He was billed as Richard Keith because his Cajun French last name, "Thibodeaux", was considered too hard to pronounce by producer Desi Arnaz.

Eventually Desi Arnaz himself came over and started jamming with me on the drums and then he kind of stood up and said 'Well, I think we found Little Ricky.

'"[citation needed] According to Lucie Arnaz, who was interviewed on the TV show Archive of American Television, he became like part of the family.

As a child, he made 13 appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, between 1962 and 1966, usually as Opie's friend "Johnny Paul Jason".

[citation needed] After his parents separated, Keith, his mother, and siblings moved back to Lafayette, Louisiana.

He graduated from Lafayette High School where he continued to play drums in rock and rhythm and blues bands.

He left Louisiana for Mississippi in late 1969 after going to college for a short period where he said he "majored in drinking beer and playing pool" to pursue a career with the band David and the Giants.

[citation needed] In 1976, he met and married ballet dancer Kathy Denton in Jackson, Mississippi.

The couple moved briefly to Southern California in 1977 where he was asked to join the pop band Starbuck famous for the late '70s hit "Moonlight Feels Right".