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Rolling Stones quotes: Keith Richards on the impact of rock & roll—and Chuck Berry’s influence
“I was 12 or 13 in 1957 when rock and roll first really hit and, as you know, up to that time living in England it was How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?. But my mother always had good music taste in music. At home I can remember listening to Billy Eckstein, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and stuff every day, ‘cause that’s what my ma would play around the house, singing away doing the dishes…
…The first record that really turned me on out of the rock and roll thing was Heartbreak Hotel. Chuck Berry was my man. He was the one that made me say, I want to play guitar, Jesus Christ! And I’d listened to guitar players before that – I was about 15 – and I’d think, He’s very interesting, nice, ah, but… With the difference between what I’d heard before 1956 or ’57 and right after that with Little Richard and Elvis and Chuck Berry, suddenly I knew what it was I wanted to do.”
For Keith Richards, the catalyst wasn’t just a song—it was a sonic revolution that rewired his entire sense of direction. The moment he heard Heartbreak Hotel, something primal stirred deep inside. Sure, he’d listened to guitar players before—found them “very interesting,” maybe even “nice”—but it was Chuck Berry who lit the fuse. Berry’s riffs didn’t just entertain; they possessed Richards, jolting him into clarity. “I want to play guitar, Jesus Christ!” he recalled, still awestruck by that jolt years later. That raw, electrifying moment stripped away the polite strumming of earlier years and replaced it with grit and soul. Elvis, Little Richard, and especially Chuck Berry shattered the sound barrier and redefined what music could feel like—untamed, visceral, alive. And in that thunderclap of distortion and swagger, Richards found not just inspiration, but purpose—a lifelong pursuit carved out of vinyl grooves and burning amplifiers.
From Dishes to Vinyl Dreams
Growing up in 1950s England, Keith’s world was mostly soft ballads and novelty tunes like How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?—nothing that hinted at rebellion. Yet inside his home, another soundtrack played: his mother’s impeccable taste echoed through the halls in the voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billy Eckstine. She’d hum and sing as she did the dishes, infusing their home with jazz and soul. That contrast—between England’s saccharine pop and his mother’s rich, emotional favorites—laid fertile ground for the rock & roll storm about to hit. When it finally did, it didn’t just arrive with a beat. It changed everything.
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