Image Credit: Jack EnglishThe past few years have been turbulent forRonnie Wood.
Now a clean and sober Wood is hoping to put the drama behind him.
Read on for our lightly edited Q&A.
Credit: Jack English
How was he involved?
RONNIE WOOD:I was in Los Angeles, and he loves to hear me play.
He said, Hey, Ronnie, do you fancy taking this studio?
I booked the House of Blues for you.
Do you want to make some tracks?
And I said, Wow, I wasnt planning on it.
I said, Well, Ive got a few ideas kicking around in the back of my head.
So I went up with [Stones backup singer]Bernard Fowler.
Steve Bing said, Ive got [drummer]Jim Keltnerup there, and [singer/keyboardist]Ivan Neville.
He was in town, and then me and Bernard went up, and we cut Spoonful.
That was really spontaneous.
It just happened in one or two takes.
We took it all from there.
Id just left home at the time.
The last time you put out a solo album was 2001.
Had you been itching to get back in the studio?
Well, Ive been so busy with my art and with the Stones and everything.
I thought Id take a break, you know, and try and have a bit of downtime.
But I was being followed by the press everywhere, and I had no private life.
I didnt know what the hell was going on.
I thought, well, to make a solo album now, unplanned, is perfect.
It gives me something to do.
It keeps me busy, which I love to be, and it keeps me creative.
How do you balance recording a solo album with your obligations to the Stones?
Is it something you do during breaks?
Some of the songs [on the album] have been with me for many years.
Some of them are just ideas.
It takes downtime and time off for these ideas to emerge and see themselves in a concrete form.
When Im with the Stones, Im doing all the Stones catalog.
Its so much stuff to remember and keep on top of.
Its just nice to be the boss.
Whats the oldest song on the album?
It wasnt quite in the right shape.
So thats been with me, like, 35 years.
What made you dig it out after all that time?
I thought it was a shame that it continued to be overlooked.
I mean, Ive made albums since, and Ive thought, Oh s, I forgot about Forever!
And this time, I didnt.
I thought, Well, Ill beat that into shape.
Before I knew it, the whole thing was taking shape.
And I had hardly any fillers.
Also concentrating on my vocals a bit.
Before maybe youve overreached and tried to sing too high.
This album Im really feeling comfortable with what Im singing.
Id say, Yeah, play on this.
You know what I want!
Billy Gibbons passed through.
He said, Hey, man, Ive been looking at you.
I got a song for you.
A lot of them were very spontaneous like that.
Whats it like working with another guitarist like Slash?
How do your styles mesh?
Its great, really.
Its an unwritten kind of conversation that we have.
We kind of talk to each other through the guitars, like Keith [Richards] and I do.
What did Flea bring to the mix?
He brings a lovely kind of bass freedom.
A nice, fresh outlook, the way he plays.
Hes a very energetic player and very soulful, very feeling.
HavingBobby Womacksing backup for you must be pretty cool.
Yeah, it was great to get Bobby out of the woodwork, because he disappeared.
I hadnt spoken to him for many years.
He resurfaced just at the right time.
He was so happy to see me, I was so happy to see him.
He said, Yeah, whatever you want, man, lets go.
I dont have to tell him what to do, you know.
How long did recording the album take all together?
Well, my time was spent drying out and getting into rehab and painting again.
In this day and age, where theres no record companies, I sat on the tracks.
I didnt know quite what to do.
Then I got together with Eagle, and I thought, Oh, this is a blessing.
A record company, Ive found one!
They were very keen.
How have things been since the last time you did that?
The last time I did it on my own.
It was just boring.
So thats the way I am today, and Im very happy with it.
Does being in the news for reasons other than music affect your work?
Well, Ive always thrived on getting a drive from different emotional circumstances that Im going through.
Ive certainly been through the mill in the last few years, with leaving home and everything.
But its all in a positive way.
There were no bad vibes.
[This album] was just something I had to do to strive for my own freedom.
Im not getting any younger.
I thought, Ive got to live life and be more responsible in my own way.
You do a lot of painting, including the cover art for this album.
What do you get out of painting?
Thats another great outlet that Im blessed with, that I can do as another solo project.
When I get intimate with my paintings, its a real good spiritual thing to get off my chest.
Same as playing the instruments is a great release.
And being accepted into theButler museumis a great milestone for me.
I was up there in Youngstown in Ohio yesterday.
It went really well.
Who are your favorite visual artists?
I love Georges Braque and Goya.
You know, you might apply the same thought to music.
Whats the dynamic in the studio with someone youve known for that long?
Hes another musician where its kind of an unwritten rule.
It saves a lot of time when youve got that understanding from another musician.
He knows what I want.
Its a delight to hear.
You, Ian, and drummer Kenney Jones played some Faces reunion shows this summer.
Were you happy with how those went?
Yeah, I was, even though we only did three shows.
We didthe O2 in LondonandGoodwood festival, and we went over to Denmark and did an obscure gig there.
There were a lot of people who thought, What?
But I knew it would.
He said, Can I just singStay With Mewith you?
Because Rod Stewart couldnt be there that night.
And we said, Yeah, Mick!
That would be great.
And the way he sang it was really great, really promising.
We thought, Wow, thats a real tribute to the way Rod sang it.
And thats what it was.
You heard back from Rod about having Mick Hucknall fill in for him?
I had an email just the other day from him.
He was saying, You did me proud.
And he said, Can you come out to play, Ronnie?
Lets go and have dinner!
So when I get back to London next week Im going to hook up with him again.
Were just going to hang, probably go for a meal, and catch up.
I havent seen him for a few months.
Micks been very supportive.
Theyve been doing theExile, which has had a rebirth.
We cant wait to get back together again as a unit.
But we dont have any plans just yet.
There was arumorgoing around that the next Stones tour was going to be a farewell tour.
Theyve said that for the last 30 years.
[Laughs]So I dont know.
All I know is, Charlies out there playing with his jazz band.
Hes over in Europe at the moment, having a great time, cause he loves to play.
Micks doing various projects.
Keithsbeing a pirateand enjoying life with Johnny Depp.
Im going to see Keith probably next week as well.
Hes over in England filming.
So, yeah, its all exciting stuff.
I saw Charlie again a couple of weeks ago.
I gave him a copy of my album.
He loves Jim Keltner, whos playing a lot on it.
So he said, Anything Keltners involved with is all right with me.
Are you planning to tour for your solo album?
Yeah, Ive got a great theater show in London.
Its a small theater called the Ambassador.
And the cast ofSTOMPare there at the moment.
Theyve agreed to come and play on things like Spoonful.
Its going to be really percussive.
It should be a really good live show.
Ive got my son Jesse on bass.
Its going to be very interesting.
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