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Guitarist Ron Wood has been a member of
several "classic" British rock outfits, but the one that he's
undoubtedly most associated with is the Rolling Stones, with whom
he's been a member since 1976. Born on June 1, 1947, in Hillingdon,
London, Wood made his first appearance on record during the late
'60s, as a member of the oft-overlooked mod outfit the Creation
(Wood only appeared on a smattering of singles, collected years
later on the compilation Complete Collection, Vol. 1: Making Time).
Immediately after his split from the Creation, Wood was invited
to play bass in the Jeff Beck Group, a band that also included
a then-unknown Rod Stewart on vocals. Despite high hopes for the
group (they're often credited as one of the founders of hard rock/heavy
metal), the band only managed to issue a pair of classic recordings,
1968's Truth and 1969's Beck-Ola, before splitting up just prior
to an appearance at the legendary Woodstock festival. Wood and
Stewart opted to stick together, as they joined the Small Faces
the same year (with Wood returning back to the six-string).
Releasing one album under the Small Faces' name, 1970's First
Step, the group then shortened their name simply to the Faces
and soon after became one of rock's most notoriously party-hearty
outfits of the era (influencing such future punk outfits as the
Sex Pistols and the Replacements, among others). Further albums
followed (1971's Long Player and A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to
a Blind Horse, plus 1973's Ooh La La), before the group split
up in 1975. Wood also found the time to issue a string of solo
releases during the mid-'70s: 1974's I've Got My Own Album to
Do, 1975's Now Look, and a collaboration with ex-Faces bandmate
Ronnie Lane, 1976's Mahoney's Last Stand, but this era of Wood's
career is best-remembered for his enlistment into the Rolling
Stones.
With the exit of Mick Taylor in 1974, the Stones began auditioning
replacement guitarists, but all along, founding Stones guitarist
Keith Richards knew that Wood (a longtime friend) was the man
for the job. Wood contributed to half of the Stones' 1976 album,
Black and Blue, before becoming a full-time member and appearing
on 1977's Love You Live and 1978's Some Girls. Although the Stones
didn't issue any albums during 1979, the year was a busy one for
Wood, as he issued his fourth solo release, Gimme Some Neck, and
toured alongside Richards in a one-off side band, the New Barbarians.
Wood and the Stones conquered the charts once more in the early
'80s, with such hits as 1980's Emotional Rescue and 1981's Tattoo
You, but tensions between Richards and Mick Jagger caused the
group to not tour the U.S. between 1982-1988, while only managing
to issue a pair of spotty studio albums (1983's Undercover and
1986's Dirty Work).
During this time, Wood issued such further solo albums as 1981's
1234 and 1988's Live at the Ritz (the latter a collaboration with
Bo Diddley), and became an avid painter. Jagger and Richards eventually
buried the hatchet by the late '80s, as the Stones sporadically
issued new studio albums and toured from 1989 onward (1989's Steel
Wheels, 1994's Voodoo Lounge, 1997's Bridges to Babylon, etc.).
Wood has continued to issue solo recordings throughout the '90s
and beyond (1992's Slide on This, 1994's Slide on Live: Plugged
in and Standing, plus a pair in 2002, Not for Beginners and Live
at Electric Ladyland). Additionally, Wood has guested on countless
recordings by other artists over the years, including albums by
the Band, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Aretha
Franklin, B.B. King, and his old pal Rod Stewart, with whom he
taped a popular edition of MTV's Unplugged in 1993, resulting
in the hit album Unplugged...and Seated.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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