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Liz Phair Credits Keith Richards' Memoir for Getting Her Back on the Road

Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images

As Liz Phair gets ready to embark on a Northeast tour starting Dec. 12 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J., she can thank Keith Richards' book for giving her the boost to perform.

"The Keith book, I was like, 'F--- it! This is awesome. I'm actually a part of this,'" Phair tells Spinner about the Rolling Stones guitarist's recently released memoir, 'Life.' "I get to be a part of it because I'm a rock 'n' roller too. It made me really invigorated for performing. I'm all into it right now. I wanna rock. I don't think I've ever said that in my entire career."

Phair recently reviewed 'Life' for the New York Times' Sunday Book Review section, and it seemed appropriate for her to write about the book given that her 1993 debut album, 'Exile in Guyville,' was influenced by the Rolling Stones' classic double-LP, 'Exile on Main Street.'

"It's kind of mind-blowing," she says of the book. "I put it in the review, but I could not stop carving 'LOL' in the margins. Every page is like, 'I can't f---ing believe he just said that.'"

Given her recent experience writing about another person's memoir, would Phair consider penning an autobiography? "Yeah, I would," she says. "But I think I have to be a lot older. I'll know it when it's time. I think I'd be a good writer of a memoir. It'd be interesting and fun and I'd pick the best moments. There is some part of me that looks at what [Keith] did and he is just f---ing honest. There are no punches pulled. I don't think I'm at a place in my life where I could do that. You know what I mean? That was a damn good autobiography."

Phair released her latest album, 'Funstyle,' in October and recently performed shows on the West Coast. She admits that she was initially terrified at the thought of being onstage and lost a month-and-a-half's sleep over it -- until she played at the Matador 21 event in Las Vegas last month.

"It was an amazing weekend," she says of that experience. "I'm so glad I kicked it off with that because it reminded me of the best of what I can aspire to. As pop as I've gone, there's still fully that indie side of me that will never leave and it kind of gave me that sense of who I am again."

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algonquin j. calhoun

if diz phair is a rock'n'roller, i'm the son of an african aviator...she's the lamest excuse for a singer i've ever heard in all my 57 years.

November 29 2010 at 12:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Blonde Ambition

I oughta check out his book & listen to her stuff again. They both deserve their legend.

November 28 2010 at 9:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
johndavidstutts

It is amazing how much mileage this no-talent hack has gotten by attaching herself to the Rolling Stones, feeding off their hard earned credibility and stature like so many crumbs falling off their plate. No Liz, you are not a part of this because you are not a rock n roller. You are a lightweight among lightweights whose music is best suited as a soundtrack to Mommy and Me classes. A few dirty words here and there don't make you anything more than the Rickie Lee Jones clone that Steve Albini rightfully tagged you as so many years ago.

November 24 2010 at 11:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to johndavidstutts's comment
Pitbull in a Basement

The same Steve Albini who called the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, an album he ENGINEERED, "a patchwork pinch loaf from a band who at their top-dollar best are blandly entertaining college rock"?

Ms. Phair's Exile in Guyville is a classic of indie rock and third-wave feminism. Whipsmart and whitechocolatespaceegg are solid follow-ups; even the self-titled album and Somebody's Miracle have their moments. I won't bother defending the newest album to someone who dismisses biting social commentary on contemporary gender dynamics as "a few dirty words."

November 24 2010 at 11:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply