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

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, released in 1992 between

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' '' Steel Wheels'' and '' Voodoo Lounge'' projects. Richards teamed with '' Talk Is Cheap'' collaborator Steve Jordan 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, Beth Hart, Stevie Nicks, Miranda ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from March to September 1992, with touring in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

's autumn and early 1993 in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. ''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'' in 2015. In 2022 the album was reissued to mark its 30th anniversary. The reissue featured the previously unreleased concert album ''Winos Live in London ’92''.

Track listing

#"999" (

, Steve Jordan,

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

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...

) – 3:21 (Japanese issue bonus track)

''Winos Live In London ‘92''

Released as part of the 30th Anniversary reissue. #"Take It So Hard" (Richards, Jordan) – 4:15 #"999" (Richards, Jordan, Wachtel) – 6:45 #"Wicked As It Seems" (Richards, Jordan, Drayton) – 5:14 #"How I Wish" (Richards, Jordan) – 4:31 #"Gimme Shelter" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

, Richards) – 6:10 #"Hate It When You Leave" (Richards, Jordan, Wachtel) – 6:39 #"Before They Make Me Run" (Jagger, Richards) – 3:31 #"Eileen" (Richards, Jordan) – 5:42 #"Will But You Won’t" (Richards, Jordan) – 7:30 #"Bodytalks" (Richards, Jordan, Drayton, Dash) – 6:53 #"Happy" (Jagger, Richards) – 8:28 #"Whip It Up" (Richards, Jordan) – 8:33

Personnel

* Keith Richards – lead vocals, backing vocals (1-3, 5-10), guitars, rattlesnake sounds (2), bass (3-5), percussion (5, 9), keyboards (7), acoustic piano (8) *

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 the other members of The Neville Brothers. Career Neville has released four solo albums and ...

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(1, 4),

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

(1, 2, 4, 9), acoustic piano (4, 8, 10),

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(5), voice (6), bass (7),

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

(8) *

– guitars, backing vocals (1-4, 6-10), acoustic piano (3),

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 ...

(7), percussion (9) * Charley Drayton – bass (1, 2, 6, 8, 10), backing vocals (3, 7), drums (4), baritone guitar (5), acoustic piano (7), Hammond B3 organ (7) * Steve Jordan – drums (1-3, 5-10), backing vocals, percussion (2, 4-6, 8-10), guitars (4),

castanet Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

s (3), Farfisa organ (7),

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 ...

s (7) * 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 Ree ...

s (7) * Crispin Cioe – woodwinds (7) * Arno Hecht – woodwinds (7) * Sarah Dash – backing vocals (1, 6) * Bernard Fowler – backing vocals (2, 4-10) * Babi Floyd – backing vocals (2, 4-8, 10), vocals (9)

Production

* Steve Jordan – producer * Keith Richards – producer * Waddy Wachtel – producer * Joe Blaney – recording, mixing (4) * Don Smith – recording, mixing (3, 8) *

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

– mixing (1, 2, 4-7, 9, 10) * Ron Allaire – assistant engineer * Tom Fritze – assistant engineer * Carl Glanville – assistant engineer * Andrew Grassi – assistant engineer * Tim Hatfield – assistant engineer, additional engineer * David Merrill – assistant engineer * Steve Neat – assistant engineer * Julio Pena – assistant engineer * Kevin Scott – assistant engineer * Richard Scott – assistant engineer *

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''. Early life ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY) * Robyn Lipp – recording coordinator * Linda Smith – recording coordinator * Tony Russell – production coordinator * Mick Haggerty – art direction * Dewey Nicks – black and white photography *

David LaChapelle David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American photographer, music video director, and film director. He is best known for his work in fashion and photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His ...

– color photography

Charts

References

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