How I Wrote…“Keith Don't Go”

Nils Lofgren reveals the roots of his 1975 ode to Keef.

- JOE BOSSO

“IT WAS A sincere plea to one of my musical heroes to stick around and keep sharing his gifts with the world,” says Nils Lofgren, speaking about his driving rocker “Keith Don’t Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin).” Featured on the guitarist’s eponymous 1975 debut album, the song has become one of Lofgren’s most enduring tracks (he’s never played a show without performing it), and over the years he says the sentiments behind it have grown in meaning.

“Throughout the decades, I have greater appreciation for the people who created the music that inspired me,” he says. “And while Keith Richards is alive and well — nothing to do with the song, of course — I’m happy knowing that my tribute to him has meant so much to so many people.”

THE LOST RECORDING