The bond, the special bond, between kids and grandparents is unique and should be treasured. This is the story of one of those magical moments. May I be as great a grandfather as Gus was to me. –Keith Richards

Growing up during the rock and roll music revolution during the 1960s was an exciting and memorable time. There were two bands that dominated the airwaves – The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. We watched them perform on the Ed Sullivan Show and bought their albums. The music from these two bands has become synonymous with rock and roll. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are “Rock and Roll”.  While there have been a number of books written about The Beatles for children and young adults, there aren’t many (any?) about The Rolling Stones.

There is a delightful book that Keith Richards, one of the founding members of The Stones, wrote with Barnaby Harris and Bill Shapiro called Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar (Little Brown). Richards reminisces about his childhood and pays homage to his grandfather, Theodore Augustus Dupree, who started him on his musical journey.

Keith had many family members who enjoyed music but it was his grandfather who lit the spark that would flame into a passion for music. This musical legend spent many childhood days walking throughout London and the English countryside, and his grandfather always hummed every step of the way. During some of their rambles, Gus took Keith to repair shops where they watched experts fix broken musical instruments. It was after one of these visits that Keith became interested in a guitar that was on the top of his grandfather’s piano. Gus eventually gave this guitar to Keith and taught him to play the classic piece “Malagueña”. Gus told Keith that when he mastered that song, he would be able to learn to play anything, and so he did.

The illustrations for Gus & Me were composed by Theodora Richards, Keith’s daughter, who is named after his grandfather. For inspiration and accuracy, she returned to her father’s childhood home, used family photos, and consulted with her father while she was illustrating the book.

Check out this video of a younger Keith Richards playing “Malagueña”.

This is one of six clips where Keith Richards talks about writing the book.