(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHOLE WIDE WORLD")
THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) When the whole wide world's against you.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
For the Rolling Stones, the party's never over. They returned in 2023 with "Hackney Diamonds," their first album of original material in 18 years.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHOLE WIDE WORLD")
THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) When the whole wide world's against you, and that's got you on the run, and you think the party's over, but it's only just, only just begun.
SIMON: Rolling Stones, of course, are Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and the late Charlie Watts, who died in 2021. "Hackney Diamonds" is their first release since the death of their great drummer, though his beat lives on in a couple of tracks on the record. The album has been nominated for a Grammy for best rock album, going up against some other well-established bands, including Pearl Jam and Green Day, as well as newer ones like Fontaines D.C. and Idols. We spoke with Keith Richards last fall, when the album had just been released and began by asking him how this album came together.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
KEITH RICHARDS: I wish I could explain the ins and outs. Obviously, we record all the time. And last year, we were on the road, and Mick looked at me - look out. He's got something to say. Look. We've got to blitz a record here. We got to, like, push it through and say, here we are. Let's go. So, yeah, OK, Mick, let's go for it.
SIMON: We had a lot of ground to cover, as you do when you talk to somebody who's been in one of the most storied rock bands ever for over 60 years. That included losing Charlie Watts.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
THE ROLLING STONES: One, two, three.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
SIMON: We should explain, hackney diamonds is a British phrase, right? For what?
RICHARDS: Oh, hackney diamonds is like, you know, a really - you know, a good Saturday night that went bad (laughter). So it's what's left on Sunday morning. It's broken glass and stuff. That's basically it, you know?
SIMON: You never look at each other and say, you know, we really could just put our feet up and sit under the sun in Monaco or something?
RICHARDS: Hey, we can put our feet up for a little bit. But, you know, it just - you're into this thing for all the way, really.
SIMON: Yeah.
RICHARDS: I mean, this is what we do. This is what we love. And I got to see this Rolling Stones through.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIVE BY THE SWORD")
THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) I'm going to treat you right. I'm going to treat you good.
SIMON: What was it like to - well, to not work with Charlie Watts after all this time?
RICHARDS: As part of the Stones, it was difficult - made much, much easier by Mr. Watts himself, who had always recommended Steve Jordan. He'd say, if anything happens and blah, blah, blah, Steve Jordan's the man. That first advice came many years ago to me, and that caused me to work with the X-Pensive Winos with Steve Jordan. So I've been working with Steve Jordan for almost 30, 40 years.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HONKY TONK WOMEN")
THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) 'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind. It's the honky-tonk women.
SIMON: Keith Richards talked about meeting Mick Jagger in grade school, their mutual love of the blues, which continues to influence their music. The latest album has a cover of the Muddy Waters song that inspired their name, "Rollin' Stone."
MUDDY WATERS: (Singing) Well, my mother told my father just before I was born. She said, I got a boy child's comin'. He's gonna be - gonna be a rolling stone.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
SIMON: I covered Muddy Waters' funeral, by the way.
RICHARDS: You did?
SIMON: Yeah. He liked - he loved you, you know.
RICHARDS: Oh, I know that. I did once fall asleep at Muddy's house and woke up with Howlin' Wolf. Don't ask me how. I don't know.
SIMON: OK. Do you dream music?
RICHARDS: No, except that I do have to say with "Satisfaction..."
SIMON: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE ROLLING STONES SONG, "(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION")
RICHARDS: I had - this got - it was a new thing then - the cassette player. I put it beside the bed. I did - I mean, I fell asleep, as I did occasionally. And when I woke up in the morning, I realized that the tape had run from the beginning to the end. I had - obviously, I had woken up in the middle of the night, pushed the buttons and just played that phrase and - I can't get no satisfaction, da-da, da-da-da. And then I - and the rest of it - the tape - is me snoring.
SIMON: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION")
THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) I can't get no...
SIMON: You still enjoy performing, it sounds like.
RICHARDS: Yeah, man. I love it. That's what I do. It's - keeps me on my toes and keeps my fingers moving. And I'm still finding different ways of playing things in the way - you know, it's a learning process, even though you're getting to be around 80. You know, believe me. It don't stop (laughter).
SIMON: The singular Keith Richards, who spoke to us in October 2023 about the Rolling Stones' latest release, "Hackney Diamonds." The album is nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award, and you can listen to the full interview with Keith Richards on our archives at npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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