Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.
Keith RichardsRead
Rock and roll ain't nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Rock and roll is fundamentally rooted in jazz, emphasizing rhythm and beat.
In this quote, Keith Richards highlights the connection between rock and roll music and its jazz origins. He emphasizes the importance of rhythm, suggesting that the vibrant and energetic nature of rock music can be traced back to the foundational elements of jazz, particularly its complex rhythms and improvisational style.
Themes
RockRollJazzMusicRhythm
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the evolution of music genres.
More from Keith Richards
All quotes βThere's just certain styles of playing that you do play in your own way. Maybe it's in the way your fingers bend, for all I know. And so whenever you pick up the guitar it's not so much the sound of the instrument itself, it's like the ting that you add onto it-the attitude.
Keith RichardsRead
If you've gotta think about being cool, you ain't cool.
Keith RichardsRead
If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music.
Keith RichardsRead
There's something beautifully friendly and elevating about a bunch of guys playing music together. This wonderful little world that is unassailable. It's really teamwork, one guy supporting the others, and it's all for one purpose, and there's no flies in the ointment, for a while. And nobody conducting, it's all up to you. It's really jazz__that's the big secret. Rock and roll ain't nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat.
Keith RichardsRead
When you're supported by millions all over the world, you can either go nuts, or try to feed off the goodwill.
Keith RichardsRead
Similar quotes
I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.
Nina SimoneRead
A great song can make a terrible singer sound good, but a good singer - you put a great song on top of that, you're really in great shape!
Quincy JonesRead
Things like guitars and ukuleles, you should never part with it, because there will probably be good, healthy times spent, just playing and writing.
Eddie VedderRead
You can never underestimate that moment of somebody explaining your life to you, something you thought was inexplicable, through music. That was the way out of loneliness.
Carrie BrownsteinRead
Young people have decided they like to listen to music in a certain way, through ear buds, and that's fine with me as long as it doesn't bother them that they're not hearing 90 percent of the music that way.
PrinceRead
Smokin' at the Half Note is the absolute greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play.
Pat MethenyRead