KNOW YOUR BASS PLAYER #94 : “I’m a Gemini, so I have a great time with the other guy!” He is rightfully acknowledged as one of rock’s premiere slide guitarists with a gregarious personality to match his inimitable musical prowess. However if Ron Wood had opted to set aside his signature Zemaitis guitar and other assorted six-strings full-time, he’d be known as a world-class bassist as evidenced by his brilliant work with the Jeff Beck Group (Truth, Beck Ola), and Rod Stewart (An Old Raincoat aka The Rod Stewart Album, Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells a Story, Never A Dull Moment), and from various tracks found on all those amazing post-Steve Marriott Faces albums, and a few Stones collections as well. With Beck, Woody never played in the pocket, never quite outlined the changes in the traditional sense, and never rendered a conventional bass line! Most bassists would have been fired on the spot, yet Ronnie’s intuitive sense of counter-melody and interplay with Beck, drummers Micky Waller/Tony Newman and Rod the Mod was pure rock ‘n’ roll genius! When Ronnie Lane and Bill Wyman were on holiday, that was Woody on “Three Button Hand Me Down,” “Emotional Rescue,” “Shattered,” “Tie You Up,” and “Wanna Hold You,” among others. When I meet Ron Wood I must inquire as to why he hardly rendered a bass track on his remarkable canon of solo albums – though he enlists the best players to support him including Flea, Darryl Jones, Willie Weeks, Shaun Solomon, Doug Wimbish, Jimmy Haslip, Jay Davis, Pops Popwell, and part-timer Keith Richards. (Stones fans note Mick Taylors funky bass chops on Fingerprint File.)
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 09:02:13 +0000
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