9 Rolling Stones albums Keith Richards said he loves

The Rolling Stones are one of the most successful bands in history. They have sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide and helped revolutionize music in the 1960s. More than six decades after their formation, the band is still active, led by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, and has released over 30 studio albums.

Even fans find it hard to pick their favorites, but Rock and Roll Garage selected the album that the guitarist Keith Richards already said he loves.

9 Rolling Stones albums Keith Richards said he loves

“Beggars Banquet” (1968)

The first one is “Beggars Banquet” released in 1968 and has “Street Fighting Man”, one Keith’s favorite Rolling Stones songs. “‘Street Fighting Man’ is one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs—probably because the music came together through a series of accidents and experimentation. We recorded it in a totally different way than anything we had done up until that point and the results were pretty exciting and unexpected.

The music came first—before Mick wrote the lyrics. I had written most of the melody to ‘Street Fighting Man’ sometime in late 1966 or early ’67—before “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”—but I couldn’t figure out how to get the sound I wanted.

“(…) ‘Street Fighting Man’ was the first time I had a sound in my head that was bugging me. That would happen again many times, of course, but after that song I knew how to deal with it. Only in the studio could I put the two things together—the minimalist sound and the overdubbing. That’s where the vision met reality. When we were completely done recording ‘Street Fighting Man’ and played back the master, I just smiled. It’s the kind of record you love to make—and they don’t come that often,” Keith Richards told The Wall Street Journal in 2013.

Besides ‘Street Fighting Man,’ the album also included ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ another major Rolling Stones classic. It was the last album released while the late co-founder and guitarist Brian Jones was still alive.

Besides Brian and Keith, the group was also formed at the time by Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Mick Jagger. The record sold an estimated amount of more than 1,1 million copies worldwide.

The second one is “Let It Bleed”, album released in 1969 which was the final one to feature Brian Jones. The musician was fired during the recording of the album and he tragically died at the age of 27 before the record was released. Mick Taylor, his replacement, also played on a few tracks of that record, so it was the first album to feature Keith’s favorite Stones recording line-up. The musician told Rolling Stone magazine in the 80s that he believed their best work until then was done with Mick Taylor.

“The most fun is Ronnie. He’s also the most open. However, I think some of our best work was probably with Mick Taylor. Ronnie’s incredibly underrated in a lot of ways. He’s got a lot more to him than you think, ’cause he’s a very sort of superficially flippant character. But he’s got a lot more depth to him than most people think.”

Keith Richards continued:

“And I’ve always enjoyed working with him very much. I love his enthusiasm. And he’s been with the Stones longer than any of the others. That was the amazing thing while we were doing Dirty Work: “Do you realize, Ronnie, that you’ve been in this band longer than Brian was? Longer than Mick Taylor? And you’re still the new boy (Laughs),” Keith Richards said.

Besides “Gimme Shelter”, other classic tracks from that record are “Midnight Rambler” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. The album sold an estimated amount of more than 3,5 million copies all over the world.

The second studio album to feature Mick Taylor on lead guitar, “Sticky Fingers” (1971) became a huge classic and even had the cover made by the artist Andy Warhol.

Richards told Rolling Stone in 2015 that it was a “pivotal” album for the group. “Well, it was one of them. Beggars Banquet was another. But with Sticky Fingers, we were working very much with Jimmy Miller (Producer). (It) was a very fruitful period.”

For Keith Richards, “Exile on Main St.” (1972) is the best album by The Rolling Stones. “To me, Exile on Main St. was probably the best Rolling Stones album as far as the connection between the band members.”

“We were coming up with song ideas like crazy. And the ideas were catching on. Everybody was going flat out. (…) I look back on it all. I’ve got to say, Jimmy Miller was the perfect producer for the Rolling Stones,” he told Guitar World in 2022.

The record peaked at number one on the charts in several countries like Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Some of the most famous tracks are “Tumbling Dice”, “Happy” and “Shine a Light”.

The double album is one of their most praised ones and as the guitarist said was also produced by Jimmy Miller. Besides working with the Stones, the musician also produced famous records by Traffic, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Motörhead and Primal Scream.

“Emotional Rescue” (1980) and “Undercover” (1983)

Moving to 1980 and 1983, “Emotional Rescue” and “Undercover” are two other albums that Keith Richards liked and called underrated. In 1998 he was asked by Dean Goodman if he believed those albums should have received more recognition. “Yeah (I agree), it’s a funny thing. I can’t really put a finger on that. You even mentioned ‘Get Some Sleep Tonight (From ‘Dirty Work’ – 1986).’ Not a lot of people know that one! And it’s always been another one that I’ve wanted to work up.”

Released in 1980, “Emotional Rescue” was recorded in three different countries: Bahamas, United States and France. It was produced by the Glimmer Twins, the pseudonym used by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.

Besides the title-track, other famous songs from that record are “She’s So Cold” and “Send It To Me”. That album peaked at number 1 on the UK albums chart and US Billboard 200.

Three years later, in 1983, Undercover was released. Its recording was marked by creative differences between Mick and Keith. The singer wanted the band to adopt modern musical trends such as reggae and new wave, while the guitarist preferred a return to the band’s blues roots. With no big hits, the record is not one of their most famous ones but had praised songs like “Undercover of the Night” and “She Was Hot”.

“Steel Wheels” (1989)

Going to the end of the 80s, “Steel Wheels” is another Stones album that Keith Richards loves. “Quite honestly I love them all, some a little more than others. I think Steel Wheels was damn good (…)” Keith Richards told GQ in 2020

Released in 1989, Steel Wheels marked a comeback for the band after a period of inactivity caused by the animosity between Jagger and Richards. Both artists had been focused on their solo careers in the preceding years, but they eventually reconnected that year and agreed to work on a new record.

Some of the most famous tracks from that record are “Mixed Emotions”, “Rock and a Hard Place” and “Almost Hear You Sigh”. The record reached multi-platinum status in the United States and peaked at number 2 on the United Kingdom charts.

It ended up being Bill Wyman’s final full length studio album with the band since he decided to leave the band later on in 1993. It also was the first album without Ian Stewart on piano since he sadly passed away before the record was made.

“Voodoo Lounge” (1994)

Five years later the band released “Voodoo Lounge”, which is another album Richards also said was “damn good”. “I sat down with Min New York in February of ’93. (I) said, ‘What are we gonna do?’ We sort of had a glass of wine in his kitchen.”

“The only word, the word that counted – was focused. We said, ‘If we can look down the same telescope, I think we’ve got a good one here.’ That was the real word. To get everybody focused on the same thing,” Keith Richards said in an interview with Guitar World in 1994.

The guitarist explained that a “Voodoo Lounge” is wherever he hangs out.  It was the first album without bassist Bill Wyman and the first with the hired bassist Darryl Jones. Some of the most famous tracks are “Love Is Strong”, “You Got Me Rocking” and “Out of Tears”.

The album peaked at number 2 on the United States Billboard 200 and number 1 on the United Kingdom albums chart.

“Bridges To Babylon” (1997)

The final one is “Bridges To Babylon”, the final Stones album released in the 20th century. He told GQ in 2020 that he also believed this record was underrated. “Always hard to pick favorites. I would go anywhere between Beggars Banquet, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Exile on Main St. And I will go also to Bridges to Babylon, which is, I think, much underrated.”

That record has famous songs like “Anybody Seen My Baby”, “Out Of Control”, “How Can I Stop” and “Saint Of Me”. It peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart and 6 on the UK albums chart.

During a press conference held when the record was released in the ’90s, Richards was asked how he managed to come up with so many good songs. He replied that it never stops—he doesn’t write them; they come to him. ‘You receive, you transmit, you don’t create, you know.’