The 76-year-old British-born songwriter, musician and performer Ronnie Wood joined the famed rock and roll group The Rolling Stones as an official member in 1975. Prior, he’d played in bands like the Birds and the Jeff Beck Group. He’s also released solo work and collaborated with more big name music stars like former Beatle George Harrison.
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But of course it’s his many decades in the Rolling Stones that have comprised the majority of his electric guitar playing career. While in that band, Wood even co-wrote some songs for the group, including three here below. While Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are often thought of as the premiere songwriters in the band, Wood has also helped along the way.
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For more on his contributions, here below are three songs you likely didn’t know Ronnie Wood helped write for the Rolling Stones.
1. “Pretty Beat Up”
Written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood
This song was released on the Rolling Stones’ 1983 album, Undercover, which also marked the group’s first release of all-new songs in the ’80s at the time. The album was one that included some tension during its recording, with various members looking to take the band down different sonic avenues, from its roots in blues-rock to more contemporary genres of the time, including reggae. On this song, “Pretty Beat Up,” which was co-written by Jagger, Richards and Wood, the group blends rock with disco beats to create a hybrid sound. On the track, Jagger sings,
Since you put me down
Pretty beat up, pretty beat up
Yeah, since you left me lying around
Pretty beat up, pretty beat up
Since you 86-ed me, pretty beat up
Never restitched me, pretty beat up
My face is a mess, pretty beat up
Yeah, yeah, you ought to see my face
Pretty beat up, pretty beat up
2. “Black Limousine”
Written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood
This song was released on the 1981 album, Tattoo You, which preceded, Undercover. While Tattoo You was largely comprised of studio outtakes from the 1970s, it did include the all-time hit “Start Me Up.” Another blues-rocker from the 1981 LP was “Black Limousine,” which was written by Jagger, Richards and Wood. The song itself is about a breakup (could it be an allegory for the band’s tension at the time?). As for Wood,he said the music was inspired, in part, by Texas slide guitar player Hop Wilson. On the track Jagger sings between shrill harmonica solos,
We used to ride, baby
Ride around in limousines
We looked so fine, baby
You in white and me in green
Drinking and dancing
All inside a crazy dream
Well now, look at your face now, baby
Look at you and look at me
I get so scared
Just to see you on the street
They’re living dead
You’re all the same, you never speak
You’re wrecked out now
Washed-up high up on the beach
Well now, look at your face now, baby
Look at you and look at me
3. “No Use in Crying”
Written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood
Another from the 1981 LP, Tattoo You, this song was born from the recording sessions for the band’s 1980 LP, Emotional Rescue. Featuring elaborate vocal production of minimalist drums and blues piano, the song reads like a B-side, but an excellent one, at that. Rich with emotion and heartbreak, Jagger sings like a man on fire, describing sorrow and that age-old sense of missing his lost love. On the offering, Jagger sings,
Ain’t no use in crying
Stay away from me
Ain’t no use in crying
Stay away from me
Ain’t no use in crying
Stay away from me
Standing in the kitchen
Looking way out cross the fields
You see a face in the window
It’s not real, it’s not real
Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
