Keith Richards, management guru?

You could say that I’ve seen a LOT of interesting things in “The Economist” since I first began reading it some 20 years ago. I’ve also bought several books thanks to the great reviews that they have on a weekly basis. Some articles are very interesting while others, especially in their Science and Technology Section, can be a wee bit strange (such as the size of an insect’s gonads or its wee-wee!).

But I never thought that in all these years I’d get to read in their Business section an article on the fine art of management gurus (under the editorial “Schumpeter/ Sticking Together”) and, of all “management gurus” out their, the Stones’s Keith Richards and his new and great autobiography, “Life” (which by the way I’ve just finished reading and which I HIGHLY recommend)!

We’re only talking about a man who once stayed up for a record 9 days without sleep, who took probably every drug known to mankind, who apparently not only cured himself of Hepatitis C but who also sniffed his old man’s ashes and who had some pretty interesting relationships!

And what an honour as he concludes his magnificent account of life with Mick, the rest of the band and his several women on what happened when he fell from a palm tree while on vacation in Fiji: his surgeon eventually wanted to operate on his head given a rather large blood clot which was compromising his life (like seriously-speaking too). The operation itself was successful and “Keef” was encouraged to stay at rest for 6 months. It took instead some 6 weeks for drummer Charlie Watts to be back at work after his bout with throat cancer, so Keith said, “Like hell”!, and he too was back in the saddle after a very short period. A major concert was coming up and both he and his surgeon were rather worried that perhaps he’d forget his chords or the lines to the songs. That concert was just two days after Italy won its 4^th World Cup title in Germany. It took place in Milan’s San Siro stadium, and I was there for that one too (my 4^th Stones’s concert. Memorable was it when Mick got on stage and greeted us with: “Ciao Milano, ciao Italia, i campioni del mondo”. And 60,000+ of us went wild with joy! Our hotel was right behind theirs too). Not only did he and Mick do a touching rendition (in Italian) of “As Tears Go By” but Keith’s performance was, as always, stellar! At the end they were even joined on stage by Alex Del Piero and Marco Materazzi (yes, he who was head-butted by Zidane). He was even touched, as he said in the book, that fans brought along plastic palm trees as a sign of respect! Truly an epic concert for this man who on December 18^th turns 67!

Quite amazing how both Keith and Mick have been able to keep a relationship going—albeit with its many ups and downs—for practically 50 years now (their anniversary comes up in 2012). The wonderful thing about the article is that it ends with a hint of a possible new world tour, perhaps for those 50 years. ALLLL fans no doubt hope so, including naturally yours truly. Oh, and “The Economist’s” analysis of gonads and wee-wees? Well, for the women out there, Keith also manages to mention in his book that Sir Mick has rather large balls (but a small wee-wee)!

God bless you Keith for ALL the great music you’ve given us in ALL these wonderful years of R&R, Rolling Stones-style!