Ron Wood

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Ron Wood

Born June 1, 1947
England London, England
Genre(s) Rock
Affiliation(s) The Rolling Stones
The Faces
The Jeff Beck Group
Notable guitars Zemaitis
1955 Stratocaster
ESP Ron Wood Signature Model
Gibson L5S
Years active 1964-present

Ronald "Ron" David Wood (born June 1, 1947 in Hillingdon, London) is an English rock guitarist and bassist best known as a member of The Rolling Stones, The Faces and The Jeff Beck Group.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] 1960s

Wood began his career in 1964 with the Birds, based in Yiewsley, Middlesex. By the late 1960s, he was part of The Creation, then joined the Jeff Beck Group as a bassist together with singer Rod Stewart. They split up, however, after recording Beck-Ola in 1969.

[edit] 1970s

With Rod Stewart, Ron joined The Small Faces as a guitarist shortly after leader Steve Marriott had left the group. The band's name soon was shortened to simply The Faces. Though mostly known in the United States as Rod Stewart's former backup band, the Faces were very successful in the UK, for a brief time even rivaling The Rolling Stones in popularity. They were a popular live act, and their music is recognized today as sharing an ethos with the future punk rock movement. The New York Dolls, The Replacements, The Black Crowes, Pearl Jam, and Stereophonics all bear the group's influence. The Faces split up in 1975.

During the 1970s, Wood released several solo albums (Now Look - US #118, 1975); (Gimme Some Neck - US #45, 1979) and a collaboration with ex-Faces bandmate Ronnie Lane, Mahoney's Last Stand (1976).

Following Mick Taylor's departure from the Rolling Stones in 1974, Wood performed with the group on its 1975 Tour of the Americas, then contributed to its 1976 album Black and Blue, before being ultimately announced as Taylor's replacement. Wood would become a major contributor to the band during the next 3 decades.

In the Rolling Stones, Wood specializes in playing slide guitar and pedal steel guitar, and contributes to one-half of the "ancient form of weaving". He also occasionally plays bass guitar, such as during 1975 concert performances of "Fingerprint File," when Mick Jagger played rhythm guitar and bassist Bill Wyman moved to synthesizer. Rolling Stones singles such "Emotional Rescue" also feature Wood on bass. He has been given credit as a cowriter for a handful of songs, such as "Black Limousine" and "Pretty Beat Up."

[edit] 1980s

Throughout the 1980s, Wood played as a member of the Rolling Stones, continued his solo career ('1234' charted at #164 on Billboard in 1981), painted, and collaborated with a number of other artists, including Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley and Aretha Franklin.

In 1988 Ron opened "Woody's on the Beach," a one of a kind venue featuring a house band headed up by Bobby Keys, hosting a continuous stream of artist friends of Woody's, and providing a venue for local acts to perform original music with no pressure to play "cover" tunes. The stage was up close and personal with the entertainers literally feet away from the crowd. Ron played whenever he was in town, with friends, or the local band of the week. The defunct Hotel which housed the Club allowed for Woody to set up a world class backstage VIP area upstairs, displaying Woody's artworks, and providing a private party area for the Musicians and their guests, local nightclub VIPs, politicians, etc.

Ron Wood leaving the Amstel Hotel, 31 July 2006, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Enlarge
Ron Wood leaving the Amstel Hotel, 31 July 2006, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Although Woody's pioneered the club scene transitioning the neighborhood of South Beach (the Mariel boatlift had flooded the streets with all of Castro's misfits), and was highly successful, it was closed by Woody amidst a flury of complaints from the then predominantly geriatric neighbors who found it too loud, despite the wave of security (11 "locomotive shaped bouncers") and prosperity (expanded development of the areas tourism) it fostered.

At the Live Aid Concert in Philadelphia, Wood along with Keith Richards performed in the penultimate set with Bob Dylan. During the performance of "Blowing in the Wind", Dylan broke a guitar string. Wood gave Dylan his guitar in order to keep the performance seamless, and even played air guitar until a stagehand brought him a replacement.

[edit] Recently

While also continuing as a member of the Rolling Stones, in 1993, Wood appeared with Rod Stewart on MTV's Unplugged, which resulted in a hit album. After the tour that Rod Stewart undertook across the U.S. in 2004 they expressed intentions to finish the studio work on their forthcoming album entitled I'll Strut, You'll Sing.

He continues to struggle with alcoholism, although reports between 2003 and 2006 had indicated that he had been clean since the Licks Tour of 2002 and 2003. In June 2006 it was reported that Wood was entering rehab for a couple of weeks following increased recent alcohol abuse. [1]

Ron Wood currently lives in the town of Clane, Ireland.[citation needed]

[edit] Solo discography

  • I've Got My Own Album To Do (1974)
  • Now Look (1975)
  • Mahoney´s Last Stand (1976) with Ronnie Lane
  • Gimme Some Neck (1979)
  • 1234 (1981)
  • Live At The Ritz (1988) with Bo Diddley
  • Slide On This (1992)
  • Slide On Live: Plugged In And Standing (1994)
  • Live & Eclectic (2000) (reissued in 2002 as Live at Electric Ladyland)
  • Not For Beginners (2002)
  • Ronnie Wood Anthology:The Essential Crossexion (2006)

[edit] External links

The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger | Keith Richards | Charlie Watts | Ron Wood
Former members
Brian Jones | Bill Wyman | Mick Taylor | Ian Stewart | Dick Taylor
See also
Chuck Leavell | Darryl Jones | Andrew Loog Oldham | Allen Klein
Related articles
Discography | The Glimmer Twins | Nanker Phelge | Rolling Stones Records | Rock and Roll Circus
Categories
The Rolling Stones | Members | Albums | Singles | Songs | Tours
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