Up and Down with the Rolling Stones: My Rollercoaster Ride with Keith Richards

This is a show stopper of a book, authored by ultimate insider "Spanish Tony" Sanchez who Keith talked about in his autobiography LIFE. Tony was probably closer to Keith than anyone, as bodyguard, drug buyer (who sometimes didn't get reimbursed) due to his many "connections", adviser, and getting Keith out of countless jams. Anita being gang-attacked in jail in Jamaica. Keith's and Anita's practice of black magic, she did a spell on one guy with dead chickens & he died soon after. Tony's scary descriptions of Brian Jones' and Keith's unimaginably bad driving with the Rolls Royces and Bentleys. I savored every page of this book, Tony tells it all & incurred Keith's wrath when this book came out. I did lose some respect for Keith reading this book. This is a book like I've never seen & I think you haven't either. - Harry A.

I just finished reading this book for the first time one month before my 56th birthday. Like so many my age, I was raised on the Beatles and the Stones and all the other rock n roll stars of the past 50 years and for far too many of those years bought into the lie. The sex, drugs and rock n roll lie that has destroyed so many lives. Tony gives a compelling, well written account of those first 15 or so years of the behind-the-scenes life of this truly debauched and depraved band. So much unnecessary and lonely death by the needle, incredible sadness and loss. Even those that survived it and are still around, what do they offer back?I had read enough of the stories and now with the internet, seen enough from a variety of sources to believe Tony 's rendering to be true. We've just finished a year of the Stones 50th celebration and every time I see an interview or watch a performance, I'm reminded of the lie behind it all. These guys are now old and it shows. It's long over for them. What do they think about in those dark quiet and lonely times meant for reflection? Are they sorry for it all? Do they ask themselves what they have truly contributed? Or do they just revel in memories of their past glory, sexual immorality, stage love and avoid thinking about the dead and destroyed lives left in their wake. Greatest rock n roll band? Yes I give it to them but we know now that it's inversely proportional to the good, the noble, the pure. What will they say to their Creator when death overtakes?I read this on my Kindle HD and it translated great. I highly recommend this book and edition as good quality and readability.Although I wasn't surprised by the stories they were nevertheless still disturbing. Let's just hope they are no longer titillating to our youth.

Yes. It's true. Keith Richards cannot be killed. This man MUST have made a deal with the devil. There's a joke that circulates among Keef's fans, "Keith Richards' daughters have finalized their wills & have left everything they own to their father Keith Richards."This book was co-written by ghost writer British music journalist John Blake who is not credited but who owns the publishing rights. Annoyingly, this book is so CHOCK FULL of misprints & errors at times it's exasperating. But utimately, I didn't care because the stories are so salacious, debauched & crazy I wasn't able to put it down. It paints an extremely DARK portrait of The Rolling Stones. Drugs, drug busts, black magic, guns, violence, womanizing, money excess & more drugs. Did I mention drugs? It's all here. Is it true? Understandably, The Stones "mythology" is in full effect here. I'm still reeling from the "blood swap" episode which is like a bad "B" movie sci-fi scenario. It's since been debunked by Keef as something he made up. I find this hysterical. We all know that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. And since drug addicted rockstar excess in the 60s & 70s is the stuff of legend, I would posit that most of it is true. But, with a lot of embellishment & hyperbole to make it more entertaining. Keef supposedly said, "Spanish Tony can't write his own name, let alone a book." Keef also scrawled, "Spanish Tony where are you?" in graffiti on the bathroom photo for the "Beggars Banquet" album. Keef probably needed a fix at the time. So yeah. Tony was there.If you're a Stones fan, here are the books you MUST read...1. "Life" by Keith Richards2. "Faithfull: An Autobiography" by Marianne Faithfull3. "Exile On Main Street: A Season In Hell with The Rolling Stones" by Robert Greenfield.4. "S.T.P.: A Journey Through America with The Rolling Stones" by Robert Greenfield5. "Up & Down with The Rolling Stones: My Rollercoaster Ride with Keith Richards" by Tony SanchezBut, you're gonna need a shower & a detox afterwards.ENJOY.

Spanish Tony the author and former Keith Richard's side kick and hanger on in the the Rolling Stones circle doesn't pull any punches in this unauthorised biography. You may have read other books about the Stones, but this one digs into some extra layers in revealing fashion which is not surprising given the author's inside track so to speak and ends up with him eventually being shut out of the band's inner circle. A shockingly good read! Recommended.

Le livre',enfin un'boquin qui parle de la'saga des stones sous un angle nouveau ,ce ne sont pas toujours les memes ritiurnelles et les marroniers'qui fleurissent ca et la dans toutes les bios

I've had this book on my wishlist for a while now and I'm so pleased I went ahead and bought it.I don't have much time to read but I found myself making the time to read this. I could not wait to get to the next chapter.The author''s narrative style makes for an easy read - he himself was no saint and he acknowledges this, which is refreshing, even admitting on several occasions to being an addict himself. I found his comments about drugs and the effect they have on a person interesting - he of course could speak from personal experience!The photos (as said by another reviewer) were very disappointing. This would have been a great opportunity for some revealing images. I thought I might have the wrong book at one point as it mentions "candid" photos which are a disappointment considering the time spent with the Stones and if he was indeed their official photographer at some point, the number of photos included certainly don't reflect this.A number of "mysterious" deaths were reported in this book - not sure when the book was first published - but most of the deaths (Gram Parsons for example) had pretty straightforward circumstances and considering Gram was at Nellcote for a time causing friction between Keith and Mick, which has been documented in other books, I'm surprised he was only mentioned in death.The final couple of chapters I feel were a bit hastily written which was a shame - they would have been a really interesting part of the book if he had chosen to expand on these.Brian Jones was no saint but Tony seems to be the only author so far that I have read, who in a general book about the Stones, tackles the death of Brian head on, that he was having trouble with certain individuals and goes so far as to point a definite finger at one person in particular.I'm sure a lot of the book was exaggerated but it really was an enjoyable read and would recommend if you already interested in the Stones, the 60s and the decadence of the period - and I thought he seemed like a nice guy too!

… anziché le "obbligatorie" e ufficiali biografie di Jagger e Richards, ovviamente punti di vista abbastanza parziali, provate a leggere questo incredibile resoconto scritto da un confidente/pusher/factotum di Richards, e scoprirete quel lato assai chiacchierato degli Stones fatto soprattutto di droga, sesso, poco rock'n'roll, morte, squallore, follia, machismo, droga, deliri di onnipotenza, processi, droga, sesso, e droga. Soprattutto droga. Quintali di eroina. E non ne esce un ritratto particolarmente positivo dei protagonisti, siano il satiro itifallico Jagger o il junkie Richards, ma anche la inquietante Anita Pallenberg e la un tempo innocente Marianne Faithfull, oltre alla triste parabola del compianto Brian Jones...

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