Keith Richards to tell all he can remember?
They used to say that if you can remember the Sixties you weren't really there man, a thought that may be relevant when considering the news that legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is set to tell all.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson last week announced that Richards will write his highly anticipated autobiography for publication in autumn 2010.
That gives him plenty of time to his rack his brains and scour his memory, probably no easy task. Helping him to get it together, man, will be writer James Fox, the author of White Mischief.
Richards himself selected Fox as co-author because he admired Fox's 1982 book so much, an account of an unsolved murder among the colonial set in Kenya in 1941.
Keith Richards, of course, is now a legend, as a rocker, a guitarist and a songwriter (with Mick Jagger he produced Satisfaction, Jumpin' Jack Flash and Start Me Up).
But he was once in the boy scouts and it's a long way from there to the character on which Johnny Depp based his outrageous Capt Jack Sparrow performance. If he can remember half of it, it will be a great book.
Another blast from back then will be Wonderful Today by Patti Boyd, coming later this month from Headline.
Boyd was the Queen of the Sixties, the beautiful model who married George Harrison and Eric Clapton. She was the inspiration for the timeless songs Something, Layla and Wonderful Tonight.
Her story is one of great highs and even greater lows, including infertility and battles with addiction.
This one is being co-authored by Penny Junor, best known for her books on the Royal Family which is appropriate since Boyd is regarded as rock royalty.
Pamela Stephenson (Mrs Billy Connolly) is a psychotherapist (yes, I know, she'd need to be) and her new book Head Case is coming from Headline.
This one is a follow-up to the bestselling biography Billy, which went into some harrowing stuff about Connolly's past and triggered an overwhelming outpouring from his fans and from readers with unresolved painful pasts.
Stephenson aims to show readers how to deal with mental anguish, depression, anxiety and so on. She sets out the necessary steps towards freeing oneself from unhealthy mental constraints and moving on to a peaceful, celebratory life. Now you know why Billy looks so happy!
- JOHN SPAIN
