A HAPPY accident waiting to happen, the relationship between Tom Waits and Keith Richards began when Richards accepted a “flippant” suggestion Waits made to his record company that they invite Keith to play on Rain Dogs in 1985. “I said, ‘What about Keith Richards?’” Waits later recalled. “I was just joking, but somebody went ahead and called him and he said yeah. I said, ‘Now we’re really in trouble…’” Richards came in to the studio in New York, drank some Cutty Sark and played on “Blind Love”, “Union Square” and “Big Black Mariah”. Waits’ standard line was that the Stones guitarist was working off a cash debt.
Since then, the pair have regularly collaborated and convened, notably on Waits’ , featuring their co-write “That Feel”, and albums. Their musical
