Ronnie Wood reveals his marathon initiation when joining The Rolling Stones: “Keith kept me going… we hardly slept”
Ronnie Wood has looked back on his early induction into The Rolling Stones, and how he was given 300 songs to learn rapidly with a little help from Keith Richards.
Wood began working with the Stones during the recording of their Black And Blue album, just after the departure of Mick Taylor. Though Richards recorded the vast majority of guitar work on the record, the band also used it as a window of opportunity to trial Taylor’s replacement.
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Wood became a touring member of the band in 1975 for their Tour Of The Americas, and became a permanent member in 1976. Speaking to Uncut surrounding the upcoming November reissue of Black And Blue, Wood looks back on the chaos of joining the band and having to catch up to the others.
Recalling his contributions to Black And Blue, he shares: “One of my favourites was Hey Negrita, the first song that I wrapped in the studio and said, ‘Right, we’re going to play this.’ And Charlie [Watts] said, ‘We’ve only known him five minutes and he’s bossing us around already.’ That was my classic introduction to the boys in the studio. I think I got an ‘inspiration by’ [credit] or something.”
He adds, “Joining the band, I had to take a deep breath and say, ‘Here we go.’ You’d either got it or you hadn’t. From Beggars Banquet onwards, I loved all those albums of theirs. When I actually joined, I thought, ‘I’m finally home now.’ I think I had about 300 songs that I had to learn rapidly. Keith kept me going. We were playing and playing, we hardly slept, and it was certainly a crash course.”
Speaking of the difference between being in The Stones’ inner circle and actually being a member of the band, he says, “[This was the beginning] of being a part of the outfit, the circus. And I remember Keith’s, ‘I’ve got a great idea – let’s not tell anyone you’re in the band.’ Great, thanks, Keith! I came in by osmosis. There was never actually an announcement, so I was still the new boy 20 years later.”
The new, Super Deluxe Box Set reissue of Black And Blue will be released on 14 November via Universal. Arriving as a 5LP vinyl box set and a 4CD box set, both editions come alongside a Blu-ray disc, a 100-page hardback book, and a replica tour poster. In other Stones news, producer Andrew Watt recently teased that another album is on the way from the band.
You can pre-order the Black And Blue Super Deluxe Box Set now, or check out more from the band via their official website.
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