Sunday, December 18: Tig’s Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (Dec. 18) to Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. He’s 73. Also celebrating today is guitarist Elliot Easton of The Cars (63), former Scorpions lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth (62), and former Whit Lion drummer Greg D'Angelo (53).

Keith Richards is one of the original members of The Rolling Stones. He ranked number 4 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Best Guitarists” list. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and Rolling Stone magazine ranked them fourth on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Their estimated sales are over 200 million worldwide. I had the chance to meet Keith Richards twenty years ago at recording studio in Woodstock, NY. He was there recording a track for a tribute album to Elvis Presley and I got to help out and assist during the session. It was a cool experience to meet the rock legend.

Elliot Easton is lead guitarist of The Cars. The band out of Boston emerged from the new wave scene of the late 70’s/early 80’s, and turned out tons of hits over much of a decade. The Cars reunited in 2010, put out a new studio album, and did a short 10 city tour of the US and Canada in 2011.

Uli Jon Roth was lead guitarist and the main songwriter for The Scorpions during the early part of the band’s career. He released four studio albums during his time in the band (1974-1978).