Keith Richards has labelled The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as “rubbish”.
Richards, who releases his first solo album Crosseyed Heart in 23 years in September, recently spoke to Esquire, where he described the Stones’ height of fame during the mid-’60s, comparing the consequences to the effect success had on The Beatles.
“A whole roomful of chicks yelling at you is not so shabby,” Richards said. “Because the year before, nobody would look at you. But they talk about us – The Beatles, those chicks wore those guys out. They stopped touring in 1966 – they were done already. They were ready to go to India and shit.”
Responding to suggestions that his band’s music may have lasted the test of time better than that of The Beatles, Richards added: “The Beatles sounded great when they were The Beatles. But there’s not a lot of roots in that music. I think they got carried away. Why not? If you’re the Beatles in the ’60s, you just get carried away – you forget what it is you wanted to do.”
He continued: “You’re starting to do Sgt Pepper’s. Some people think it’s a genius album, but I think it’s a mishmash of rubbish, kind of like Satanic Majesties. If you can make a load of shit, so can we.”
You can read our preview of Richards’ Crosseyed Heart by clicking here.
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