Did Keith Richards really play the guitar solo on "Sympathy For the Devil"?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Exile On My Street, Jan 30, 2015.

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  1. Exile On My Street

    Exile On My Street Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Crazy question...or is it? It's one of the most iconic guitar solos in rock and, IMO, there is no doubt in my mind it is Keith. However, due to the fact that Keith has never played the solo note for note in a live setting, it has led some people to believe that it wasn't really him.

    I have searched the internet for comment on the recording session from those who were there but nothing has come up that would indicate beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is, in fact, Keith playing that solo.

    It had never entered my mind before that it wasn't him but I have no concrete proof to show the non believers.

    So, did Keith Richards really play that solo? I want to hear from both sides and, if possible, support your statements with facts.
     
    Moonbeam Skies likes this.
  2. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    Location:
    clifton park,ny
    http://www.guitarworld.com/100_grea...quotsympathy_for_the_devilquot_keith_Richards


    Writer Stanley Booth once suggested to Keith Richards that “Sympathy for the Devil” was cut from the same cloth as bluesman Robert Johnson’s haunting “Me and the Devil Blues.” “Yeah,” Richards replied. “All of us pursued by the same demon.” But while “Sympathy’s” lyrics reflect the Stones’ attraction to the dark side and allegiance to Johnson, the music is a prime example of how in a real band, composition is a group effort.
    “It started as sort of a folk song with acoustics and ended up as kind of a mad samba, with me playing bass and overdubbing the guitar later,” says Richards. “That’s why I don’t like to go into the studio with all the songs worked out and planned beforehand. Because you can write the songs, but you’ve got to give the band something to use its imagination on as well. That can make a very ordinary song come alive into something totally different. You can write down the notes being played, but you can’t put down the X Factor—so important in rock and roll—which is the feel.”
     
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  3. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    I guess it's not among the parts of the sessions included in the Godard film?
    Certainly never heard him play anything else remotely like it.
     
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  4. cungar

    cungar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Torrance, CA
    Does Keith play any difficult solo note for note on stage?
     
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  5. Culpa

    Culpa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    He's not shown playing the solo in the film, IIRC.
     
  6. Sounds like Keith to me.
     
    craigh, Carserguev, tkl7 and 2 others like this.
  7. George Blair

    George Blair Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Here's Keith rehearsing it:
     
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  8. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre
    It's not good enough to be anyone else.
     
  9. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    I agree it doesn't sound like Keith, but he's never played much of anything close to the studio version, so that's not really a way to tell whether it's him or not. But I can't imagine who else it would be, since it's not Brian Jones either. Maybe Keith just had a moment of divine inspiration to be a lead guitarist.
     
    Moonbeam Skies likes this.
  10. BRush

    BRush Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    He wiped and replaced some Ry Cooder solos, but I think those were for the "Let it Bleed" lp. Ry came up with the Riff for Honky Tonk Women, and the slide on the title song, "Let it Bleed" sound like him. Sympathy sounds like Keith.
     
  11. joethomas1

    joethomas1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    IMO the way they have played it live has meant Keith has had to adapt his solo. Let's face it, it's hard to replicate the studio version live
     
    BluesOvertookMe likes this.
  12. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Dunno about the solo but its definitely Wyman on the maracas and Marianne on the woo-woos.
     
    cc--, Fullbug, 24voltsdc and 2 others like this.
  13. botley

    botley Forum Resident

    The studio version is pure Keith. I like how he and Ronnie turned it into a weaving extravaganza live.
     
    budwhite, vonwegen, OldSoul and 4 others like this.
  14. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Of course it's Keith.
    Who else would it be?
     
    JL6161, OldSoul, Meyer and 9 others like this.
  15. MRamble

    MRamble Forum Resident

    Keith is not the type of player to duplicate a guitar solo note for note. Every time he plays this song---it'a a new solo just for that moment. The solo he recorded on the original studio cut is most likely the furthest thing from his mind when he's on stage. He has maintained the mood and theme of the solo but he's never played it like the original and doubt he ever will.

    Here he is in 2013. Some of the notes and those iconic runs can be heard. The general feel and basic attack of the original solo is most definitely there though. He's obviously a bit slowed down now but I don't think it's hard to believe that this guy was the same one on the original recording.

     
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  16. notesfrom

    notesfrom Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC USA
    smoke, Fullbug, vonwegen and 6 others like this.
  17. docwebb

    docwebb Forum Resident

    The best live versions were with Keith and Mick Taylor trading riffs....the version on "Ya Yas" is my go to version. I am sure it was Keith on the recorded version.
     
  18. Culpa

    Culpa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I've always enjoyed Marianne's woo-woos! :)
     
  19. MHP

    MHP Lover of Rock ‘n Roll

    Location:
    DK
    This should put any doubt to the ground.
    Same technique, same fills, same sound.
    Unless, of course, he had George Harrison, the great blues rock guitarist, to overdub it for him. ;-)
     
  20. rstamberg

    rstamberg Senior Member

    Location:
    Riverside, CT
    Yes, it's Keith. His vibrato is a dead giveaway.
     
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  21. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    It totally sounds like Keith. He doesn't play it exactly the same live because he doesn't care to. It's not how he rolls, so to speak.
     
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  22. Olompali

    Olompali Forum Resident

    I read somewhere, long ago but can't recall the exactitude that it was Dave Mason thanks to Jimmy Miller.
     
  23. Mr. Siegal

    Mr. Siegal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sitting on my sofa
    It's Keef. With a little help from the Devil.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
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  24. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Mephistopheles played the solo.
     
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  25. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Listen to the fills at the end of Stray Cat Blues. If that is Keith then so is Sympathy.
     
    cc--, vonwegen, JoeRockhead and 11 others like this.
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