The song Mick Jagger wrote for Ronnie Wood
British rock icon Ronnie Wood is now the third longest-standing member of The Rolling Stones, but the group is only part of his story. Before he joined the quintessential rockers in 1976, Wood initially found his footing as a guitarist in the Jeff Beck Group before forming Faces, the Small Faces offshoot, with Rod Stewart at the mic.
Wood idolised the Stones during his late teens as he made his own route to distinction in the London rock scene. “I was going to be in that band one way or another, and I would broadcast the fact,” Wood once proudly reflected in an interview with NME. “I thought it looked like a good job – and it turns out that it is. It goes to show you can set your sights on something and get it if you think big and put in the work”.
In the early ’70s, Wood became close to the band, having been a good friend of Mick Taylor’s since the early 1960s. In 1971, Wood bought The Wick, a Grade I listed Georgian house in Richmond, where he hosted grand soirées for the rock elite of the time. When Keith Richards moved to live at the property’s coach house for several months between 1973 and ’74, Wood’s dream job seemed within touching distance.
While Richards was staying in 1973, Wood began work on his first solo album, I’ve Got My Own Album to Do. The title was a swipe at Stewart, who, at the time, had begun to put more energy into his own solo career, thus neglecting the Faces. The album was considered an all-star effort with the likes of George Harrison, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Ian McLagan, Mick Taylor and Micky Waller among those involved.
‘Act Together’ was credited to Jagger and Richards, but it was primarily a song written by the former for Wood’s album. Jagger’s lyrics read: “Well it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you/You’re looking good/Can’t begin to tell how much I’ve missed you/ I wish I could/ But I like what you’re wearing for me/ And I could do things for a little bit of your sympathy”.
Jagger and Richards are also credited to ‘Sure the One You Need’ in a more collaborative contribution. Meanwhile, former Beatle Harrison co-wrote ‘Far East Man’ with Wood. Harrison re-recorded the song for his fifth solo album Dark Horse later in 1974.
This early musical relationship between the Stones and Wood wasn’t without direction, however. In ’74, Jagger and Richards were working on the band’s follow-up to Goat’s Head Soup and welcomed Wood to co-write ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)’, which became the album’s title track. The UK top-ten hit was recorded in just one night at The Wick and featured David Bowie on backing vocals while Willie Weeks and Kenney Jones stepped in for Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, respectively.
It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll would be the last Stones album to feature Taylor as Richards’ fellow guitarist. Taylor cites acrimony between himself and the other members as a leading factor in his decision to quit.
“We used to fight and argue all the time,” he told Mojo in 1997. “And one of the things I got angry about was that Mick had promised to give me some credit for some of the songs – and he didn’t. I believed I’d contributed enough. Let’s put it this way – without my contribution, those songs would not have existed. There’s not many but enough, things like ‘Sway’ and ‘Moonlight Mile’ on Sticky Fingers and a couple of others.”
Following Taylor’s departure in December 1974, Wood was brought in to work on Black and Blue but had commitments to uphold in Faces. He toured North America with the Stones in 1975 before the Faces’ disbandment in December and was finally announced as an official Rolling Stone on April 23rd 1976.
