hero.
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