Ronnie Wood
Middle Man
In December 1974, Ronnie Wood attended a London party honoring Eric Clapton. He was still a member of the Faces, but he was already friendly with the Rolling Stones and had even worked with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
At some point during the party, Wood found himself sitting on a sofa between two men named Mick. On one side was Mick Jagger. On the other was Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.
Then Taylor leaned across Wood toward Jagger and dropped a bombshell. He was leaving the Rolling Stones.
Jagger couldn't believe it. Wood later recalled Jagger asking Taylor if he was joking. Taylor made it clear that he wasn't, got up, and left. That left Ronnie Wood sitting beside a stunned Mick Jagger.
After an awkward moment, Jagger turned to Wood and asked him, "What am I going to do? Was Taylor serious?" Wood thought he was.
Then came the question that would eventually change Wood's life: Would he join the Rolling Stones? Wood was interested, but there was a problem. He didn't want to break up the Faces. Jagger didn't want that either. So Wood essentially left the door open: if the Stones became desperate, they could give him a call.
The call eventually came. The Stones had considered several other guitarists after Taylor's departure, but nothing seemed promising. So Wood joined them for their 1975 Tour of the Americas while still technically a member of the Faces. After the Faces broke up later that year, the path was clear. Then, in 1976, Ronnie Wood officially became a Rolling Stone.
He's been one ever since. For all the auditions, rehearsals and speculation surrounding Mick Taylor's replacement, Wood's path into the Rolling Stones began with an extraordinary accident of seating.
He happened to be sitting between the man who was leaving and the man who suddenly needed someone to replace him.
Sometimes being in the right place at the right time means being in the right place at the right time.
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