Okay- I was ready to move on to Mahoney's Last Stand but I'll give John and anybody else who cares a day or so to get caught up on the first two albums
I had never heard that about “Mystifies Me” being inspired by Patti Harrison. Is there any woman with more rock n roll songs written about her? “Something”, “Layla”, Wonderful Tonight”and “Mystifies Me”. That’s a pretty impressive achievement. Ian McLagan recorded a cover of “Mystifies Me” for his Troublemaker album. I was unaware of the Son Volt cover. Somewhere in my digital files I have a live version of “Cancel Everything” done by The Black Crowes.
Well David Freiberg's wife Girl had several songs written about her: Light Your Windows - Quicksilver Messenger Service (written by Freiberg) Quicksilver Girl - Steve Miller Band (written by Miller) Girl From Mill Valley - Jeff Beck Group (written by Hopkins) Girl With No Name - The Byrds (written by Hillman) Quicksilver Princess - The Doobie Brothers (written by Johnston) Just as impressive as Patti's tally, huh?
Not so much a personal acheivement more like passive income, they were only just open to an advance. Someone's interest growing in their (loin) bank.
Now Look: I've Got My Own Album To Do was badass, this is even better. I agree with @ohnothimagen, easily Ronnie's best solo album, no Sophomore Slump here. Bobby Womack, an unsung talent in general, is a fantastic asset to this record, and while that same unpretentious, devil-may-care attitude from the previous record remains, Ronnie really shapes up and shows how focused he can be when he puts his mind to it. Stellar solo record and right there with Talk Is Cheap as far as Stones solo records go.
Yep Now Look is his best studio set for me too aside from the mastering which i prefer on Gimme Some Neck.
Okay, moving right along... Mahoney's Last Stand is an album by Faces bandmates Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane, recorded in 1972 (with sessions overlapping with the early rehearsals for the Faces' final studio album Ooh La La). It is the music soundtrack album of the low-budget 1972 Canadian film Mahoney's Last Stand (original US title: Mahoney's Estate) starring Alexis Kanner (who also produced the film), Sam Waterston and Maud Adams. The film itself, little seen at the time of its release and even less so since, charts the progress of city-dweller Mahoney (Kanner) who abandons his urban existence to become a homesteader, and the drama that ensues. Pete Townshend, who guests on guitar on some tracks on the album, also receives a credit in the film for providing 'special electronic effects', alongside Wood and Lane's musical score. For various reasons the film's release was delayed until 1976, and consequently the soundtrack album suffered the same fate (and to further confuse matters the film has since also been re-released under the title Downtown Farmer). However, due to the relative fame of Wood (and to a lesser extent, Lane), the soundtrack album has remained far more readily-available than the film itself. Background Ronnie Lane was initially approached to produce a soundtrack for the film through his acquaintance with lead actor and producer Alexis Kanner, and Lane, at a loose end between Faces recording commitments, soon involved his bandmate Ronnie Wood. Lane and Wood were already an established songwriting team within the Faces (and would soon go on to write one of the group's best-remembered numbers, "Ooh La La", together), although by 1972 their partnership had begun to take a back seat to Wood's more commercially-driven writing alliance with Rod Stewart. The Mahoney soundtrack album is a mostly laid-back affair, strongly influenced by folk and country styles in line with the bulk of Ronnie Lane's later solo work, and in keeping with the themes of the film itself. Half of the tracks are instrumentals but one of the others, "Mona (The Blues)", is a re-arrangement of an instrumental Faces outtake from 1970 with a new lead vocal by Wood. Another vocal number, "Just For A Moment", is one of Lane's most tender ballads, recently rehearsed with the Faces but set aside for this project. For such a seemingly small-scale project the album attracted an all-star guest cast of 1970s musicians (see below), and fellow Faces Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones also guest on "Tonight's Number", one of the more uptempo rock-oriented tracks. In some ways the album offered a tantalising glimpse of the musical direction the originally intended Faces lineup might have taken under Lane and Wood's leadership without Rod Stewart in the group, while also demonstrating how crucial Stewart was to their commercial - if not necessarily artistic - success (Stewart was the last member to join the band in mid-1969 despite the misgivings of Lane and Ian McLagan, who were still smarting after being summarily abandoned by their previous lead singer Steve Marriott only a few months earlier, in their previous formation as Small Faces). Although it was recorded in 1972 the album remained unfinished and unreleased until 1976, by which time the Faces were defunct, Lane had established a modest but creatively fulfilling solo career, and Wood had joined the Rolling Stones. The album was released to little fanfare and the lack of information on the original release initially led fans (and reviewers) to believe the work was a reunion for the two bandmates rather than an extracurricular project recorded while Lane was still an active member of the Faces (he left the group in 1973 and they dissolved in 1975). This false assumption remained uncorrected until the album was reissued on CD nearly thirty years later with new, more detailed recording notes (although even today some reviewers seemingly still remain ignorant of the facts). Track listing All tracks composed by Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane. "Tonight's Number" "From the Late to the Early" "Chicken Wire" "Chicken Wired" "I'll Fly Away" (Traditional; arranged by Wood and Lane) "Title One" "Just for a Moment" (Instrumental) "'Mona' the Blues" "Car Radio" "Hay Tumble" "Woody's Thing" "Rooster Funeral" "Just for a Moment" Personnel Ron Wood – vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica Ronnie Lane – vocals, guitar, bass, banjo, percussion Pete Townshend – guitar, percussion on "Tonight's Number" & "Car Radio" Rick Grech – bass, violin, drums Benny Gallagher – bass Kenney Jones – drums on "Tonight's Number" Bruce Rowland – drums Micky Waller – percussion Ian McLagan – piano, harmonium, keyboards on "Tonight's Number", "Car Radio" & "Chicken Wire/d" Ian Stewart – piano, keyboards Bobby Keys – saxophone Jim Price – trumpet Billy Nicholls – vocals on "I'll Fly Away" Glyn Johns – vocals on "I'll Fly Away"
Mahoney's Last Stand is awesome. Clearly a joint project between the two Ronnies, there is a definite acoustic Faces vibe going on here. Ron Wood naturally offers up some killer lead, slide and bass guitar but it's really Ronnie Lane's show; "Just For A Moment" is worth the price of admission alone. Oddly, Ron Wood's vocal showcase, "Mona The Blues" is probably the only track I'm not crazy about. "Title One" and "Tonight's Number" are probably my favourites here. Oh, what the hell, I'll add "Rooster's Funeral" and "From The Late To The Early" to that list as well (my five year old really likes "From The Late To The Early" for some reason; anytime he's in earshot when I'm playing the album his ears perk right up when that song comes on). As for the movie, well, it's definitely a product of it's time, that's for sure. Mahoney is a guy who is trying to do the whole "get back to nature" bit on a dilapidated farm, aided and abetted by a female neighbour and his crazy friend played by Sam Waterston (who I knew from his years playing crusading D.A. Jack McCoy on Law And Order...totally different character here!). Mahoney's Last Stand is a Canadian film, and feels like a Canadian film. Worth seeing if yer into that kinda thing...
Many thanks as i never knew it was recorded 4 years earlier. I have not played my LP in 15+ years but recall that it was low key, acoustic and quietly enjoyable with a rootsy rustic appeal..........or am i just referencing the cover?
No, that's pretty much a spot on description of the music as well. Of course, any fan of Ronnie Lane and Pete Townshend's Rough Mix album should hear Mahoney's Last Stand; lotta similarities between the two projects there besides Plonk's involvement.
Now Look never did that much for me. I much preferred I've Got My Own Album To Do and especially Gimme Some Neck. Now Look is mostly left overs that did not make the cut on I've Got My Own Album To Do. 740400B late April - early June: RON WOOD. Richmond, England, The Wick. Producers: RW and Gary Kellgren. Sound engineers: Chuch McGee, Mike Bobak, Ron Nevison and Gary Kellgren. Incl. - Act Together (MJ/KR) - Ain't That Loving You Baby (Jimmy Reed) -with Paul McCartney on piano; unverified - Am I Grooving You (Bert Russell/Jeff Barry) - Breathe On Me I (RW) - Breathe On Me II (RW) -edited single-mix - Cancel Everything (RW) - Caribbean Boogie (RW) - Crotch Music (Willie Weeks) - Far East Man (RW/George Harrison) - Forever I (RW) -unverified - I Can Feel The Fire I (RW) - I Can Feel The Fire II (RW) -edit - I Can Say She’s Alright I (RW) -unverified - I Can’t Stand The Rain (Donald Bryant/Ann Peebles/Bernard Miller) - If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody (Rudy Clark) - It’s Unholy (RW) - Money Money (RW) -unverified - Mystifies Me (RW) - Now Look (RW) - Shirley (RW) - Sure The One You Need (MJ/KR) - Take A Look At The Guy I (RW) - Take A Look At The Guy II (RW) -edited promo version Musicians: RW (gtr, voc, harm, perc)/KR (gtr, voc, perc, el p)/MJ (voc, gtr)/ MT (gtr, bass, synth, wurlitzer)/Ian McLagan (synth, org, p)/Willie Weeks (bg, gtr effects)/Andy Newmark (dr)/Kenney Jones (dr)/Micky Waller (dr)/Rod Stewart (voc)/Martin Quittenton (gtr)/Jean Roussell (p, org)/Pete Sears (bass)/Ross, Henderson & Sterling (steel dr)/Ruby Turner (bvoc)/Irene and Doreen Chanter (bvoc)/George Harrison (gtr, bvoc) on 'Far East Man'. Note: The songs with Mick Taylor were recorded before Willie Weeks arrived. The tracks with Keith Richards were recorded on the last three (of the five weeks) of recordings. All in all about 25 songs have been recorded. Paul McCartney had his hands in the production of 'Take A Look At The Guy'. The lyrics for ‘I Can Say She’s Alright’ were probably written by Bobby Womack in 1975. The album was mixed at The Record Plant in Sausalito, California. Also Eric Clapton could have done some sessionwork (with RW and KR) on the 18th May. But it's possible that it was just a jam-session.
If you're implying that Girl Freiberg was just a groupie that slept with all those musicians that wrote songs about her, I assure you that was NOT the case. She was married to David Freiberg, so we know about that one, but I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep with Steve Miller or Tom Johnston or Chris Hillman. And according to the Nicky Hopkins biography from a few years back, she DEFINITELY didn't sleep with Nicky, although Nicky was clearly smitten with her. I think in Girl's case, the number of songs written about her is a tribute to just how special she was, and that had to be something more than just appearance, as I've seen photos of her and while she was cute, there were lots of girls a lot cuter around. She must have had some special quality about her that inspired musicians to write songs about her. I asked Freiberg myself one of the first times met him if it was true that Girl From Mill Valley was about his ex, and he confirmed it and himself mentioned Quicksilver Girl and Girl With No Name, and Light Your Windows. I knew about Quicksilver Girl, but didn't know about the Byrds song or Light Your Windows until he told me (although it makes perfect sense that Freiberg would write a song about his own wife -- he may have written others about her too, but that was the song he mentioned). Freiberg didn't mention the Doobie Brothers tune, but probably just forgot. Freiberg didn't sound bitter about it either, which is more reason to think Girl wasn't sleeping around with various other musicians. In case you're wondering, Girl was a nickname -- all her siblings were boys, so she was the only girl.
Hold on kind sir, you are 200 miles down the road from me. I was musing with heavy irony, never heard of who you speak of either. Not trying to insult just provide food for thought through generalisation and with No thought of groupie's either.
Well it is true that Girl Freiberg is nowhere near as famous as Patti Harrison, so it's not surprising that you haven't heard of her. Back to something that more directly relates to the thread topic, since we are discussing Mahoney's Last Stand, here's a cover of one of the tunes: Although this is a song by Lane, rather than by Wood, Ron Wood does get a mention in the album notes. One thing that the cover versions I've been posting here demonstrates is that other notable musicians are listening to Ron Wood's solo efforts and liking what they hear. Along those lines, it's worth mentioning that although Lou Reed never recorded any of Ron Wood's songs (as far as it is known), he did like IGMOATD enough to play it repeatedly during an contentious interview with Lester Bangs, who let it be known that he (Bangs) didn't care for it.
Hey, it's good stuff, what's not to like, although it probably would be a fair cop to say Ron's voice might be a bit of an acquired taste. By all rights Woody's solo material should have been successful than it was. You can't help but wonder what kind of a career he would have had had he not joined the Stones...
Which is kinda sad when you think about it. Ronnie's a talented songwriter and multi instrumentalist, of course. Not saying he would have had the career of, say, an Eric Clapton or somebody like that, but, as this discussion will probably prove, his talents show that he's capable of much more than what he does with the Stones.
Sure but he is stymied and restricted in the Stones. Yes he is not like an Eric Clapton, few are or could be. My poorer comment just meant in direct comparison to anyone in the Stones not meaning he would be poor. Mind you with his lifestyle and habits he was near broke in the late 80's before Steel Wheels etc.
Oh yeah, if there's one thing I got from Ronnie's book it was just how bad he was with money in those days; lots of bad business ventures on the side along with putting his money up his nose and down his throat. Easy to see why Jagger's numerous threats to have him ousted from the band over the years was enough to scare Ronnie straight, even if the sobriety didn't always take for very long (fortunately it finally did). Ronnie needed his Stones income just to survive. It's damned good thing Bill and Charlie stepped up and got Ron his share of the band, he wouldn't have had a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of if they hadn't. I wouldn't imagine Ronnie's solo career was big enough for him to live off of, more's the pity...
Well, he certainly wouldn't have been able to "live large" the same way. In addition to Ronnie own autobiog, there's more in this book about his financial mismanagement: It's easy to recognize that the artwork on the cover is by Ron Wood himself, but apparently it's a quick sketch that Woody did that Cowan kept and later used for the book. Wood would NOT have done a cover for the book if he'd read it first (yeah, it's that kind of book).
