If there was one universally beloved hero in the pantheon of rock and roll, it would be Ronnie Wood. Going from being exploited for his artistic abilities while in the short lived The Thunderbirds, to learning a whole new instrument to be included in the short lived Jeff Beck Group, revitalizing the soon to be dead Small Faces, and his most permanent job of being a perfect foil to The Rolling Stones larger than life personalities - there has never been a character who bounced to every corner of popular rock music and remains as unsung as he is. With his status as MVP of so many albums, stories, and bands - he was owed a favor by most. The favor given - recording with him in his home studio under the guise of jamming - would result in Wood's debut solo album released on this day fifty years ago, I've Got My Own Album To Do.
By 1974, Wood’s current band, Faces, was crumbling far faster than the band ever wanted to admit. The departure of Ronnie Lane due to the rising star of bandmate Rod Stewart was the straw that broke the camel's back, but not enough for the band to not stagger on another two full years before pulling the plug. 1973’s Ooh La La was the band’s last full length release, and they were at a lull due to a dispute between Stewart’s two record companies (the bands and the one for his solo work), so they were nearly out of commission for many months of the year. It was the same year that Wood would become a certain kind of socialite in the rock and roll world, pictured with the likes of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Linda Rondstat, all the former Beatles, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and Elton John by association, and of course, Keith Richards (more on his insane level of involvemnet later). It was a few years before that he bought The Wick, one of the great houses of rock history, and installed an entire recording studio in the basement, making the house a hot spot for jamming and parties. It was during this time Wood would start playing his cards right and begin having all the people who dropped by write and record with him, leading way to the beginnings of the album.
"The three-story house had an oval dining and drawing room, carved woodwork, and amazing fireplaces. Ronnie plumbed a recording studio into the basement, inherited a snooker table along with the deeds to the property, and acquired a parrot, which he had taught to say "Fuck off", but in terms of other domestic essentials, such as say, a dining table, the house always seemed to me to be a bit on the light side. Mostly it appeared to function as a giant, multiroom wardrobe for Ronnie's stage costumes, which were hanging up against most of the available surfaces, and also as a cupboard for his guitars. It was a good gathering place, though, somewhere you might drop in at the end of the evening, where there always seemed to be a crowd, mostly hanging downstairs in the recording studio, jamming, or listening to other people jamming, or helping Woody on a project of his. Down there you might run into Pete Townshend or Keith Ricahrds, who lived in the cottage at the bottom of Woody's garden for a while, even though he had houses of his own, or, very occasionally, Paul McCartney." - Rod Stewart, 2012
Wood at the Wick, pictured with first wife Krissy in 1974 and solo in 73.
The personnel is stacked, from a quick glance at his liner notes, you have on guitar Wood himself, Keith Richards, George Harrison, Martin Quittenton (who co-wrote Maggie May), and Mick Taylor, bass was covered by Taylor on a few tracks, Willie Weeks, and Pete Sears, on piano there was Richards, Taylor, Ian McLagan of Faces, and Jean Roussel, drums you had Ross Henderson, Andy Newmark and Micky Waller, and backing vocals were covered by a whole cast of folks: Wood, Richards, Harrison, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Rod Stewart, with additional help from Ruby James and Ireen and Doreen Chanter. The album was recorded in Wood’s home studio, with the title coming from collaborators often saying they had to go home and finish their own projects, prompting I’ve Got My Own Album To Do.
The album begins with I Can Feel the Fire, which would become a standard at the last Faces shows, commonly sung as a duet between Stewart and Wood. On the recording, it’s actually dual lead vocals of Wood and Jagger, one of the few guest spots of Jagger on the album. The track also features David Bowie, who had been in The Wick’s studio when their original version of soon-to-be Stones classic It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll was written, and was even on the original demo (though wiped by Keith Richards and promptly replaced). Far East Man is a
collaboration with George Harrison, and the song would actually be released separately by both Wood and Harrison. It was released on Harrison’s album Dark Horse in December of 1974, seeing far more success than its original release by Wood. The title actually finds a home back with Faces, as according to Harrison the band had just come back from a tour of the far east when he began collaborating with Wood, who was wearing a t-shirt that said Far East Man in a play on “Far Out, Man”. The duo had met backstage at the Rainbow comeback concerts for Eric Clapton, the infamous performance where he came out of a self imposed retirement and re-emerged for the first time after a heroin addiction. Shortly after becoming acquainted, there was an all-too-common-in-the-rock-world “wife-swap", followed by an all-too-common-in-the-rock-world Ron Wood running his mouth. Wood would get himself “in-trouble” with Harrison by issuing a statement in late 1973 that his romance with Pattie Boyd, one of rock and roll's all time greatest muses and Harrison's wife at the time (Something by The Beatles, Layla by Derek and the Dominos), was “definitely on”, prompting Harrison to respond with a statement that boiled down to ‘Ronnie Wood is an idiot that shouldn’t be listened too’ (Whatever Ronnie Wood has got to say about anything, certainly about us, it has got nothing to do with Patti or me! Got that?). It’s quite boring to hear from only the think-with-their-dick men though, and I feel it important to add Pattie Boyd’s thoughts on the matter here, as Harrison’s statement only comes across as more sour when held up to her words. In her autobiography, Wonderful Tonight, Boyd writes of Wood:
“It was such a relief to have someone else to party with, someone who is light and fun, who enjoyed life and didn't need looking after. He didn't seem upset that his wife was with George-- just thought it was funny that they'd gone to see Salvador Dali. Ronnie was, and is, the most adorable man, and maybe at that moment, some fun, laughter, and a pair of comforting arms were what I needed. In hindsight I wonder whether George's pursuit of other women was a challenge: perhaps he was hoping to provoke me, hoping to make me put my foot down and reclaim him. At the time I saw it as rejection, [..] I have lived in fear of being abandoned. When things reached such a pitch with George that I thought our marriage was passed saving, I left before he had a chance to leave me.” - Pattie Boyd, 2007
I would take Boyd’s word as point blank over anyone else's: Wood has a habit of “misremembering” his stories (aka if you read any account of the same event he’s spoken of you’ll notice gaping holes that others fill), and Harrison was more concerned about seeming good to the public than being honest (because subjecting your wife to cheating so
consistent it reads as abuse and only caring about her when another man looks her way is horrible). Harrison would go on to say Far East Man was lyrically written by only him, that the co-writing credit would fall on their musical collaboration, the lyrics ended up detailing the struggle of a man unable to figure out his true friends. Subtle. When the world wages war it gets harder to see who your real friends are is
the opening line of the song, the following verse reading All these ups and downs make me question what love is / Is it a lie or worthwhile? There’s something delicate about the delivery of both versions of the song, a distant but seemingly understanding delivery about the pain caused in pursuit of pleasure: Wondering if it is or if I'm wrong / Even then my heart seems to be the one in charge / Can only do what...It tells me. Harrison’s slide work is incredible, it adds to Wood’s unique vocal delivery in such a way it makes you wish they had been able to work out their one sided issues. Wood doesn’t feature on Harrison’s versions song, though he does appear on Ding-Dong, Ding Dong from Dark Horse - Harrison crediting him in the hand-written liner notes: Ron Would if You Let Him….
The next song is also most likely about rock’s greatest muse as well, Mystifies Me. The song is sung by Wood with harmony by Rod Stewart through the song in a way that actually utilizes the differences well. On Faces numbers where Stewart took a back seat to Ronnie Lane, his voice would often overpower without much intention, but it comes across much better here, the song almost written with his voice in mind. On a compilation of rarities released in 2013, there's a demo of Stewart’s would-be version if he had been able to complete the lyrics to the composition Wood provided him. Just give me a sign, I'll take your word / I'll learn anything you want me to / That is all I'm looking to you for [...] Yeah take all my breath away/ Take it all apart and put it back / I am always left there looking at you was adapted from Stewart’s attempts: I think I’ll pack my bags and get away sometime / After all, you know, I don’t fit in / I know I have been the one to blame to blame at all times, after all I don’t fit in / Think I’ll pack my bags and move away again. Wood crafted a love song from the more stripped back arrangement - almost like a proto-Wonderful Tonight years before that was a flash in the pan. Stewart joins Wood for the chorus, You look so fine and true / No one mystifies me like you do. It’s some of their best
work together at a point where nearly everything was done in tandem, and not an easy feat at that. The track also features Martin Quittenton, co-writer of Maggie May and You Wear it Well, on acoustic guitar and fellow Jeff Beck Group survivor Mickey Waller on drums. Take a Look at the Guy is another Stewart feature, more so in line with Jagger’s feature on Can You Feel the Fire. It was added to Faces ' setlist, guitar-driven and a true live gem for their later shows. Take a look at the guy who's
standing in front of you / Take a look at the guy who once sat here with you/ Does
he look like the same guy, the same guy, the same guy / Who used to sing songs to you? It’s mostly nonsense words that go together, a story to be pieced together with no real reasoning or story behind it. Act Together was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richads (Though Woods' hand-written liner notes showcase a solo Richards credit) and pawned to Wood during the sessions of the album - the song even features Richards on co-lead vocal, and even rarer - keys. It’s not exactly clear the origins of piece, if it was truly a scrapped collaboration between the two or a Richards piece masked as one. The lyrics lean more to the latter, lines like I like what you’re wearing for me / And I could do things for a little bit of your sympathy and Don’t expect for it to last forever, it never does / But it sure
beats talking about the weather - wordy and contrived to illustrates a genuine, almost sweet love song. Creem magazine would write of the album in 1974, “But the vision of Keith Richard involving himself so wholeheartedly in a project beyond the Stones — and, according to some, at the expense of a few sessions for the Stones album — can only be interpreted as being indicative of something going on beyond the usual half-baked premises that seem to presage your standard solo tedium.” Richards was living in the
cottage behind The Wick during the recording of I’ve Got My Own Album To Do (the former tenant, Ronnie Lane, had moved out after Faces imploded). In Wood’s own words from his memoir: “While I was making my album, Krissie [Wood, Ronnie's first wife] had been out on the town with some girlfriends at Tramps nightclub. She found Keith there having a bad time getting hassled. He asked Krissie, ‘Help me get out of here, I’ve got to get rid of these people.’ She said, “Ronnie’s at home in Richmond working on his album, why don’t you come over?’ She brought Keith back to the Wick for the evening, and he stayed for four months.” Wood says Richards had a place to go but that he simply… didn’t go there.In turn, he was heavily involved in the album more than any other collaborator but Wood himself. Working on the album were the first seeds of their partnership, one that would (in some ways) save The Rolling Stones more than once. And I like what you're singing to me / But it's better with a little bit of harmony. It's also worth noting that much of the press surrounding the album put a lot of emphasis on the involvement of Richards, how it was so fascinating to see him break out of his mold in the Stones (as, at that point, he was the member who worked the absolute least outside of the band - almost critical of when the others would indulge outside projects). Richards had issue with the idea of Wood joining the Stones for the reasoning that they played too similar, but this album worked as proof that there was a great collaboration underway when Richards was ready to break out of his shell.
Am I Grooving You marks the second appearance from Jagger, in yet another song that would be adopted well into a live setting (often taking Jagger out and replacing him with Richards). It’s a number designed for a Faces-esque live performance, loud and somewhat in your face with it’s instrumentation, and, most importantly, fun. Willie Weeks is amazing on this track as well, one of the all time great session bassists. His work on this album would lend him session work with Stewart, Harrison, and Bowie. Weeks is also the bassist heard on Only Rock 'n' Roll, with Kenney Jones on drums making a powerhouse rhythmn section that was so sadly short lived. Shirley, featuring Mick Taylor on bass, is pure Ronnie Wood trademark nonsense. Hello girly, don’t you know? / You’re the girl in my soup now. Something about Wood - something that has made him so easily compatible with all the
different huge personalities he’s meshed with over the years is his status as classic rock’s resident "class clown". To talk his way back into Jeff Beck’s good graces, still remain a friend of George Harrison after an outburst, and to be one of the few people it seems Bob Dylan ever truly enjoyed meeting in social spaces, are probably in large part to the personality he displays. Looking over the history of Faces and all their in-fighting, it was only ever Wood they all got along with - and he proudly acts as sole peacekeeper of The Rolling Stones. From getting Jagger and Richards to talk to each other again in the late 80s or being the only Stone trusted in close, elongated proximity to Bill Wyman and not kill him (Going so far as being the ONLY speaker from the band at Wyman’s disgusting 1989 marriage), and being in consistent and understandable good graces with Charlie Watts - so much so he was the last Stone to see him before he passed away. As interconnected as rock and roll history gets, it’s almost guaranteed that any artist you can think of knows and has a story of Ronnie Wood. (he was even roommates with Jimi Hendrix, you don’t get more involved than that). Cancel Everything starts about as Faces as one could get: the organ from McLagen and melodic riff enacting a thought of their earliest works. The song follows a soft rock formula, musings of two long distance lovers over a phone, presumably an insert into the touring musician canon, This old hotel room's too familiar for me / I can't take it anymore / It's the last place on earth I choose to be / You don't have to worry with me / If I wanted you to go / I'd lose you on my own free will / Yes, I need you. It’s a largely positive song, feeling like it’s origins could’ve come from stories of the old Jeff Beck Group days. Encourage me with words / Feed me to the birds / That sit along and listen in on this telephone wire is some of Wood’s best lyrical work as well.
Outtakes from the cover shoot of I've Got My Own Album To Do by Dick Polark ; L to R: Willie Weeks, Rod Stewart, [?], Ian McLagen, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood
Sure the One You Need brings Richards back into the mix… to sing lead? It’s rather clear
from the get go that this is a project Richards took a lot of personal interest in for some unbeknownst reason. The lyrics of Sure the One You Need are about as nonsensical as it can get, written by the Jagger/Richards partnership (once more in Wood's liner notes only credited to Richards), though the opening lines of verse two could be seen as a nod to
Maggie May, Well maybe you're the leader of the band / But even you must sometimes need a helping hand almost a response to Find myself a rock and roll band that needs a helpin' hand. This would also play into the competitive nature brewing between Jagger and Stewart, probably over the guitarist they were both in need of to help with their work. Speaking of Stewart, a cover of Rudy Clark’s If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody comes next on the album and is another song Stewart features on. He takes more of a co-leading role this time, though, only breaking for harmony vocals about half way through. Their voices underline each others, and similar to how Sure the One comes across like a Richards lead vocal spot, Make a fool stands like that for Stewart. A highlight are the high notes done for every ‘somebody’, padding out what could be seen a largely unremarkable cover. The album ends with an instrumental written by Willie Weeks, Crotch Music. Weeks is the centerpiece, his bass is centerstage though Wood and Richards weaving on the back half is no slouch. It’s the perfect closing jam to an album full of some of the most fun and star studded tracks in rock’s pantheon.
The lack of press tour for I’ve Got My Own Album to Do would culminate in a July 1974
show billed as Woody and Friends - later branded The First Barbarians in allusion to the 1979 tour The New Barbarians. It was a set of live shows at Kilburn Theater, the band was made of of Ron Wood on guitar and vocals, Keith Richards on guitar, vocals, and piano, Willie Weeks on bass, Andy Newmark on drums, and Ian McLagen on piano and organ. Rod Stewart would appear on a few songs as well, rounding out a rather stacked line up. The show was upheld for it’s tight band - being performed a month before the album it was promoting was released - it gave people something to be excited about. Richards was well
considered the MVP of the album - many hailing it as his wakeup from years riding in the background of The Stones, but it was this performance that showcased Richards the performer. It was him actually performing as a frontman here that made so many wish for a solo album from him - the performances seemingly waking him up from a fog. The shows took place during the off season for both Faces and the Stones, and featured a guest list comprising of Elton John and (according to Creem magazine) Jeff Beck? Many reviews of the show were positive, this being a technical live debut of Wood fronting a band and everyone performing together.
“Knocked me out. We would all have gone off on tour together right then,” including Richard, but there were other commitments – like a Faces tour of England and Europe currently underway. “We only had four day’s rehearsal for the gig. I had no time to learn the words, so I’d make up lines as I felt.” - Ronnie Wood to Judith Sims for Rolling Stone, Oct. 24, 1974
Magazine Promotions for I've Got My Own Album To Do
After the Kilburn gigs it would be another about two months before the albums release. During that time Faces would start their fall tour of Europe, as Richards promoted the Stones newest LP, It's Only Rock and Roll. Richards reconvined with Wood for Faces final performance of the tour, according to McLagen he made everyone wildly uncomfortable with his presence.
"My mum and dad came into the dressing-room afterwards and Keith was slumped in the corner of the room; my mum came in saying, 'Who was that ugly bloke on stage with you?' I said, 'Mum – he's carrying a gun and a knife. What are you going to do?'" - Ian McLagen to Rolling Stone, 2011
1974 would end for Faces on the same sour note it started, as just weeks after Wood's album was released Stewart would release his next solo project, Smiler, and in a cover story with Creem magazine tell that journalist Ben Edmonds that his albums have always been better than the groups and that he had no intention of making another record with the band. The band had been largely supportive of Wood's solo endeavor and, to the shock of absolutely no one, were sour on Stewarts. To say the beginning of the end was nigh would negate the two years of infighting that got them to here, but they were closer to the ledge than ever before, and Wood... well.
It was Decemeber 1974 that would find Wood in-between the two Mick's, Jagger and Taylor, as the latter resigned from the Stones. Jagger offered the job to Wood but was denied for maybe the first time in his life. Wood claimed his role in Faces was of "greater personal importance" to him, but if the situation got dire than to call him. 1975 rolled around and suddenly Wood was touring the United States with the Stones before the fall Faces tour, Stewart was losing his complete mind, and Faces were about to breakup for real. But that's a story for a different day.
I've Got My Own Album To Do made little spalsh in the rock music world at large, but it was the jumping off point for many things. Maybe the last great Faces collabortations, the beginning of the Wood/Richards duo, and the introduction of one of the coolest jam bands to never really tour. Cementing Wood as the everyman to end all everyman, the album stands as a testement to how far a few favors can really go.
The First Barbaians show from July 1974:
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