The Beatles and the Rolling Stones’ friendship and musical collaboration throughout the years are adored by fans of classic rock. Although they are buddies, the bands don’t necessarily support one other’s endeavors. Previously, Keith Richards shared the Beatles record he deemed to be “rubbish.”
Keith Richards referred to which Beatles album as “rubbish.”
The Beatles were mentioned in an interview with Esquire. And Richards didn’t shy away in expressing his true feelings.
“The Beatles sounded great when they were the Beatles,” the guitar player explained. “But there’s not a lot of roots in that music. I think they got carried away. Why not? If you’re the Beatles in the ’60s, you just get carried away — you forget what it is you wanted to do. You’re starting to do Sgt. Pepper. Some people think it’s a genius album, but I think it’s a mishmash of rubbish, kind of like Satanic Majesties — “Oh, if you can make a load of s—, so can we.”
The Stones’ 1967 record Their Satanic Majesties Request is referred to by Richards. The record was lambasted by reviewers and produced no radio singles.
The guitarist also discussed what it was like to play in the 1960s. Rock ‘n’ roll was rising to the top of mainstream at the time, and music was becoming more innovative. One of the most noticeable qualities of acting? The enraged masses.
“When you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s quite obvious it’s primal and sexual and beyond any reason,” Richards said of the screaming. “They certainly didn’t come for the music.”
He continued, “In those days, there were no PAs [large speaker systems]. And 3,000 screaming chicks could just wail you out of the whole place. Just looking at the crowd, you could see them dragging the chicks out, sweating, screaming, convulsing. Astonishing, even at that age.”
“At the same time, a whole roomful of chicks yelling at you is not so shabby, either,” Richards admitted. “Because the year before, nobody would look at you. But they talk about us — the Beatles, those chicks wore those guys out. They stopped touring in 1966 — they were done already. They were ready to go to India and s—.”