"Dylanesque" you mean! One thing I've always liked about Woody's vocals is how he sounded a lot like 70s-80s Dylan. And it wasn't just Shot Of Love that Wood plays on, he appears on Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, Down In The Groove, and even puts in an uncredited appearance (2 songs) on Infidels! I've always liked this album and thought it got short shrift, as it's much better than commonly regarded. Sure, he was getting a bit too deep into the excesses of the rock lifestyle at the time (as seen in his appearances in the films 9½ Weeks and The Wild Life) but he still managed to put out a good record. Not as good as the ones before, but still worthwhile.
If Ronnie was f--ked up on freebase when he did 1234, Not For Beginners was when his constant boozing really began to take its toll. But let's not get ahead of ourselves Yeah, like I said, Ronnie is at his most Dylanesque on 1234. I was not aware about his guest appearance on Infidels (I knew about the other Dylan albums)...which tracks on Infidels? Absolutely, at the very least 1234 has "Outlaws" and "Fountain Of Love" going for it. Seems to me the songs are either really good and fully formed or basically half assed jams. But even the jams aren't without their charms..."Priceless" is the only song on the album I don't like (I much prefer my own song with the same name)
If memory serves me well, the two with Ronnie are Neighborhood Bully and License To Kill. I'd have to look it up to be certain. No idea why he wasn't credited, but he is there. I agree, Outlaws and Fountain Of Love are the two strongest tunes on 1234. I like She Never Told Me quite a lot too -- not only is the vocal reminiscent of Dylan, the entire song itself is like an 80s Dylan track (for me, that's a good thing!) and the guitar work (especially the solo) is strangely Claptonesque instead of the usual Ron Wood sound.
Personally I'm one of those that, as Dark Horse 77 describes in his post, loves the messed up sound, except I don't consider it messed up! It is what it is. Here's an excerpt from CIRCUS magazine at the time of the New Barbarians tour to promote Gimme Some Neck, which includes RW's thoughts about RTB: "As a Face... he didn't undergo the scrutiny for his solo work (two earlier LPs) that he will as a salaried Stone with Gimme Some Neck. 'I was aware of that when I was doing the album,' adding that was precisely why he re-cruited Queen/Cars producer Roy Thomas Baker to oversee the recording. 'I wasn't going to release any second-rate stuff that would be measured alongside the Stones...' Funny that last line about not releasing any second-rate stuff that wouldn't measure up to the Stones! I guess that attitude kind of went by the wayside by the time of his next album! But second-rate Ronnie is still pretty good stuff. I'm glad we have 1234.
I haven't listened to Infidels in years but I should dig it out one o' these days and see if I can pick out Ronnie against Knopfler and Taylor. Yep, along with the aforementioned "Outlaws" and "Fountain Of Love", "She Never Told Me" is the best song on the album and like "Outlaws" another prime candidate for greatest Dylan song Bob never wrote... I'm glad too- aside from the hardcore fans Ronnie' solo work doesn't get the credit it's due IMO.
Slide on This is the title of Ronnie Wood's fifth solo album. It failed to chart in US, but went to sell 58,000 copies there according to Soundscan. In Japan, it charted for four weeks in the top 100, reaching #54 and selling 21,000 copies. The final track, "Breathe On Me", is a remake from a song that originally appeared on Wood's 1975 solo album, Now Look. Track listing All tracks composed by Ronnie Wood and Bernard Fowler, except where indicated. "Somebody Else Might" "Testify" (George Clinton, Deron Taylor) "Ain't Rock and Roll" "Josephine" "Knock Yer Teeth Out" (Wood, Fowler, Julian Lloyd) "Ragtime Annie" (Trad.) "Must Be Love" (Jerry Williams) "Fear for Your Future" "Show Me" (Williams) "Always Wanted More" [Duet with Joe Elliott] "Thinkin'" "Like It" "Breathe on Me" (Wood) Personnel Ronnie Wood - vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass Joe Elliott - vocals The Edge - guitar Doug Wimbish - bass Simon Kirke - drums Charlie Watts - drums Wayne P. Sheehy - drums Chuck Leavell - piano, Hammond organ Ian McLagan - piano Bernard Fowler - keyboards, vocals Felim Gormley - saxophone Sergei Erdenko - fiddle Colm McCauchey - fiddle Oleg Ponomarev - fiddle Sean Garvey - accordion, squeezebox Michael Kamen - string arrangements
I remember reading about Slide On This in an interview Ronnie did with, I believe, Guitar World magazine back in '92. I was shocked to actually stumble across the cassette at HMV -didn't expect to come across the album at all in my neck of the woods- so naturally I bought it. And naturally I liked it; Ronnie forms an alliance here with Bernard Fowler not unlike his collaborations with Bobby Womack on Now Look. Apparently Bernard gave Ron a fair bit of vocal training while recording the album...all very well and good but I doubt proper training is gonna save Ronnie Wood's sixty cigs a day croak of a voice I thought the acoustic remake of "Breathe On Me" was kind of redundant, but "Josephine" (I wonder what Woody thinks of this song now!) and "Always Wanted More" are the only songs I've never been crazy about. "Testify" and "Like It" are my favourites here. I do believe there was a video made for "Show Me"...the bastids have once again blocked You Tube from my work computer, so if anyone here would be kind enough to post the video, I'd be much obliged...
I bought this one when it came out and played it a lot. I like the majority of it including Josephine. Show Me and Knock Yer Teeth Out along with the cover of Testify are my favorites.
Don't try listening for Woody on Infidels! He was part of an overdub session for Neighborhood Bully that wasn't used. Aside from Wood on guitar, horn players were brought in.
"Knock Yer Teeth Out" (another one of my favourites) of course got its start during the Dirty Work sessions. Apparently Ronnie had a solo album on the go in 1987 thereabouts- I'm not sure if it was shelved or abandoned outright or what, but I wonder how much of that material surfaced on Slide On This. Ach, I was so busy this weekend I forgot to check, thanks for saving me the unnecessary trouble
I think i might actually have this on cd but never played it much perhaps as i did not originally buy it back when released. Somehow i have a card cd single of Show Me but the only cuts i can remember are Breathe on me & Josephine which like John i also like!
I enjoyed Slide On This more than any Woody album since the first. I like "Josephine" a lot. I saw Woody promoting this record with Mac on keyboards and Bernard Fowler on vocals. It was a great show (and considerably better than the Main Offender Keith shows I saw the same year).
We can discuss Live At The Ritz after the remaining albums (all two of 'em), ditto for Plugged In And Standing Up. I'm almost ashamed to admit I've never heard Live At The Ritz, though I did hear a couple of audience tapes from Ron's tour with Bo many years ago.
Released solely in Japan in '87, US and Europe five years later Ronnie Wood* & Bo Diddley - Live At The Ritz
