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Keith Richards on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 'It's a mishmash of rubbish'

'The Beatles sounded great when they were the Beatles'

Thursday 06 August 2015 14:45 BST

Related video: Gimme Shelter documentary charts The Rolling Stones US tour in 1969

While The Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band is held by many as the greatest album of all time, it still hasn't over rival Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

In a recent interview, Richards, while talking about the 60’s, takes aim at Sgt. Pepper, along with his own band’s Their Satanic Majesties Request - an album released the same year - calling them a “mismash of rubbish”.

“The Beatles sounded great when they were the Beatles,” he told Esquire. “But there's not a lot of roots in that music. I think they got carried away. Why not? If you're the Beatles in the '60s, you just get carried away—you forget what it is you wanted to do.

Groundbreaking: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

“You're starting to do Sgt. Pepper. Some people think it's a genius album, but I think it's a mishmash of rubbish, kind of like Satanic Majesties—"Oh, if you can make a load of s**t, so can we."

He also spoke about his own bands touring schedule in the sixties, saying at times “3,000 screaming chicks could just wail you out of the whole place.

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The Rolling Stones in 1964

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The Rolling Stones performing in concert in 1964

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Guitarist Mick Taylor, 62, joined the Rolling Stones (second left) when he was 20

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The legendary 'glimmer twins' Keith and Mick in 1961.

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The Rolling Stones, Baker Street, London, 1963

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Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones signing an autograph for a young fan, at Dublin Airport, during the band's second Irish tour of 1965.

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Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones exiting the airport bus at Dublin Airport before their concert at the Adelphi Theatre during the band's second Irish tour of 1965.

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The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in 1967

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The Rolling Stones at the Roundhouse in London in 1971: from the left, Keys, Charlie Watts, Mick Taylor and Mick Jagger

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Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger performs in front of a crowd of 70,000 at Wembley Stadium in 1982

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Keith Richards on stage in 2013.

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Suits you: Mick Jagger (far right) with his bandmates in 2014.

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The Rolling Stones at Glastonbury in 2014.

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The Rolling Stones at Glasotnbury in 2013.

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“Just looking at the crowd, you could see them dragging the chicks out, sweating, screaming, convulsing. Astonishing, even at that age. At the same time, a whole roomful of chicks yelling at you is not so shabby, either.”

Richards also mentioned The Beatles, saying “those chicks wore those guys out. They stopped touring in 1966—they were done already. They were ready to go to India and s**t.”

Earlier this year, The Beatles iconic album, Sgt. Pepper, will be taught to GCSE music students. Britain’s biggest exam board, the AQA, is to make all students study three songs from the album – “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”, “With A Little Help From My Friends” and “Within You Without You”.

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