What was the first Rolling Stones single to feature Ronnie Wood?
When thinking about the blueprint for the ultimate band, the image of The Rolling Stones isn’t far off. It wasn’t long after their emergence in 1962 that the band were heralded as the greatest rock and rollers on earth, and they hit the global music scene like a lightning strike. Ever since, the members have existed in a god-tier league of rock stars, with Ronnie Wood among them. However, the guitarist was a late-stage addition to the band, joining after they’d already made it big.
Across their history, The Stones have moved through several lineup changes. When they first launched, the band was made up of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, obviously, alongside Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts. Stewart was the first to go. Then, in 1969, the band famously fired Brian Jones due to his worsening drug habits and bad behaviour. Wyman hung around until the 1990s, and Watts played with the band until his death in 2021, as the true foundation of the group.
But in the 1970s, with Jones gone, the band needed an extra guitarist. At first, Mick Taylor filled the spot, coming into the fold for Let It Bleed, their first album without their original member. Taylor played with them for a good few years, contributing greatly to their early 1970s sound but it seemed that he never truly settled in. However, he later claimed that he felt like a “junior citizen in the band of jaded veterans” and that his own creative ideas were ignored by the more established members of the group. In the end, he didn’t want to just feel like a backing guitarist for a band; he wanted to be a leader, so in 1974, he quit.
“There are some people who can just ride along from crest to crest; they can ride along somebody else’s success. And there are some people for whom that’s not enough,” he said about his departure, adding, “It really wasn’t enough for me.”
So, they found themselves back at square one, once again in need of a guitarist. By this point, as one of the biggest bands in the world, it was an intimidating role to fill. They didn’t just need someone capable of mastering their extensive back catalogue—they needed someone who could keep pace with them both musically and personally, someone who could match their evolution and bold ambitions for the future. They weren’t looking for a temporary replacement; they wanted a true bandmate, someone to fully integrate into the fold. And so, they began auditioning the best of the best.
Peter Frampton was tested out, and so was Jeff Beck. Shuggy Otis auditioned for them, as well as American musicians Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel, but the band wanted to keep the lineup British. But really, all along, they knew who they wanted.
Ronnie Wood had been on their radar for a long time. They were good friends, navigating the same live music circuit in London back in the day and sharing the same gaggle of musical mates. By the mid-1970s, Wood was a sought-after player, having collaborated with Beck and been a member of The Birds and The Faces. When he’d made his debut solo album in 1974, he had a high-calibre group of friends to call on for help. George Harrison helped out, David Bowie lent his voice to the record, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards both featured.
Knowing that Wood was the perfect fit, they’d been begging him to join for some time. At first, he turned them down to stay committed to his own band. However, he’d eventually accept their invitation in 1976, but not before he’d already contributed to one of the band’s biggest hits.
So, what was the first Rolling Stones song Ronnie Wood played on?
Before he joined the band as an official member, Ronnie Wood agreed to come into the studio to help the Stones out. After Jagger and Richards helped him with his solo work, he returned the favour in 1974 as he not only played on but also helped inspire ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)’.
In fact, the initial version of the song was even recorded at Wood’s house in his home studio. Getting to see his playing in action in the studio and seeing his knack for classic songwriting, too, the making of the track only made the band, even more, set on locking the guitarist down as a permanent member.
