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Keith Richards met John Lennon in the early 1960s when both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were rising to fame. They both rose to considerable success, and they were friends, despite rumors of a feud between their two bands. Early in their careers, Richards explained that he offered Lennon advice on how to be a better musician. He shared what Lennon was doing wrong.

Eric Clapton, John Lennon, and Keith Richards | Andrew Maclear/Redferns Keith Richards gave John Lennon advice at how to play guitar

Richards and Lennon were both accomplished musicians, but Richards revealed that Lennon originally had an unusual method of playing guitar.

“I liked John a lot,” Richards wrote in his memoir Life. “He was a silly sod in many ways. I used to criticize him for wearing his guitar too high. They used to wear them up by their chests, which really constricts your movement.

As a child, John Lennon was willing to put himself in dangerous situations. He got into fights he had no chance of winning and stole. He admitted that he used to go “thieving” with a friend, something he didn’t necessarily enjoy. Lennon said he felt terrified the entire time, and for a good reason. Once, someone fired a gun at him.

John Lennon | Harry Benson/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images John Lennon said that he found himself in a dangerous position as a child

During Lennon’s adolescence, he worked hard to establish himself as popular and powerful.

“I was the kingpin of my age group,” he said, per The Beatles Anthology. “I learnt lots of dirty jokes very young; there was a girl who lived near who told me.”

In order to maintain his position as the kingpin, he had to prove that he was fearless and rebellious.

The Beatles and Rolling Stones were two of England’s biggest bands in the 1960s, yet they rarely crossed paths professionally. Paul McCartney said the press manufactured the rivalry between the bands, but it wasn’t hard to fabricate animosity as the groups rarely worked together and presented different images in the media (the clean-cut Beatles and grimier Stones). They recorded the same song twice, but outside of that, The Rolling Stones worked with The Beatles just twice.

(top) Paul McCartney (left) of The Beatles and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones; (bottom) John Lennon (center) in ‘The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus | Victor Blackman/Express/Getty Images; Andrew Maclear/Redferns John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave The Rolling Stones 1 of their first hit songs

Once Paul and John Lennon established themselves as ace songwriters, they weren’t above giving their songs to other artists. That includes The Rolling Stones.

“ You’re a comical little geezer. You’ll look funny when you’re fifty.” James Fox as Chas to Mick Jagger as Turner in Performance.

Last weekend saw the loss of one of the UK’s finest and most admired filmmakers, Nicolas Roeg, who died at 90. 2018 also marks fifty years since the making of his first film as director, the BAFTA-nominated Performance, alongside co-director Donald Cammell starring James Fox, Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg.

To celebrate the anniversary a lavish 348 page book, Performance: The 50th Anniversary of the Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg Cinematic Classic, boasting over 500 images, many previously unseen by the public, will be published on 3rd December 2018, as James Kleinmann reports for HeyUGuys.

The book, by Jay Glennie, takes an in-depth look at the making of the hugely influential film, the reluctance of Warner Bros. to release it without substantial cuts, the initial critical reaction as well...