At 81 years old, Keith Richards has lived at least nine lives. Frankly, some could argue that the number is far higher. Regardless, Richards is like a cockroach who survived a nuclear holocaust. He just doesn’t go away, and even though his habits suggest the opposite, they seemingly haven’t affected his health too extensively. Even one of the seemingly worst ones, which was a total and deliberate lack of sleep.
As stated previously, there is something just super-human about Keith Richards. But even super-humans need to sleep, so maybe Richards is more than a super-human, as this man once went nine days straight without a single hour of sleep. Consequently, he created the Rolling Stones song “Before They Make Me Run” for their iconic album, Some Girls.
Videos by American Songwriter
Sleep Is Not a Necessity for Keith Richards
Of course, there are very few humans in the history of the world who have been able to claim that sleep is not a necessity. Thus, nobody could seemingly keep up with Richards, and when he recorded “Before They Make Me Run,” it took him and two rotating producers to finish cutting the track.
Regarding the recording, Richards wrote in his book, Life, “One [engineer] would flop under the desk and have a kip, and I’d put the other one in and keep going.” “Nine days without a wink” and “I fell asleep standing up, eventually … I was just putting another cassette back on the shelf, and I was feeling great, and I turned ’round and fell asleep. I fell against the edge of the speaker. Woke up in a pool of blood, wondering, ‘Is that claret?’” Richards epically concluded.
Also, “Before They Make Me Run” didn’t seem like it was recorded by a sleep-deprived maniac. Matter of fact, when it was released in 1978, the single helped the album, Some Girls, peak at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
A mere mortal would never be able to create a song for a No. 1 album off zero hours of sleep, but as we know, Keith Richards is no mere mortal. Rather, he is a walking contradiction and a biological paradox. Frankly, he might be the secret to eternal life. And it makes sense, as he once told Rolling Stone, “Adrenaline is the most amazing thing we have.” To say the least, Keith Richards is a modern marvel and scientific anomaly.
Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
More Behind The Song
-
CLARKSTON, MI – AUGUST 22: English singer, songwriter and musician, and former member of the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith, as well as being a solo artist, Steve Winwood performs at the Pine Knob Music Theatre during his "Back In The High Life Tour" on August 22, 1986, in Clarkston, Michigan, outside of Detroit. (Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images) -
Celine Dion performs the song "Tell Him" from the motion picture "Titanic" during the 40th Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York 25 February. Dion was nominated along with Barbra Streisand in the Best Pop Collaboration with vocals categor.(ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO Timothy A. CLARY (Photo by Timothy A. CLARY and VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images) -
Rock and roll band "America" featuring David Dickey (bass), Willie Leacox (drums), Gerry Beckley (guitar), Michael Woods (lead guitar), Dewey Bunnell (guitar), Jim Calire (keyboards), and Tom Walsh (percussion) perform on "Midnight Special" TV show in October 1980 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ron Eisenberg/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
Photo by Pete Hohn/Star Tribune via Getty Images -
American folk rock group The Mamas and the Papas, 15th June 1966. From left to right, they are record producer Terry Melcher, band members John Phillips, Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, and record producer Lou Adler. (Photo by Watson/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) -
Christopher Cross 1980 (Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage) -
Travis Tritt during Travis Tritt – September 5, 1992 at Star Plaza Theater in Merrilville, Indiana, United States. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
