Keith Richards seems ready to start rolling with the times. He is due to make his two past solo albums available to stream digitally, for the first time ever, on Friday 14 August.
1988’s Talk is Cheap and 1992’s Main Offender have so far only been available to buy in physical form, on CD or vinyl. As the September 18 release date of Richards’ forthcoming third solo album Crosseyed Heart approaches, the Rolling Stones guitarist has decided to open up his solo back catalogue.
Both albums were seen as labours of love. Richards poured some of his frustrations about bandmate Mick Jagger’s solo ventures into Talk is Cheap, and also described the album as somewhat of an unplanned project in, a 1988 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
“It’s kind of strange, because it was never in the cards for me,” he said at the time . “It was not something I wanted to do. Also, in the back of my mind, doing a solo record meant a slight sense of failure. The only reason I would do a solo album was because I couldn’t keep the Stones together.” Luckily for Richards, he managed to keep both the band and his solo work going. A month after the Stones wrapped their North American Zip Code tour on 15 July, Talk is Cheap and Main Offender are due to be released digitally on Richards’ own label Mindless Records. On September 18, Netflix will also premiere documentary Keith Richards: Under the Influence, directed by 20 Feet from Stardom’s Morgan Neville. The film is set to chart Richards’ rise to success as a musician and songwriter.
