Keith Richards is re-releasing his second solo album Main Offender, complete with a live set from 1992

Keith Richards is set to reissue Main Offender – his 1992 solo album with The X-Pensive Winos – with remastered recordings and a new live album on March 18.

Main Offender was Richards‘ second solo album with his side band following his 1988 solo debut with the Winos, Talk Is Cheap. The band was partly formed in retaliation for Mick Jagger’s ‘80s solo efforts, which Richards regarded as a snub to the other Stones.

“It severely pissed me off,” Richards summarised in his autobiography, Life. “…After that I decided, fuck it, I want a band. I was determined to make music in Mick’s absence… So I called in a bunch of guys I had always wanted to work with.”

Those names included drummer Steve Jordan, Waddy Wachtel (guitar), Charley Drayton (bass), Ivan Neville (keys), Sarah Dash (vocals), plus backing vocalists Bernard Fowler and Babi Floyd.

Main Offender, their second album, was released in October 1992, and their set from a London show in the same year, which leans heavily on that material, is included in some of the re-release packages.

“This is the second time around & the Winos are kind of developing – and if I can keep those guys together for as long as I can, it’s one of the best bands in the world. It’s a very intriguing band and the potential is only just starting to show itself,” says Richards of the group’s early-90s period.

“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.”

The reissue package is available in various options, including CD and vinyl. All include the Main Offender album with remastered recordings by Steve Jordan (one of the original producers, alongside Richards and Wachtel).

However, if you want the 12-track live album, you’ll need to pick up the 2CD pack or one of the deluxe boxsets. 

At the top end, the Main Offender Limited Super Deluxe Boxset includes vinyl and CD copies of the record, a double LP and CD copy of The Winos Live In London ‘92, an 88-page leather bound book with previously unpublished photos and images of Richards’ lyric sheets, plus stickers, a pick and tour posters.

Keith Richards‘ Main Offender is reissued March 18. Head here to pre-order (or pre-save) the album.