George Harrison Once Called Keith Richards One of the ‘Best Rock ‘n’ Roll Rhythm Guitar Players’
George Harrison and Keith Richards played guitar for two of the biggest bands of the 1960s: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. While the two bands were competitors, they were also friends with tremendous respect for one another. Harrison was a fantastic guitar player for The Beatles, and it was a massive compliment when he called Richards one of the “best rock ‘n’ roll rhythm guitar players.”
George Harrison believed Keith Richards was an excellent guitar player
The Beatles first met The Rolling Stones while the Stones were doing the London pub circuit. The Stones began developing a stellar reputation, and the fab four wanted to learn more about their competition. However, the groups bonded rather quickly, admiring what the other band could do well. In an interview shared by Far Out, George Harrison praised Keith Richards’ talent, even though he didn’t think he would be a great lead.
“I think he’s a great rhythm guitar player, Keith,” Harrison said “You know, really, I think he’s probably one of the best rock ‘n’ roll rhythm guitar players. I don’t think he’s very good at lead, but he’s played … this is the thing you see, what I feel about Keith and myself too, it’s not a comparison, but in some ways what we do is we make records, and the records have some good guitar parts on them, or have some good songs, or good lyrics or whatever, but basically you make records.”
Richards and Harrison were similar in many ways
While The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were musically different, Keith Richards and George Harrison had similar roles in their bands. Both were irreplaceable on the guitar, but they also were excellent songwriters. Richards co-wrote many of the Stones’ songs with Jagger, while Harrison wrote a few of The Beatles’ hits by himself. Harrison said this is what made him more than just a guitar player.
“He’s not, to me, like a guitar player who that’s all he does is go out and play guitar,” he said. “He writes songs, and he makes records and within that — you know, like, you can’t beat a riff to ‘Satisfaction,’ you know what I mean? It’s the simple little things like that, and I think he’s — you know, I like Keith enormously.”
The two bonded over being the quiet members of their bands
While George Harrison and Keith Richards had essential roles in their bands, they were both in the background to the leading men; Jagger for The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney and John Lennon for The Beatles. In the Rolling Stones edition honoring Harrison, who died in 2001, Richards reflected on their relationship, saying they knew they were crucial to their groups’ success, even if no one else did.
“George and I kind of formed-without talking too much about it, although we did have a laugh here and there-a bond, in that we felt we were kind of fulfilling the same role within our respective bands,” Richards shared. “It was a nod and a wink to say, ‘Well, they’d be nowhere without us.’”
