Ron Wood has had a remarkable musical career. After starting in London in the mid-1960s with The Birds, he played on many recordings and was a key part of both the original Jeff Beck Group and the original Faces, and has been a member of The Rolling Stones for 50 years. Three recent releases feature music from the Faces, The Rolling Stones, and an anthology that spans almost every part of his career, right up to the present day.
Although Wood was in the Jeff Beck Group and was also in a band and played on several records with Rod Stewart, his tenure in The Rolling Stones is formidable. The Black and Blue Super Deluxe box set reissue celebrates his grand arrival as a member of The Rolling Stones. Black and Blue was released in 1976 and was Wood’s first full album with the group, following Mick Taylor’s departure from the band. Taylor joined the Stones as a replacement for Brian Jones, before Jones’ death, and made his live debut with the group at the free Hyde Park concert the Stones put on in July 1969, which served as their musical memorial to Jones.
The Black and Blue album proved to be a pivotal release for the Stones. In the face of glam and disco, and just before punk exploded, the Stones began to shed their mid-’70s sound for something new. Mick Taylor was a consummate guitarist, and his departure from the group was not well-received by the other members. They loved his tasteful playing, which added a fluid grace to their more rough-and-ready, expansive ’70s work while having come from the same bluesy background as the other members of the band, notably his stint with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
He was the perfect replacement for Jones. The Stones flirted with other guitarists to replace Taylor, including Harvey Mandel of Canned Heat, Wayne Pekins, Rory Gallagher, and, most notably, Jeff Beck. They ultimately settled on Wood, even though he was still in the Faces, and there seemingly could not have been anyone better to fill Taylor’s shoes, both in terms of playing ability and compatibility. They recorded the album over several months in Munich, Rotterdam, and Montreux, in tax exile.
At the time, Black and Blue may not have been viewed as a great Stones album, but in retrospect, it was the perfect transition to what was to come. Jagger and Richards produced the album after Glyn Johns briefly worked with them early on after Taylor’s departure, and the guest musicians include Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins, and others.
There are some great Stones songs here that reflect a wide variety of styles. “Memory Motel,” about the famed hotel on Montauk, Long Island, is a beautiful ballad that reflects the time the group spent there, hanging with notable figures like artist Andy Warhol and photographer Peter Beard. There’s also the funky “Hot Stuff.” “Hey Negrita” is credited as being inspired by Ron Wood. The cover of Eric Donaldson’s 1971 reggae song, “Cherry Oh Baby,” was an inspired choice. “Fool To Cry” was another heartfelt ballad, and “Melody” was inspired by Billy Preston.
The album demonstrated a significant influence of black, R&B, reggae, and even dance music of the time, but also possessed a spiky energy that was heavily influenced by Wood’s energetic playing and outsize, lovable personality. Ron Wood is the kind of person who, musically and personality-wise, would be welcome in anyone’s ensemble. Wood is not a guitar technician like Jeff Beck, but is instead an instinctual player. Bob Dylan has said that you can’t buy feel. Ron Wood is someone who has it, and it’s on display on Black and Blue.
This box includes a remastered and remixed version of Black and Blue by Steven Wilson, featuring exceptional sound quality. Wilson demonstrates here that his talents extend beyond progressive music. There is also a three-album, 21-track Live at Earl’s Court concert from 1976, which includes Billy Preston performing two of his own songs. One album features outtakes and jams, including two tracks with Jeff Beck that present a what-might-have-been sound if Beck had joined the band. These are really more like jams than completed songs, although “Freeway Jam” was a Beck solo track that appeared on his classic Blow by Blow album. There’s also a joyful cover of Shirley and Company’s disco dance track “Shame, Shame, Shame” and some other jams.
A Blu-ray offers Dolby Atmos and stereo mixes, along with the Les Rolling Stones Aux Abattoirs Paris-Juin 1976 television concert and the Live at Earls Court concert. The Earl’s Court concert is an audio-only event, and the sound quality is exceptional. The seminal live peak of the group began in 1969 and may have ended in 1978, and these two live concerts are a must-have for fans of the Stones in concert.
There’s also a poster of the French concert and a lavish 100-page hardcover book. The hard-shell box, featuring a removable lid, is encased in a plastic slipcase with a graphic overlay inspired by the original album cover. It’s good to see this pivotal album receive the big box reissue treatment. This is a must-have for Stones fans.
Before the Stones, Wood was in a group that came as close to the Stones as any other group. The Faces came out of the ashes of the Small Faces, after Steve Marriott went off to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, and Rod Stewart and Ron Wood left the Jeff Beck group and joined Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenny Jones.
The Small Faces were mods who played terse, R&B-inspired pop and were beloved in England, but they barely made a dent in the American market. Stewart and Wood transformed their sound into a bluesy, boozy, and very Stones-influenced party band, installing a bar and bartender on stage for their live shows. The band was short-lived, as Rod Stewart became the focal point and started recording solo albums while still in the band.
Like the Black and Blue album, the archival release Early Steps: The First Recordings presents Wood at the beginning of his time with a new group. These raw rehearsals are a perfect presentation of who the Faces really were: a shambolic and woozy party band that, on stage, were having as much fun as the rabid fans who came to see them for their brief time in the English sun. You can hear echoes of the Faces in groups like the Black Crowes, Oasis, and even The Jam, among many others.
While these recordings are a bit raw and there is only a small number of tracks here, it’s exciting to hear the group rip through songs from their early set. The first side features four tracks recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes in the autumn of 1979, and side two comprises four tracks recorded at the rehearsal space used by the Rolling Stones in Bermondsey during the summer of 1969.
Some of the Olympic tracks were previously unreleased, and the rehearsal space tracks were all recorded on cassette. The single vinyl album comes in a poly-lined sleeve, and considering how primitive some of the original tape sources were, it sounds quite good. This is a welcome addition to the recent spate of reissues of the Faces’ music over the past several years.
It’s so great to see the release of Fearless: Anthology 1965-2025, a retrospective of Ron Wood’s career. While there have been a couple in the past, this one is quite good and is available in different formats. The vinyl version is a two-LP set. The set is broken up into four distinct periods.
Side A includes five tracks from his time with Rod Stewart in the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces and from Stewart’s solo albums. It includes such classics that Wood co-wrote as “Stay With Me.” After one more Faces track, on side B, there is music from Wood’s first excellent yet underrated solo forays. “I Can Feel the Fire” features vocals from Mick Jagger. “Far East Man” was co-written with George Harrison, and the song was also done by Harrison on his Dark Horse album from 1974.
Side C is all music from The Rolling Stones, featuring music Wood co-wrote as a member of the band. The final side is strictly from Wood’s solo works, including four previously unreleased tracks, one of which is a cover of the classic “A Certain Girl” with vocals by Chrissie Hynde.
The gate-fold package comes with a four-page insert featuring an essay by Paul Sexton, and the albums were pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The 19-track vinyl set is excellent, but the CD set offers 38 tracks, including music from Wood’s earlier ’60s days with the Birds and Creation, as well as music he recorded with Bob Dylan. There are also additional tracks from his time with the Faces and Rod Stewart, along with more solo tracks and a track from a soundtrack Wood did with Ronnie Lane. There was so much more that could have been included here, including his live recordings with Bon Diddley and his other project with Keith Richards, The New Barbarians.
While the future of The Rolling Stones’ touring is uncertain, they are set to release a new album in 2026. As for Ron Wood, he will surely be involved in other projects as well.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
The Rolling Stones, Black and Blue Super Deluxe
A+
Faces, Early Steps: The First Recordings
B
Ronnie Wood, Fearless: Anthology 1965-2025
A-
