Keith Richards on Keith Richards

This must-have collection of 50 years of quotes from rock's ultimate survivor, Keith Richards, makes a compelling companion piece to his recent autobiography.

Keith Richards always lacked the guile to give the sort of quotes that served record sales or his own image. The result was usually an interview free of phoney claims or self promotion, even if it might occasionally be tricky to follow - depending on what condition Keith was in when he gave it.

Now, Sean Egan has done a sterling job of organising a huge number of Richards’ published utterances drawn from GQ, Melody Maker and Rolling Stone, plus many more never before seen in print.

Taken together they form a riveting commentary on Keith Richards’ half-century progression from gauche young pretender to craggy elder statesman of rock music.

They also reveal an unexpectedly warm, unpretentious, articulate and honest man who occupies a unique and rarefied role in the history of rock ’n’ roll.