Keith Richards: Under the Influence Page #5

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without getting, you know,

my dad's okay.

And so the road became

a second home to me, you know.

[man 1] You brought the sun out.

[man 2] Ronnie, how are you?

[Richards] And I'm looking forward

still to some great gigs.

I mean, I really enjoyed

playing in the heartland.

They're the places we used to drive around

in the station wagon 50 years ago.

[laughs]

["It's All Over Now" playing]

America is the biggest market

in the goddamn world.

It was a f***ing crowning glory

to break there.

Well, baby used to stay out

all night long

She made me cry, she done me wrong

She hurt my eyes open, that's no lie

[Richards] I was amazed

by the warmth of the welcome.

Especially with the first hit

being New York City.

Because I used to love her,

but it's all over now

[Richards] I mean, the buildings,

the feel and the smell of the place.

But it's all over now

[Richards] That night, I remember

writing to my mum there,

"Mum, I'm in New York City.

I'll tell you more later."

[laughs]

She spent all my money,

playing her high class game

[Richards] God knows what

they were expecting.

In some places, I mean...

I do remember The Stones being arrested

for topless bathing in Georgia

at a Holiday Inn swimming pool,

which was in sight of this highway.

And some freaked out locals thought,

because of the hair,

that there was a load of chicks

jumping in the pool, naked, you know...

So the cop car drives up to the pool.

[laughing]

We're looking at them,

the cops are looking at us, you know,

and it was like culture shock.

In those days, if you went

further south than Washington,

it was a different kind of America then.

It was still strictly segregated.

You'd pull in to a joint, a whole bus

of us, black and white, all mixed...

Anyway, you'd pull over

and dying for a pee.

So I'd join in with the brothers,

and then they'd laugh at me

and point above the door,

and it said "Colored only."

I asked them,

"And where am I supposed to go?" you know.

And they said, "Try the bushes"

or, "The white men's around the corner."

But there were plenty of signs of it,

yeah. Chain gangs, too. Yeah.

To get the last taste of that bullshit

was amazing to behold.

But I think that black America sort of

took us a little more to their hearts

because we were different.

And we had no contact with the problems

that they usually had with white people.

[blues guitar playing]

[indistinct chatter]

Now that's the sh*t.

-[Jordan] You're gonna do it?

-Only if you want me to.

But there's a Les Paul Jr. behind you.

[Waits] When you walk into his studio...

He says his first home is the stage.

I think his second home

would be the studio.

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