Back in the late 1960s, before Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart helped form the Faces, they both were members of the Jeff Beck Group. Interestingly, Ronnie, who’d always played guitar, wound up serving as the Beck group’s bassist. In a new video feature posted on his social media pages, Wood shared the story about how he wound up joining and playing bass in the U.K. guitar legend’s band.
Videos by American Songwriter
Before starting his own group, Beck was a member of The Yardbirds, and Wood explained that he used to go see that band put on fantastic shows at the Crawdaddy Club in London. Ronnie recalled Jeff telling him that he was thinking about leaving The Yardbirds, and Wood suggested that they try collaborating.
“I said, ‘Well, if you do [leave], should we get together?’” Ronnie remembered. “He said, ‘Yeah.’ And sure enough, he did leave, and he did ring me up, and he said, ‘Let’s get together.’”
Wood said that when he first started collaborating with Beck, he and Jeff played guitar together. The group also featured Dave Ambrose on bass and various drummers, including Aynsley Dunbar and Mickey Waller.
Wood recalled that after a gig at the 100 Club in London, future Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord had commented how great the band sounded with two guitarists.
To Wood’s surprise, Beck then asked him, “Ronnie, if you don’t mind, would you consider playing bass?”
As it turned out, Wood was open to the idea. As he recalled, “I said, ‘I love a challenge. I don’t mind.’ So that’s when I went on to the bass.”
Wood’s Bass Playing Got a Big Thumbs-Up from a Rock Legend
When the Jeff Beck Group toured the U.S., another iconic guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, would jam with the band. Wood remembers Hendrix being very supportive of his bass talents.
“[Jimi] used to say to Jeff, ‘Hey Jeff, let the bass player have a solo,’” Ronnie recalled. “And he did that at the Scene Club [in New York City]. He did that at the open-air concert in [Central] Park. We did another one, [in] Dobbs Ferry [New York] or somewhere. And Jimi turned up again, and he loved my bass playing. So that was a feather in my cap.”
Wood added that he and Hendrix later shared a flat in London’s Holland Park for a few weeks. “It was great fun,” he shared.
Wood and Stewart played in the Jeff Beck Group from 1967 to 1969. Beck broke up the band just before it was set to play the historic Woodstock Festival in August of ’69. Soon after, Wood and Stewart joined Small Faces members Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Ian McLagan to form Faces.
About Wood’s New Compilation, Fearless
In recent weeks, Wood has been posting a series of videos in which he shares recollections about different periods of his long music career to promote his recently released compilation Fearless: Anthology 1965-2025.
The album includes on Jeff Beck Group song, “Plynth (Water Down the Drain).” Wood co-wrote the tune with Stewart and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. It appeared on the band’s second album, Beck-Ola, which was released in 1969.
(Photo by Ivan Keeman/Redferns)
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