PARIS — No matinee idols for Louis Vuitton. Its latest poster boy, Keith Richards, has deep wrinkles, smudged eyeliner and unruly hair as he sits strumming a guitar in an untidy hotel suite. And Antoine Arnault, Vuitton's head of communications, couldn't be more pleased. "We thought it was important to continue with someone unexpected," Arnault said of the Richards ad, slated to break in a range of general-interest titles in April. "I think when people are flipping through a magazine, this will stop them."

A legendary guitar player and a founding member of The Rolling Stones, Richards is the latest personality to appear in Vuitton's "core values" campaign, designed to underscore the brand's travel heritage and classic monogram leather goods as a balance to its fashion-driven marketing. Launched last fall, the first batch of ads — starring Mikhail Gorbachev, Catherine Deneuve and tennis deities Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf — will continue to appear in tandem with the Richards image. The new spot comes with the tag line, "Some journeys cannot be put into words," and the rocker's haunting, hypnotic expression says it all. Arnault recalled that, when Annie Leibovitz displayed the photograph on a computer monitor after the shoot, Richards exclaimed: "It looks like a Rembrandt." Albeit one with many rock 'n' roll details, including black scarves printed with skulls covering the table lamps — a Richards touch — and a custom-made Vuitton guitar case tossed on the bed.

Thanks in part to his long rapport with Leibovitz, Richards accepted the invitation to pose for the French luxury brand readily, Arnault said. He even went to a Vuitton store the day before and picked out a leather jacket to wear for the shoot. The musician donated a portion of his fee to The Climate Project, an environmental charity.

Arnault said that Vuitton plans to add more surprising faces to its campaign, but declined to identify them. He also would not discuss budgets, but said that Vuitton would spend "significantly" more on communications in 2008 as the company ventures into television and film advertising, and adds more of what he considers "core-values characters."

As for Richards, "We think the image is so strong, we'll try to launch it in some newspapers" as well as some edgy fashion titles like V Magazine, Arnault said. "The good thing about Keith is, he's big just about everywhere. He speaks to the 20-year-old who's into rock 'n' roll and the 65-year-olds who went to [a Rolling Stones] concert when they were 20."

The core-values campaign has already bumped up traffic in Vuitton stores, with managers reporting that it "brought back people who might have thought Vuitton was not for them any more," Arnault said. "It reassured the customer."

Jagger a 'power freak', says Keith

Look for Mick, Keith & Jack White on upcoming cover of Rolling Stones Magazine to be released April 4.

LONDON (AFP) — Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is a "power freak" who is also a "bit vain", bandmate Keith Richards said in an interview set to be published Thursday.

Speaking to Uncut magazine in an interview to promote a Martin Scorsese documentary about the band, "Shine A Light", the guitarist also said he would have told his younger self to "lay off" drugs.

"Mick's a maniac. He can't get up in the morning without knowing immediately who he's going to call," the 64-year-old Richards said.

"Meanwhile, I just go 'Thank God I'm awake' and wait for three or four hours before I do anything. He is a power freak and there's nothing we can do about it. I don't want to do anything about it. Let him bugger about. It doesn't make any difference to what we do."

Addressing Jagger's on-stage presence, Richards told the magazine, "Excuse me while I laugh. He's a bit vain, let's put it like that," before adding: "We want a vain bloke up there, don't we? Meanwhile, the band can go to work. Vanity will not carry a band. But a band can carry vanity."

Richards was also asked what message he would want to send to his younger self, to which he responded: "I'd have said 'Lay off the dope.' That's my advice now to all younger members who are into this sort of thing -- oh, give it up, it ain't really worth it.

"I know the fascination, but it ain't worth it, pal."

In the interview, he also belittled Led Zeppelin's December one-off reunion gig, telling Uncut: "They had one? Well, well done Jimmy (Page) and Robert (Plant)... Stairway To Heaven don't make it for me, baby."

February 7, 2008

Stones' magic gets Berlin film festival rolling

By Mike Collett-WhiteThu Feb 7, 12:29 PM ET

Martin Scorsese brings the magic of the Rolling Stones to the big screen with "Shine a Light," a two-hour film of the veteran British rockers strutting their stuff at a packed New York venue.

The documentary, filmed with 17 cameras at two concerts at the intimate Beacon Theater in 2006, opens the annual Berlin Film Festival on Thursday, a fitting beginning to an 11-day cinematic marathon that is rich in rock'n'roll.

Madonna is expected in Berlin for her directorial debut, while movies about singer Patti Smith, British indie band Gorillaz and a heavy metal group from Baghdad also feature. Journalists at a preview screening ahead of the evening red carpet premiere watched the four 60-something band members shot from almost every conceivable angle for the film named after a song on their 1972 album "Exile on Main St." Jagger, now 64, defies his years, gyrating and pouting his way through a string of hits including "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up," while guitarist Keith Richards grins mischievously throughout. Scorsese has used Rolling Stones music from the start of his career, prompting Jagger to joke that "Shine a Light" was the only film of his not to feature the song "Gimme Shelter." "For me the music was certainly part of my life throughout the 60s," Scorsese told reporters at a press conference. "For me the sound of the movie, the chords, the vocals, the entire feel of the music inspired me greatly," added the director, flanked by the four band members. "It became the basis for most of the work I've done in my movies going from 'Mean Streets' on to 'Raging Bull' all the way over to 'Casino' and 'The Departed'." ARCHIVE, NEW ANGLES Scorsese adds short clips of black-and-white archive footage between songs showing a young Jagger or Richards fielding often inane and repetitive questions from reporters around the world. Just two years after the band formed, Jagger was asked how long the band could keep going. "I don't know," he replied. "I think we're pretty well set up for at least another year." In another interview he is asked: "Can you picture yourself at the age of 60 doing what you're doing now?" Jagger replies: "Yeh, easily. Yeh." Before the concert starts, Scorsese is shown desperately trying to find out the track list ahead of the concert. Richards and Ronnie Wood are filmed playing pool before a gig and Jagger pours over lists of songs categorized as "well known," "medium known" and "unknown." The band, looking slightly perplexed, is introduced to former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his friends before a show. After they leave, Richards jokes: "Hey Clinty, We're Bushed!" Scorsese's cameras are located in the crowd and behind the stage, giving a 360 degree view of the performance from both the fans' and the band's point of view. "We were able to go out there and just do a Stones show," Richards told reporters. "There are many cameras but we didn't even see them, we didn't even know they were there. That was very important." Jagger performs on stage with Jack White of The White Stripes, Christina Aguilera and a mesmerizing Buddy Guy. Least comfortable of all before the camera is drummer Charlie Watts, the oldest member of the band at 66. "I hate it, but it's very beautifully filmed," he said, when asked how he found the experience of making the movie. "I hate doing it, like sitting up here for example." (Editing by Paul Casciato) (To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/ )

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January 14, 2008

Visit the Shrine's newest page for 2008 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Keith's Guitars, But Were Afraid To Ask I have been wanting to update the info on Keith's guitars since 2002, when I last updated my previous KR guitar page The Lo Down On Keith's Guitars. Thanks to Stones backline crew member Johnny Starbuck and Rich at We Sell Guitars, I wrote a piece on Keith's guitars for the Winter issue of Stones Planet Fanzine and now have re-posted my article, along with many more photos here. Enjoy!

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January 12, 2008

Iorr.org is reporting that the Stones may still do some shows to support the Shine A Light movie when it is released April 4, 2008, however these are only rumors and plans to tour Asia in 2008 have been put on hold.

Ronnie Wood just had hernia surgery and is recovering at home with his family. He reportedly hurt himself on tour, but delayed the surgery until after the holidays.

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January 1, 2008

Wishing you a HAPPY NEW STONES YEAR 2008!!!!!!! Thanks for visiting the Keith Shrine!

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