Keith Richards is just a flurry of activity lately. Following the successful reissue of the Stones’ Exile on Main Street, news came in that Richards is working on a biography with rock journalist Nick Kent and Johnny Depp is working on a documentary about the legendary rocker. Now, the guitarist will be releasing an album of Rastafarian spirituals, a follow-up to the 1997 debut of Wingless Angels.
The group formed in the 70s when Richards met former Dominoes singer Justin Hinds and the two started jamming together with other Jamaican musicians.
The Guardian reports that, though Hinds died in 2005, the two had been working together the year before. Tapes from those sessions are going to see release on Sept. 23.
“It was very organic,” Richards explained. “Justin would just say, ‘OK, let’s take up a beat,’ and he would start chanting, with the drums going. We’d start in the afternoon and go ‘til 11 or 12 o’clock at night.”
Nothing was planned, Richards said. “You can’t get artsy with the tracks or anything. It is what it is. I realized early on that this was the way I wanted to record this band. They’ve got to feel free just to do it, and that’s it.”
You can listen to some of Wingless Angels’ music over at their official website.
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