Ron Wood

Ron Wood (birth name Ronald David "Ronnie" Wood) was born on the 1st of June 1947 in Hillingdon, London. He is well known around the world as a rock guitarist and bassist while having been a member of The Rolling Stones, The Faces and The Jeff Beck Group. His career started in 1964 with the Birds. The late sixties saw him as a member of The Creation but he eventually joined the Jeff Beck Group as a bassist together with close friend Rod Stewart, which was a singer in the band. The band eventually slit up soon after recording Beck-Ola in 1969.

Ron Wood Before The Rolling Stones

Ron Wood eventually joined The Small Faces with Rod Stewart as a guitarist. This happened after leader Steve Marriott left the group and the name of the band was quickly changed to simply The Faces. The irony is that this band is known in the US as Rod Stewart's backup band but the truth is that they were very popular and the music they created is known today as having influenced the future punk rock movement. Several successful bands like The Jam, The Replacements, Pearl Jam, Stereophonics, Black Crowes and The New York Dolls do show influences from The Faces. The band eventually split up in 1975. During the seventies, Ron Wood also performed near Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Pete Townshend, Jim Capaldi and Ric Grech in Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert in 1973. This market the singer's comeback after he got rid of the heroin addiction that he had. The finale of the Last Waltz in 1976 also saw Wood perform near The Band, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mirchell, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Dr. John and several others. The seventies also marked some solo albums signed Ron Wood: "I've Got My Own Album to Do", "New Look", "Gimme Some Neck" and a collaboration with Ronnie Lane on the original soundtrack of the movie Mahoney's Last Stand.

Ron Wood with The Rolling Stones

After Mick Taylor left The Rolling Stones, Ron Wood ended up performing with them in their 1975 Tour of the Americas. He then contributed to the Black and Blue album and was eventually announced as Mick Taylor's replacement in The Rolling Stones. This led to decades in which Ron Wood played an important part of the band. Ronnie specializes in slide guitar and pedal steel guitar in The Rolling Stones while also contributing in the "Ancient form of weaving". Sometimes he even plays bass guitar and some singles like "Emotional Rescue" also feature him on bass. To make it even more special, Ron Wood was credited as a co-writer on a lot of Rolling Stones songs including "Black Limousine", "Pretty Beat Up" and "Dance".

The eighties saw Wood as a full time member of the Rolling Stones but he also continued his solo career. His album, "1234", reached number 164 on Billboard in 1981. He also collaborated with a lot of well known artists including Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, Prince, David Bowie and Aretha Franklin. An interesting event happened at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia where Wood played with Keith Richards and Bob Dylan. During "Blowin' in the Wind", Bod Dylan broke one guitar string and Ron Wood gave him his guitar while continuing to play an air guitar till he was brought a new one.

In 1993 Ron Wood appeared with Rod Stewart on MTV's Unplugged. The result was a hit album and after Rod Stewart's tour in 2004 the two wanted to finish the studio work on their forthcoming album that was called I'll Strut, You'll Sing. In 2001 and 2002 Ron Wood toured England and Ireland with The Ronnie Wood Band and even released a DVD of the tour entitled "Far East Man".

Solo Discography:

I've Got My Own Album to Do (1974)
Now Look (1975)
Mahoney's Last Stand (1976) with Ronnie LaneGimme Some Neck (1979)
1234 (1981)
Live at the Ritz (1988) with Bo Diddley
Slide on This (1992)
Slide on Live: Plugged in and Standing (1993)
Live and Eclectic (2000) (reissued in 2002 as Live at Electric Ladyland)
Not for Beginners (2002)
Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion (2006)
The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn (2007)