If Mick Jagger is the face of the Rolling Stones, the flesh and blood is surely Keith Richards. Joint composer of most of their hits, and minister to overall effect via a guitar style that has earned him the name "The Human Riff," Richards has played a key role in shaping the band's distinctive sound. His fans include followers within the music industry itself, such as Aerosmith's Joe Perry, the Clash's Mick Jones, and others who can be counted among his disciples. Now sixties historian and rock journalist Alan Clayson offers up a biography that spans Richards's career: from his early days in art school, to the takeoff of the Stones' first single in 1963, to turbulent times in the swinging sixties and his battle with heroin addiction, and finally to what this distinguished old rock-and-roller is up to today.