Tag Archives: Ron Wood

Music Monday: December 26, 2022

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Music Monday

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Well, we are at the end of another year. This time next week we will be in 2023. I want to thank you all for being here for the last 365 days. It means so much to me. I appreciate all of you. And I look forward to you joining me in the new year which I hope is a good one for all of us.

While celebrating all things Christmas for the last 25 days, I missed an important music birthday: Keith Richards turned 79 years young. The long time Rolling Stone guitarist & one half of the group’s prolific songwriting team was born December 16, 1943 in Dartford, Kent, England.

For 60 years The Stones have done it all, from being part of the British Invasion to defining classic rock to playing with their own musical heroes to reaching legendary status. And Richards has been one of the most recognizable faces behind the band with a sound that helped put The Stones in their rightful place in music & cultural history. I chose today’s song because I hope it is something will all get to be in 2023.

Happy birthday, Keith & Happy New Year to all of you.

“Always took candy from strangers
Didn’t wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day“.

Stones 2010

The Rolling Stones circa 2000 (L to R):  Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood.  (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Rolling Stones: “Happy” (1972, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards).

Stay safe and well.

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Music Monday: June 6, 2022

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to the first edition of Music Monday for June.

Music Monday

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Two members of The Rolling Stones share the same birthday month. Guitarist Ron Wood celebrated birthday number 75 on June 1. Before he joined the band in 1976, he made a name for himself in The Jeff Beck Group, The Faces and with Rod Stewart. Their 1993 collaboration on Unplugged…..and Seated remains one of my favorites from that series.

Original member Charlie Watts was born June 2, 1941 in London, England. We lost the stylish dashing drummer last August & it hurt in a way I never saw coming. We all know musicians age like the rest of us but when a band is together for nearly 60 years, you start to believe they will outlive us all. Maybe that is just me. But what an ache Watts left behind in all of us who love The Stones.

Today’s song is in my permanent Top 10 list. It has been that way since the first time I heard it. It does not feature Wood but it is still one of the band’s greatest tracks of all time. It is from their 1969 Let It Bleed album and has been one of their signature tunes since then. I cannot even imagine my life without this monumental song in it. I am pretty sure Martin Scorsese feels the same way.

“A storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
I’m gonna fade away“.

Stones 2010

The Rolling Stones circa 2010 (L-R): Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Rolling Stones: “Gimme Shelter” (1969, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards).

Stay safe & well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 528

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Aug 2021 blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

On Day 442 we celebrated Charlie Watts 80th birthday, which was June 2. Today we say goodbye to the legendary Rolling Stones drummer who died on August 24. Aside from this being a tremendous loss for his family, the band and for music, it is truly the end of an era. The group that spent nearly 60 years together-with the core members playing together for 31 years until Bill Wyman retired in 1993-remained intact as one of the most influential & driving forces in music history.

From the moment he became The Stones permanent drummer in February 1963, Watts kept the beat-strong, steady, constant & true-while his bandmates played more flamboyant roles. And despite being in one of the most successful groups of all time, Watts led a relatively simple life compared to the others. Married since 1964 to Shirley Ann Shepherd, the two became parents in 1968 to their daughter & eventually grandparents to her daughter. A bout with throat cancer in 2004 sidelined the group who did not resume recording until Watts was ready.

Between his quiet demeanor & sophisticated attire, he almost appeared out of step with the rest of the band. But if not for his rhythm, presence and innovative style, The Rolling Stones sound would not have been what it was. They hit the #1 spot on the US charts for one week on March 4, 1967 with today’s song. Fifty four years later, it seems a fitting tribute to the man we lost on Tuesday. Rest in peace, Charles Robert Watts.

“Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you“.

CW1

Stones

KR IG page

Top: Charlie Watts circa 1990. Middle: The Rolling Stones circa 2005 (L-R): Keith Richards, Watts, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood. Bottom: Richards’ poignant social media tribute to Watts. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Rolling Stones: “Ruby Tuesday” (1967, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 442

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

June 2021 blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

We have two Rolling Stones birthdays to begin this new month with. Guitarist, & songwriter Ron Wood, born June 1, 1947 in England, turns 74 today. June 2 marks the 80th birthday for drummer Charlie Watts, also born in England, in 1941.

The band released today’s song in the US on June 1, 1968, which happened to be Wood’s 21st birthday. But it would be seven years before he played his first show with the group that would later make him a member. Before that he was a member of The Jeff Beck Group where he met Rod Stewart.

The two men went on to form The Faces in 1969. Together they wrote one of my favorite songs of all time, 1971’s “Stay With Me” (Day 218). The same year, Wood played & contributed songs to Stewart’s 1971 breakthrough album, Every Picture Tells A Story. In 1975, Wood joined The Rolling Stones but remains friends with Stewart, whom he joined for his MTV Unplugged show in 1993.

Watts has been in The Stones since their formation in 1963. His grew up listening to jazz music & started playing the drums when he was 14. He also attended art school & worked as a graphic designer in addition to his work in the band, Blues Incorporated. Playing shows with them in and around the London club circuit is how he came to meet the members of The Stones.

Today’s song was a #3 hit for the band in 1969. In 1986, when it was covered by Aretha Franklin for the movie of the same name, it hit #21. Wood & song co-writer Keith Richards played guitar on her track & appeared in the video as well. Her version is, of course, spectacular because Franklin is The Queen. But it was The Stones version that was used in the movie “Pirate Radio” when Gavin Kavanagh returned to the airwaves, so that makes it my favorite version forever. Happy birthday Ron Wood and Charlie Watts. May you both see 100 more.

“I was drowned I was washed up
And left for dead
I fell down to my feet
And I saw they bled“.

Stones 1978

The-Rolling-Stones

Top: The Rolling Stones circa 1978 (L-R): Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman and Keith Richards. Bottom: The Stones circa 2008 (L-E): Watts, Richards, Jagger and Wood. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Rolling Stones: “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1968, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 306

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Shakespeare music

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

On January 13, 1973 Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert took place at the Rainbow Theater in London. The two all star shows were set up to put Clapton in front of an audience after an 18 month period in which he was in isolation fighting depression & drug addiction. The concerts were organized by Clapton’s friend Pete Townsend of The Who and featured two of Clapton’s Blind Faith bandmates Steve Winwood and Ric Grech, The Faces’ Ron Wood and Traffic’s Jim Capaldi and Rebop Kwaku Baah.

An album of the show’s highlights was released that fall and the whole experience put Clapton’s career back on track. He started working on a new record which was released a year later, 461 Ocean Boulevard. But a lot of the music he worked on was not used on the record and did not get released until 2013’s album, Give Me Strength: the ‘74/’75 studio Recordings. Today’s song was included on that record but it was also released on his 1988 boxed set “Crossroads“. It has been one of my favorite Clapton tracks since the first time I heard it.

“Someone like you
Could make me change my ways
Someone like you
Could turn the nights into days“.

Eric 1991

Eric Clapton circa 1991. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Eric Clapton: “Someone Like You” (1988, written by Arthur Louis).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 218

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Thoreau quote 2

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day.  And if this helps anyone else, even better.

In October of 1969 Rod Stewart joined a revamped version of The Small Faces when they became known simply as The Faces. The move united him with the band’s new guitarist & songwriter, Ron Wood, who met Stewart in 1964 then played with him in The Jeff Beck Group from 1967-1969. Stewart also had a solo record deal at the time which garnered him worldwide success in 1971 with the release of “Every Picture Tells A Story”. Wood worked with him on that record as well, with both men co-writing that album’s title track. The two also wrote today’s song together. They stayed with The Faces until 1975 when Wood left to join The Rolling Stones & Stewart continued his solo career. The rest of the group officially disbanded the same year as well. Both Wood & Stewart enjoy long successful careers which continue today.

For as hard rocking as today’s track is, it surprisingly came across unbelievably well in a rousing acoustic format when Stewart performed it on his 1993 MTV Unplugged show joined by Wood, who not only played guitar, but contributed backing vocals as well. I love nearly everything Stewart has ever done, but find the combination of his vocal & Wood’s slide guitar completely exhilarating on today’s track. It is a great classic rock tune that sounds as fresh today as it did when it was a top 20 hit in 1972.

“So in the morning please don’t say you love me
‘Cause you know I’ll only kick you out the door
Yeah I’ll pay your cab fare home you can even use my best cologne
Just don’t be here in the morning when I wake up“.

The Faces 1969

Rod Ron unplugged

Top: The Faces circa 1969 (L-R, top to bottom): Ronnie Lane (bass), Kenny Jones (drums), Ian McLagan (piano & keyboards), Rod Stewart (vocals) & Ron Wood (guitar). Bottom: Wood (L) and Stewart (R) at his 1993 MTV Unplugged show. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Faces: “Stay With Me” (1971, written by Rod Stewart and Ron Wood).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 103

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Kerouac

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day.  And if this helps anyone else, even better.

The Beatles introduced us to the songwriting team of Lennon & McCartney while The Rolling Stones gave us Jagger & Richards. They have written so many great songs that rock over the last 56 years, but out of all of their ballads, this is my absolute favorite.

“Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can’t let you slide through my hands
Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

Stones

The Rolling Stones circa 2010:  L-R:  Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger & Ron Wood.  (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Rolling Stones:  “Wild Horses” (1971, written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.