''Main Offender'' is the second studio album by

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, released in 1992 between

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' ''

Steel Wheels Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

'' and '' Voodoo Lounge'' projects. Richards teamed with '' Talk Is Cheap'' collaborator

Steve Jordan Steve, Stephen, or Steven Jordan may refer to: Music * Steve Jordan (guitarist) (1919–1993), American jazz guitarist * Steve Jordan (drummer) (born 1957), American drummer, studio musician * Steve Jordan (accordionist) (born Esteban Jordan) (1939 ...

and added

Waddy Wachtel Robert "Waddy" Wachtel (born May 24, 1947) is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy ...

to the mix both in composing and producing ''Main Offender''. Sessions with Richards' group of musician friends known as "The X-Pensive Winos" took place in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

from March to September 1992, with touring in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

's autumn and early 1993 in North America. ''Main Offender'' was released in October 1992 to generally positive reviews. However, it failed to match the commercial success of ''Talk Is Cheap'', reaching No. 45 in the UK, and No. 99 in the US. After the ''Main Offender'' tour, Richards returned to recording exclusively with the Rolling Stones and did not release another solo album until ''

Crosseyed Heart ''Crosseyed Heart'' is the third solo album by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Released on 18 September 2015, it is Richards' first studio album in 23 years since '' Main Offender''. As with his first two albums, it was recorded with his ...

'' in 2015. In 2022 the album was reissued to mark its 30th anniversary.

Track listing

#"999" (

) – 5:50 #"Wicked as It Seems" (Richards, Jordan,

Charley Drayton Charles Leslie Drayton (born May 9, 1965) is an American multi-instrumentalist and producer, known primarily as a drummer. Artists he has recorded or performed with include The Cult, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Neil Young, ...

) – 4:45 #"Eileen" (Richards, Jordan) – 4:29 #"Words of Wonder" (Richards, Jordan, Wachtel) – 6:35 #"Yap Yap" (Richards, Jordan, Wachtel) – 4:43 #"Bodytalks" (Richards, Jordan, Drayton,

Sarah Dash Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer and actress. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, sess ...

) – 5:20 #"Hate It When You Leave" (Richards, Jordan, Wachtel) – 4:59 #"Runnin' Too Deep" (Richards, Jordan) – 3:20 #"Will but You Won't" (Richards, Jordan) – 5:05 #"Demon" (Richards, Jordan) – 4:45 #" Key to the Highway" (

Charlie Segar Charlie Segar was an American blues pianist and occasional singer, who is best known for being the first to record the blues standard, "Key to the Highway" (1940). Originally from Pensacola, Florida, Segar has been dubbed the "Keyboard Wizard Sup ...

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music Country (also called country and western) is ...

) – 3:21 (Japanese issue bonus track)

Personnel

*Keith Richards –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, keyboards,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Steve Jordan –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

, percussion,

castanet Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a simi ...

s, Farfisa organ,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Waddy Wachtel – guitar,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five- octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ...

, percussion, backing vocals *Charley Drayton – bass guitar, piano, Hammond B-3 electric organ, baritone guitar, backing vocals *

Ivan Neville Ivan Neville (born August 19, 1959) is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers. Career He has released four solo albums and had a Top 30 ...

– piano, organ,

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...

, clavinet,

vibes Vibes may refer to: * Vibes (percussion) or vibraphone, a musical instrument * Vibes (company) a mobile marketing company * The aura or energy given off by someone Media * ''Vibes'' (film), a 1988 comedy * ''Vibes'' (video game), a 2010 video ...

, bass guitar, backing vocals *Sarah Dash – vocals on "Bodytalks", backing vocals *

Bernard Fowler Bernard Fowler (born January 2, 1960) is an American musician. He is known for a long association with The Rolling Stones, providing backing vocals since 1989 and on their studio recordings and live tours. Fowler has been a featured guest vocal ...

– backing vocals *Babi Floyd – backing vocals *Jack Bashkow –

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

*Crispin Cioe – woodwind *Arno Hecht – woodwind ;Technical *Don Smith, Joe Blaney - recording *

Niko Bolas Niko Bolas is an American music producer, sound engineer, and consultant and business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In 1989, Bolas founded Fakespace Music with Mark Bolas, Ian McDowall and Christian Greuel, which, ...

, Don Smith, Joe Blaney - mixing *Mick Haggerty - art direction *Dewey Nicks - black & white photography * David LaChapelle - colour photography *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' '' Come Away with Me''. Biograp ...

- mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1992 albums Keith Richards albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Waddy Wachtel