On 1 May 1975 Ronnie Wood made a spectacular debut with The Rolling Stones performing ‘Brown Sugar’ on the back of a Flat Bed truck. He was 27 years old at the time.
In a post today on Wood’s socials it says, “Along came Mr Wood!” Today marks 50 years since Ronnie’s first performance with the Rolling Stones, playing ‘Brown Sugar’ on a flatbed truck driving down 5th Avenue in New York City on the 1st May 1975.
Watch what happened:
Ronnie joined the Stones after The Faces split up. Going back further Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart had been members of the Jeff Beck Group. They split in 1969 around the time The Small Faces also split up. Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones of The Small Faces then formed a new band, The Faces with Stewart and Wood.
The Faces became one of the early 70s great rock bands. They released four albums and had a massive hit with ‘Stay With Me’, still a popular song in Stewart’s setlist these days.
Ronnie Wood’s 1974 debut solo album ‘I’ve Got My Own Album To Do’ was released 13 September 1974. That album featured Keith Richards on eight tracks, Mick Taylor (who was still a Stone at the time) on three and Mick Jagger on two. Wood’s first solo album also featured guest appearances from David Bowie, George Harrison and Rod Stewart.
Since March 1975, Wood had been secretly recording the ‘Black and Blue’ album with The Stones. On May 1, 1975 they made the announcement that Ronnie was the new guitarist in the band, replacing Mick Taylor, who only five years earlier had replaced Brian Jones.
As for the question of who did the flatbed truck first, The Stones or AC/DC, the answer is The Stones. The famous AC/DC ‘Long Way To The Top Video’ on the back of the flatbed truck down Swanston Street, Melbourne, was filmed on 23 February, 1976.
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