| Talk Is Cheap | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Keith Richards |
| Cover: | Talkischeap.jpg |
| Released: | 3 October 1988 |
| Recorded: | August 1987 – May 1988 |
| Studio: | Air Studios, Montserrat; Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec |
| Length: | 47:01 |
| Label: | Virgin |
| Next Title: | Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988 |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
Talk Is Cheap is the debut solo album by English musician Keith Richards, the guitarist of the Rolling Stones, released in 1988. Recorded and released during a long-standing falling out with Mick Jagger, Talk Is Cheap received positive reviews upon its release.
Relations between Jagger and Richards had grown tense into the third decade of the Rolling Stones as they began to disagree on the musical direction of the band; "You Don't Move Me" would be written about their feud. The image-conscious Jagger was keen to follow the trends and keep the Rolling Stones current, while Richards wanted to preserve their reputation and roots. When Jagger was more interested in pursuing his solo career instead of touring for Dirty Work in 1986, Richards began a solo project for the first time.
Richards teamed up with Steve Jordan, who had worked on Dirty Work and eventually became the Rolling Stones' touring drummer following Charlie Watts' death in 2021, and the pair wrote several new songs. One of which, "Almost Hear You Sigh", would be placed on the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels in 1989 (with lyric modifications by Jagger). Recording began in August 1987 at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec, and continued sporadically until the following May with visits to Montserrat and Bermuda. In order to assert his independence further, Richards signed with Virgin Records, while the Rolling Stones were under contract to Sony Music (they followed him to Virgin in 1993).
The core of the band, called the X-Pensive Winos, consisted of Waddy Wachtel, Ivan Neville, Charley Drayton and Jordan, with many guest artists taking part in the recording, including Sarah Dash, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, the Memphis Horns and Patti Scialfa, and the only musician from the Stones to appear, guitarist Mick Taylor. Outtakes later surfaced that included an eight-minute version of "Struggle" and two passes at "Almost Hear You Sigh", as well as two unreleased jams, the 14-minute "She Put the Mark on Me" and the 12-minute "Breakin'".
A live version of "Make No Mistake" performed at the Hollywood Palladium was later featured in an episode of The Sopranos and on the 2001 soundtrack album The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series.
Released in October 1988, Talk Is Cheap was met with critical acclaim, with some reviews half-jokingly calling it the best Rolling Stones album in years. It peaked at No. 37[1] in the UK and No. 24 in the US,[2] where it went gold.[3]
All tracks written by Keith Richards and Steve Jordan.
Side one
Side two
The 2019 reissue features six previously unreleased tracks.
The X-Pensive Winos
Additional musicians
Production
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | UK Top 100 Albums | 37 |
| 1988 | Australian (ARIA Charts)[4] | 15 |
| 1988 | The Billboard 200 | 24 |
| 1989 | The Billboard 200 | 54 |
| 2019 | Polish Albums (ZPAV)[5] | 44 |
| UK Top 100 Albums | 43 |