VIDEO: Keith Richards’ Hit “Take it So Hard”

After 25 years and during a period of bad feeling between he and fellow Rolling Stones leader Mick Jagger, Keith Richards would record his first solo album “Talk is Cheap,” and on it was the hit, Take it So Hard. The Wall Street Journal’s Marc Myers recently interviewed Richards about the song, writing:

In 1986, during a brittle period between Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, Mr. Richards decided to go forward with his first solo album. Recorded in 1987 and released in 1988, “Talk Is Cheap” expressed Mr. Richards’s love for early rock ’n’ roll.

The album’s first single was “Take It So Hard,” co-written by Mr. Richards and Steve Jordan. The song received heavy radio airplay, reaching No. 3 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart.

Mr. Richards and Mr. Jordan recently looked back at the song’s evolution. “Talk Is Cheap” (BMG) will be reissued with bonus tracks on March 29. Edited from interviews:

Keith Richards: In 1987, I was a little apprehensive about recording a solo album. I’d been with the Rolling Stones for 25 years. One band was enough. But it was time, you know?

Back then, there was a hiatus with the Stones. Mick had recorded his first solo album [“She’s the Boss”] in ’84. Then the Stones recorded “Dirty Work” in ’85. But Mick didn’t want to tour for the album, which was frustrating. In ’87, Mick released his second solo album [“Primitive Cool”] and announced he was going to tour for that one.

To be honest, I felt lost for a bit. Then, very quickly, I realized this was an opportunity to spread my wings. I first met drummer Steve Jordan in ’86 when we recorded on Aretha Franklin’s cover version of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” for the movie of the same name.

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