Keith Richards: Under the Influence

The legendary Keith Richards reveals the artists, individuals and music that influenced his music.

Interesting documentary, on a very interesting subject. Keith Richards is one of the most influential and successful artists in music history and his views on music are generally worth listening to. The documentary does a reasonable job of showing what and who influenced him, making him the musical genius and megastar he has become.

Some good clips from the influential artists, plus Rolling Stones clips and Keith Richards solo clips, including behind-the-scenes footage from him working on his latest album.

However, the documentary lacks focus, jumping around and not really making too much of a point in the end. In a way this adds charm to proceedings, as this fits in with the laid-backness of Richards's persona. It would still be nice to have some degree of order though...

In addition, as you would imagine of someone of Keith Richards's ilk, his influences are broad and there is much ground to cover. This leaves not much in the way of depth, e.g. reggae gets covered in about 5 minutes and even Chuck Berry, probably the greatest influence on Richards, is only highlighted through the anniversary concert Richards appeared at.

A longer, more detailed, documentary would have been great.