THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Main Offender, the second solo album by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, was released in 1992. Three decades later, it’s been reissued in a deluxe edition that includes the original remastered album, the previously unreleased concert Winos Live In London ‘92 as well as an 88-page book with never-before-seen photos, essays, reproductions of handwritten lyrics and replicas of promotional and tour materials from Richards’ archives.
Main Offender was originally released four years after Talk Is Cheap, and features Richard’s band The X-Pensive Winos, comprised of drummer Steve Jordan, guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Charley Drayton, keyboard player Ivan Neville, singer Sarah Dash, and backing vocalists Bernard Fowler and Babi Floyd. The album was produced by Richards, Wachtel and Jordan, with the newly remastered edition prepared under the supervision of Jordan. The bonus live album was also mixed and produced by Jordan. The X-Pensive Winos accompanied Richards from 1988 to 1993; he released two studio albums and one live album with them.
Commenting on Main Offender 30 years later, Richards says: “This is the second time around and the Winos are kind of developing … If I hadn’t have taken the Winos on the road, this record would probably have been totally different than it is. I tried to avoid making too much sense on this record because to me that ambiguity and mystery, and a little provocation to make you think, is something far more powerful and more important than just wagging your finger and saying, ‘I know what he’s saying — don’t do this, do that.’ If you’re a musician, silence is your canvas, and you never want to fill in the whole thing because then you’ve just covered it all … One of the most interesting parts about music is where you don’t play.”
