I like this album but noted from the linner notes that Ronnie barely seems to play on any of the songs and that seemed to also be the case on the Paris sessions for FL as well

seems like the last album Ronnie did any real work on is VL

hes all over BTB according to the credits

I hear allot of Ronnie there. Rough Justice... Look What The Cat Dragged In... classic Ronnie stuff on those!

I dont think his absence on a few songs signifies anything significant. Its more a result of Mick and Keith collaborating closer together at an early stage than they have done for some time and actually recording parts of songs as opposed to just doing rough demos and sketches as they normally do

I think it signifies that Mick (and Keith) think Ronnie is not able to play the way they want their songs to sound. And I think Ronnie didn't get better since his last solo album NOT FOR BEGGINERS (2001) which sucked big time.

His relations to Mick and Keith have been better in the past, especially until about 1988. He wasn't allowed to co-write one single Stones song since then. It may also well be he's not too reliable nowadays due to his severe alcoholism. Maybe Mick wrote "Look what the cat dragged in" about Ronnie's recent behaviour?