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| Gazza |
Ron Wood loves playing guitar with the Rolling Stones, but 'away from the madness,' painting sustains him. A show of his portraits is coming to town along with the band
BRENDAN KELLY
The Gazette
Thursday, January 02, 2003
The chat with Ron Wood was supposed to be about art and art only. That was the deal set by his people.
The idea was that Wood, on the phone from London during his Christmas break, would talk up his moonlighting career as a painter and help promote the exhibition at the Just for Laughs Museum this month featuring some of his lithographs, silk screens, sketches and canvases.
And he did indeed have much of interest to say about painting portraits of his fellow Rolling Stones and other rock stars, including Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and Eric Clapton.
But the talk soon turned to rock. This is, after all, one of the key guitarists in the history of modern British music. Wood played bass in the Jeff Beck Group in the 1960s, was a founding member (with Rod Stewart) of the great ramshackle, booze-soaked rock outfit the Faces, and, for the past 27 years, has been a card-carrying member of the Rolling Stones.
So, in spite of the publicist's strict instructions, it just seemed perverse to talk just about brush-stroke technique. "Woody," it turns out, was only too pleased to talk rock. He waxed eloquent about his old pal Stewart, and excitedly broke the news that he and Stewart will be reuniting in the studio this year for a new joint studio album.
But Wood was most enthusiastic when discussing his current night job, cranking it out on the Rolling Stones' 40th-anniversary Forty Licks tour, which touches down in Montreal for a sold-out show at the Bell Centre on Wednesday.
Wood, 55, has sworn off drinking since a stint in rehab last year and he says that, contrary to the usual rock myths, he's a much better musician now that he's stone-cold sober.
"It's definitely getting better," Wood said. "I've never played so good as I'm playing now, even if I say it myself. I feel more at ease. I'm much more satisfied with my output. I'm leaving gaps. I'm playing stuff that's more meaningful. Instead of just blasting all the way through a song, I'm thinking more and playing more important inserts, and it's
paying off."
Wood has been playing guitar in the self-proclaimed world's greatest rock 'n' roll band since 1975 and he chuckles when it's mentioned that he's still considered "the new Stone" even though he's had the job for more than a quarter of a century. He is the third guitarist to play alongside chief riffmeister Keith Richards, following the late Brian Jones and Mick Taylor. Wood has nothing but praise for his guitar-partner Richards.
"He's fabulous to play off of," Wood said. "We call our style of playing together 'the ancient form of weaving.' We get it down so that we're so tight that, on playback, we don't know which one's playing which part."
The Forty Licks tour, named after the essential career-spanning two-CD compilation released in the fall, has injected new zest into Wood and his Stones colleagues Richards, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts. The grizzled rockers have been playing clubs, arenas, and stadiums and, in contrast to fellow senior-citizen rockers like Paul McCartney, the Stones have been shaking up the set lists on a nightly basis. The big stadium shows inevitably feature more classics, like Jumpin' Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Women and Brown Sugar, while the smaller gigs have included more obscure Stones tracks.
Since the opening show Sept. 3 at the Fleet Centre in Boston, the set list has included all sorts of lesser known gems, like Exile on Main Street rockers Rocks Off and Rip This Joint, Between the Buttons oddity She Smiled Sweetly, and the seldom-played Neighbours, off the under-rated Tattoo You album.
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"With the three different-sized venues, we call it the Fruit of the Loom tour - small, medium, large," said Wood. "We have different set lists for the stadiums, arenas and clubs. We change as many as eight or 10 songs a night. We'll have an Exile on Main Street night or a Sticky Fingers night. Or a soul and reggae evening. It's really interesting. Some of the small club shows have been brilliant, where we play things like Heart of Stone or an old Otis Redding cover. Just pulling stuff out of left field. But I'm really enjoying, at the moment, playing songs that I always wanted to play when I was a fan before I joined. Songs like Can't You Hear Me Knocking and Stray Cat Blues."
The band's also been doing Like a Rolling Stone and Wood said that Dylan, who heard they were covering his signature tune, has been returning the favour by frequently performing Brown Sugar in his shows.
Wood, who studied at the Ealing College of Art in London before becoming a professional musician, continues to paint while on tour. He has tried his hand at number of different media, producing oil paintings, woodcuts, lithographs, etchings and drypoints, and the range of his output has included landscapes and large-scale murals.
But his best-known work continues to be his portraits. He paints what he knows and that happens to be some of the world's most famous rock stars. His well-crafted, accessible portraits have included his takes on Keith Moon, Chuck Berry and Jim Morrison, along with various Rolling Stones. Wood said it isn't easy painting the Stones.
"It's tough sometimes. Like, Jagger is not easy to capture. It's a bit of a challenge. He's a forever-changing type of personality. The same with his looks. Also, he doesn't sit still for very long. I capture him mainly in the studio when he's not looking, when he's sitting down concentrating. Whereas someone like Keith or Charlie are more staid in their image."
The painting provides a nice counter-point to his job touring with the Stones, Wood notes.
"I've been doing views from hotel windows; I've done views from Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco. I find it relaxing, quite therapeutic, away from the madness of sound-checking, gigs, media stuff. The painting is a solo thing and the music is a group effort. So it's nice to do something where it's just you that's responsible for it."
The Ron Wood exhibition at the Just for Laughs Museum, 2111 St. Laurent Blvd., opens Tuesday and runs until Jan. 19. Tickets cost $6. For information, call (514) 845-5105.
The Rolling Stones, with opening act Les Respectables, play the Bell Centre on Jan. 8. The show is sold out.
[email protected]
� Copyright 2003 Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette 2nd January
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| MP |
way to go, Ronnie.... |
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| Martha |
Thanks for the post Gazza.
I loved getting the chance to see some of Ronnie's portraits at the Rock Hall in October. Wish I could have gone when he came to the opening the day before. Oh well, I guess you can't win 'em all!
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| luxury1 |
Many thanks for posting this Gazza--my friend and I are going up to Montreal on Tues and will check this out. I saw some of his work in a gallery in San Fran about 7 yrs ago. |
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| Nellcote |
Here's to Woody.....
From my front row perch at Providence Civic Center in '75
to hangin at the "B" in '02, simply effortless....
What wicked pissa news that he and Rod will hook up again..
That should spark..
Luxy, have a great time in Montreal! |
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