Doc shines a light on Rolling Stones guitarist Wood
Guitarist Ronnie Wood has been in top-name bands since the days of the second British Invasion. The earliest notable rumblings he made were when he played bass in the Jeff Beck Group, touring the U.S. in 1968 and 1969. Then he and the band’s lead singer, a young gent named Rod Stewart, moved on to join the remnants of the Small Faces to form Faces. When Faces broke up, about 45 years ago, right around the time guitarist Mick Taylor quit the Rolling Stones, Wood became a Stone. He still is one.
About three years ago, British director Mike Figgis sat down with Wood, who had just turned 70, for the first of many sessions to talk about music and art and drugs and alcohol — and how they all tied in to Wood’s diverse and creative life. Because the two men had known each other since the 1990s, the chats were relaxed affairs, with Wood articulately opening up, not holding back about anything. He’s a wonderful storyteller and, as seen in these interviews as well as in his stage performances, his guitar is an extension of whatever he’s trying to say.
When he’s only talking, he gets into his cigarette smoking, the loss of a lung and beating cancer — providing the quote that led to the film’s title.
Musical highlights of the film involve Wood practicing on a 12-string acoustic guitar in a studio, accompanying himself on an acoustic while singing an abbreviated ver
“Ronnie Wood: Somebody Up There Likes Me” will be available for 72-hour rentals at ronniewoodmovie.com starting Sept. 18. sion of Faces’ hit “Ooh La
La,” and ripping it up with the Stones in a hot rendition of “When the Whip Comes Down” that looks to be from a 1980s concert.
But Figgis doesn’t stick with just Wood to get a rounded picture of him. Mick Jagger gets out some amusing information about his own tastes in music before turning to the film’s main subject. Keith Richards talks about the loving “rivalry” between him and Wood. Rod Stewart recalls the days of transitioning with Wood from the Beck Group to Faces.
Though there are many other voices here, Wood’s is the principal one. We get an intimate picture of him because he bares his soul with both straightforward honesty and a sparkling, sometimes self-deprecating sense of humor.