Incredible to read this bashing on Ronnie. “Drinking buddy”??? Seriously??? For one, he has been in the band longer than Brian, Taylor and Wyman COMBINED! He is not as innovative as Brian, but he has been just as adventurous and diverse. He does not play as technically complicated as Taylor, but he sure does play some great licks and has come up with cool riffs and locks better together in tandem with Keith on guitar, something which Brian sadly gave up opun. He is not Wyman, but he surely played some cool and complicated bass lines over the years. Fact is, Brian, Taylor and Wyman all lost interest and left. They couldn’t deal with Mick and Keith and their unquestionable talents and ego’s. Neither of the 3 got much further afterwards (Sorry, Brian. Not your fault!) Who the main force behind Some Girls? Who was the guy that stood by BOTH Mick and Keith when they were at war and got them through their crises? Who never even asked for a salary upgrade, but was staying loyal anyway, so Bill and Charlie INSISTED on him being upgraded and both treathened to leave unless Ronnie became a permanent member? Ronnie has stayed through all times, good and bad. The guy has never ever had ‘ambitions’ and ego problems other than being a musician in his favourite band. He fully supports Brian, Taylor and Wyman’s contributions. Who should we applaud here? I am not in doubt. Drinking buddy? Sure.
Yes indeed, he really carried that show. If you noticed, Keith steps up and plays the intros and then kind of fades into the background letting Ronnie take over most of the guitar work throughout the entire show. Not sure if Keith had a touch of the arthritis in his hands that night or maybe the fall out of the coconut tree some years back was finally catching up to him.
I will be surprised if we get the version with the rumored Mick Taylor solo, but you never know. It was nice to hear the Glyn Johns mix of Dancing With Mr. D containing the upfront mix of Mick Taylor. I am not thrilled with the idea of new remakes. It was one thing in 1981, but I am not that excited to hear what Mick and Ronnie can come up with in 2021 with respect to overdubbing vintage recordings. Granted, I think The Stones did a respectable job with the Exile remakes (for the most part), but even so, I didn't like the overall concept, I would have much rather heard a disc of vintage outtakes (even in their unfinished state, e.g. Soul Survivor and All Down The Line, the latter a Japanese bonus track). And the worst songs on the Some Girls bonus disc contained contemporary overdubs, especially Mick's new vocals.
The only issue I’ve ever had with Ronnie was his criticism of Taylor’s playing during the ‘81 Kansas City show that was mention earlier. He said MT was “bulldozing” through songs and not showing any subtlety. Granted you can’t hear Taylor very well in the recording but I found no evidence of that from other people who were at the show. Sounds just like jealousy or sour grapes on Ronnie’s part IMO.
It was probably his view from the stage. Keith complained of Taylor turning the volume way up with no understanding to the songs they were playing. Being a band where jamming was not the focus and arrangement is everything, it sounds like sour grapes on Taylor’s part and he hellraised through on purpose to spoil it all.
Mick Taylor was not in the monitor mix therefore he had to turn up his amp. You can hear him clearly on the bootleg playing quite tastefully on "Beast Of Burden", "Black Limousine", "Let It Bleed" and others. No evidence of plowing through parts. My last post was deleted so I'll put it more delicately: Ron Wood has had his share of on and off-stage issues over the years, but otherwise he seems like a fun lad. Next time I'll share the news article. Some things shouldn't be swept under the rug.
Supposedly Keith once told Taylor "you're great in the studio, but you suck live" I assume by that comment he was referring to Taylor's tendency on occasion to just sort of solo through-out the entire song when playing live. In the studio that wouldn't be a problem cause they can just take the best stuff and edit out whatever they don't want in the final mix.
Actually, it was the opposite believe it or not! Apparently, Taylor played too loud for Richards in the studio, according to Andy Johns.
Andy Johns also said Keith used to come into the studio sometimes when Taylor was finished recording and record over his parts.
I suppose Keith could have said that, but it seems questionable. Mick Taylor was an incredible guitarist in-concert during his tenure with The Rolling Stones. No one hearing the playback of tapes from Leeds '71, Marquee Club '71, Ladies & Gentlemen '72, or Brussels '73 would come away thinking Taylor was a weak-link, or somehow problematic. Additionally, Keith was struggling more and more with substance abuse, so one wonders how much clarity he had on the issue of evaluating the play of others on stage.
I dunno man. Sure sounds to me like Mick is using Ron as the foil here, to finish and polish up the Tattoo You tracks, add solos, redo guitar parts, overdub acoustic guitars, a touch of backing vocals, etc., so he doesn't have to deal with Keith anymore.
That may well be and I got it backwards. Not sure where I originally heard that quote. Possibly from Glynn Johns book. ( but he could have mis-remembered or mixed it up too, I suppose... lol. )
Or it could be that Ronnie was securely in the band as a contributor back in 1981 when Tattoo You was compiled and produced, and therefore Mick wants Ronnie to play a role in the new embellishments. There isn't any indication that Keith has been frozen out of the process. At this point, it is all speculation until some sort of official announcement is made pertaining to this upcoming anniversary set.
Yet quite a few people involved with the Stones thought he overplayed. It’s really obvious in places on Ladies & Gentlemen, and on some of the mixes of Brussels. He plays a lot, and whilst you might love it, it’s entirely conceivable that others didn’t.
To me, Taylor began to overplay around 1972. Maybe he got bored? On Brussels Affair it’s directly irritating in several places. He never let the music breathe. It’s fill after fill. I LOVE his playing from 1969 to 1971. And of course all his contributions in the studio when he was a member.
Who involved with the Stones said he overplayed? Genuinely curious. Regardless, it's all about personal taste. I'll take well executed "overplaying" over a blob of cluttered guitars playing (with out of tune bends and bum notes) over top of one another and the singer the whole song. That said, I don't hear overplaying on Ladies & Gents.
First, given Tattoo You was already culled out of leftovers, I wonder what's still there in the cupboard? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking of outtakes from Black and Blue (maybe with Jeff Beck) and Emotional Rescue, during which they cut about 40 songs. That's my guess, anyways. We'll see... Why call Ronnie? Frankly, Ronnie's playing everything pretty damn well these days - guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel - and having him on hand in the studio gives Mick more options than Keith. Need something Mick Taylor-esque? Ronnie's got that covered. Need something more Keef? Ronnie does Keith probably better than Keith does Keef these days. I haven't heard Mick Taylor's guest spot with the Stones on the 1981 American Tour (I'm gonna go find it after I write this) but that wasn't a good year for either Woody or Mick T as both were dealing with some heavy addictions. I'm not sure I'd know who's opinion to trust regarding which guitarist was "bulldozing" or "overplaying" that night.
Taylor definitely prefers stretching out on those long mellifluous single note runs over just vamping chords along with the rhythm section. He worked well in tangent with Keith since Keith leans to rhythm guitar while Taylor is obviously more of a "lead guitarist" in the traditional sense. With Ronnie (and even Brian) and Keith it was always more of a "weaving" of the two where both players altered and exchanged roles. Ronnie was already adept at it, since he served as the sole guitarist in Faces for all those years. The one official Faces live album has been mostly panned by critics but it's still a marvel to listen to Woody on guitar throughout, switching gears back and forth from rhythm to lead and back again without missing a beat.
