Keith Richards - Talk Is Cheap

30th Anniversary Limited Edition remastered box set

Includes two 180-gram LPs, two 7-inch singles and two CDs

Previously unreleased tracks, 80-page book, guitar pick, posters and more!

By the mid-1980s, the relationship between Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards was tense and fraying visibly. In pursuit of pop stardom, Jagger had released his first solo album, She's the Boss, in early 1985 while Richards' first priority was always the Stones.

In 1988, on a break from the Stones, Keith Richards released his first-ever solo album, Talk Is Cheap. This universally respected debut is an 11-track masterclass in everything that's good about rock 'n roll and features guest appearances from an all-star cast including Sarah Dash, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, the Memphis Horns, Patti Scialfa and Mick Taylor. Remastered from the original tapes by Richards' collaborator, Steve Jordan, the album's joyous swagger is re-energized and permeates through each and every song.

When the Stones began recording Dirty Work, its first album under a new deal with CBS Records, Jagger was typically AWOL from the sessions, recording his vocals later (and alone). While Jagger performed a solo set that summer at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, Richards and the Stones' Ron Wood performed supporting Bob Dylan.

In the wake of Jagger's decision to pursue his solo career in opposition to the Stones' fortunes, Richards decided to record his own solo LP. Richards enlisted the help — as coproducer and co-songwriter — journeyman drummer Steve Jordan, who had appeared on the Stones' Dirty Work album and was a member of the Saturday Night Live house band during the 1970s (he also toured with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's Blues Brothers band).

Richards began recording Talk Is Cheap in August 1987 in Quebec, Canada with further sessions taking place the following spring in Montserrat and Bermuda. A number of Richards' famous and talented friends would appear on the album, including funkateers Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell; legendary Chuck Berry sideman Johnnie Johnson; NRBQ's Joey Spampinato; Chuck Leavell from the Allman Brothers Band; singer Patti Scialfa (i.e. Mrs. Bruce Springsteen); and former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor (who plays on "I Could Have Stood You Up"). Although the Stones were signed to Sony Music, Richards inked a deal with Virgin Records to release his solo debut.

Richards had a clear vision of the musical direction he wanted to pursue, however, which resulted in an 11-song collection that documents where the guitarist's muse was leading him at the time. The album earned a fair amount of critical acclaim, Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke writing at the time, "indeed, Richards's first solo album is a masterpiece of underachievement. He does nothing more or less than what he's always done on Stones records, slicing and dicing classic blues and Berryesque motifs into junkyard-dog guitar growls, singing in a shaky tortured-tonsil yelp that makes Jagger sound like Metropolitan Opera material."

Thirty years later, Talk Is Cheap holds up quite well, actually...since the guitarist used a basic musical blueprint of rock, blues, soul and funk that his pick-up band was immanently qualified to create. Released in 1988, Richards' debut solo album, the RIAA gold-certified Talk Is Cheap featured the hit "Take It So Hard" (U.K. Top 5) and "You Don't Move Me" (U.S. Top 20).

Features:
• 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set
• 180g Vinyl LP - original album remastered
• 180g Vinyl LP of bonus material - features 6 never before released tracks
• 7" Vinyl Single "Take It So Hard" b/w "I Could Have Stood You Up"
• 7" Vinyl Single "Make No Mistake" b/w "It Means A Lot"
• Remastered CD album (wallet)
• CD of bonus material - features 6 never before released tracks (wallet)
• Extensive 80 page hardback book with Anthony DeCurtis-written essay featuring a new interview with Keith, including extensive rare and unseen photos from personal archives
• Tour laminate
• 2x lyric sheets
• Reproduction Talk Is Cheap playback invite
• Talk Is Cheap tour guitar pick
• 2x posters
• Contents are cased in an exquisite Deluxe Folio Pack, wrapped in Fender replica guitar case material

CD 1

Big Enough (2019 - Remaster)

Take It So Hard (2019 - Remaster)

Struggle (2019 - Remaster)

I Could Have Stood You Up (2019 - Remaster)

Make No Mistake (2019 - Remaster)

You Don't Move Me (2019 - Remaster)

How I Wish (2019 - Remaster)

Rockawhile (2019 - Remaster)

Whip It Up (2019 - Remaster)

Locked Away (2019 - Remaster)

It Means A Lot (2019 - Remaster)

CD 2

Blues Jam (2019 - Remaster)

My Babe (2019 - Remaster)

Slim (2019 - Remaster)

Big Town Playboy (2019 - Remaster)

Mark On Me (2019 - Remaster)

Brute Force (2019 - Remaster)

LP 1

Big Enough (2019 - Remaster)

Take It So Hard (2019 - Remaster)

Struggle (2019 - Remaster)

I Could Have Stood You Up (2019 - Remaster)

Make No Mistake (2019 - Remaster)

You Don't Move Me (2019 - Remaster)

How I Wish (2019 - Remaster)

Rockawhile (2019 - Remaster)

Whip It Up (2019 - Remaster)

Locked Away (2019 - Remaster)

It Means A Lot (2019 - Remaster)

LP 2

Blues Jam (2019 - Remaster)

My Babe (2019 - Remaster)

Slim (2019 - Remaster)

Big Town Playboy (2019 - Remaster)

Mark On Me (2019 - Remaster)

Brute Force (2019 - Remaster)

7 Inch LP 1

Take It So Hard (2019 - Remaster)

I Could Have Stood You Up (2019 - Remaster)

7 Inch LP 2

Make No Mistake (2019 - Remaster)

It Means A Lot (2019 - Remaster)

(5 Stars) 1 person(s) rated this product.
Write a review and let people know what you think of this product OR just rate it.