During a new appearance on the Howard Stern Show, Keith Richards opened up about paying tribute to the musician who inspired the name of the Rolling Stones.
After playing the band’s cover of Muddy Waters’ ‘Rollin’ Stone,’ on their upcoming album, ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ Stern asked Richards whether he wanted to honor Waters with this tune. The guitarist responded by saying:
“Yeah, and it was how we got the name of the band in the first place. On a phone call saying, ‘We have a gig,’ and they said, ‘What are you called?’ and there was Muddy’s album cover lying on the floor, and the first track was ‘Rollin’ Stone.’ I said, ‘The Rolling Stones’ because this phone call is costing money [laughs].”
Then, Stern stepped in and praised the song by also adding that it captures the true essence of the Rolling Stones. Keith noted in his reply:
“Yeah, I mean, this is the basics of it, and everything else is… This is where it comes from..”
The rocker had a chance to meet the late musician while the Stones paused for two days to record songs in Chicago at Chess Studios in the mid-1960s. They found Waters actually painting the ceiling of the studio building. Here is how Richards recalled meeting his hero:
“We walked into Chess Studios, and there’s this guy in black overalls painting the ceiling. And it’s Muddy Waters, and he’s got whitewash streaming down his face, and he’s on top of a ladder.”
In 1981, a year before Waters had to retire from performing due to health issues and two years before his passing, the Rolling Stones turned their childhood dreams into reality by sharing the stage with their idol at Chicago’s Chequerboard Lounge. In his 2010 autobiography, ‘Life,’ the guitarist shared how it felt to play with Muddy, saying:
“You want to be a blues player, the next minute you fucking well are, and you’re stuck right amongst them, and there’s Muddy Waters standing next to you. It happens so fast you really can’t register all of the impressions that are coming at you… It’s one thing to play a Muddy Waters song. It’s another thing to play with him.”
You can watch the rest of his chat with Stern below.
