I recently finished “The Life”, an autobiography by Keith Richards. Now I’m in the middle of Philips Norman’s biography of John Lennon.
Amazing that both artists were blown away by the same song – Heartbreak Hotel.
John Lennon:
“Heartbreak Hotel’ sounded a corny title, and his name seemed strange in those days. But then when I heard it, it was the end for me…I remember rushing home with the record”
Keith Richards:
“Good records just get better with age. But the one that really turned me on, like an explosion one night, listening to Radio Luxembourg on my little radio when I was supposed to be in bed and asleep, was "Heartbreak Hotel.” That was the stunner. I’d never heard it before, or anything like it. I’d never heard of Elvis before. It was almost as if I’d been waiting for it to happen. When I woke up the next day I was a different guy.“
One song can change the world.