One of the all-time greats. Perhaps people forget about him because he never had a successful solo career.

For you Ronson lovers, here he is playing guest lead-guitarist for the New York Dolls (download the MP3): Mick Ronson & the New York Dolls

I was working on my music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and was sitting out in front of one of their buildings in the summer of 1979, just hanging out. I looked up the street, and walking by, deep in conversation, was Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter (they were in town together playing a club called the Paradise).

Being a big fan, I started thinking of some options that I had for striking up a conversation, each dumber than the one before it ("Hey, welcome to Berklee!".....nope, sounds dumb, they are not AT Berklee, they just happen to be walking by it).....("Gee, I love your music!" ..... yeah, pretty original).... etc.

I just sat there while they walked away, figuring I'd tell somebody about it some day.

So, here ya go.

One of my favourite guitarists. He could be splendidly flash; never emptily so.

He had a beautiful voice, too.

I love Mick Ronson's playing. Espicially with Bowie and Ian Hunter. Here's some Mick solo.

without him Bowie wouldn't have the position he's got today imho. beautiful player!

...Yep; me.
Raw player with a gentle touch...
Awesome guitar sound.
Maximum respect; one of the all-time Greats.


["I can hear the Bullfrog calling me..."]

That photo looks more like a David Johansen solo gig. Ronson produced his second solo album, "In Style" in 1979.

he's one of the most famous guitarists in rock history, and rightly so. I don't think anyone's forgotten him. And they won't, so long as Ziggy Stardust stays well known, which it always will.

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loog droog
That photo looks more like a David Johansen solo gig. Ronson produced his second solo album, "In Style" in 1979.

That pic was taken on July 4, 1976. Syl and Johansen were carrying on with the Dolls' name for a while before it became the David Johansen Group, and then solo Johansen. Maybe this is where they hit it off?

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cc
he's one of the most famous guitarists in rock history, and rightly so. I don't think anyone's forgotten him. And they won't, so long as Ziggy Stardust stays well known, which it always will.

Well, I must say that in the States he is rarely mentioned.

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MJG196

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cc
he's one of the most famous guitarists in rock history, and rightly so. I don't think anyone's forgotten him. And they won't, so long as Ziggy Stardust stays well known, which it always will.

Well, I must say that in the States he is rarely mentioned.

I'm in the States. Where do you expect him to be mentioned that he's not? The 6 o'clock news? He has died, after all. The guitar magazines?

I think most accounts of Bowie's career do justice to Ronson's role. Currently, Bowie's later '70s work is getting more attention--rightly so; it's great music--but the circle will go round again.

It's too bad he was busy with Ian Hunter when the Stones were looking for a new guitarist in '75...

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loog droog
It's too bad he was busy with Ian Hunter when the Stones were looking for a new guitarist in '75...

Yeah,but I like his stuff with Ian Hunter as well. Your Never Alone With a Schizophrenic is a great album.

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cc

I'm in the States. Where do you expect him to be mentioned that he's not? The 6 o'clock news? He has died, after all. The guitar magazines?

I subscribe to several guitar magazines, and rarely - very rarely - does he merit more than a mention, whereas plenty of other dead guys (Randy Rhoads, Hendrix, et al.) get regular multi-page spreads and tablatures. And even though I am repulsed by Rolling Stone mag, I have to admit I read their "Top 100" lists, and he was #64. Hell, John Frusciante is #18.

Clapton has been voted into the R&R Hall of Fame three times, and Ronson has never received as much as a whisper. He was certainly influential enough to merit at least a nomination by now. His production chops also deserve immense credit.

I can't speak for his legend in the UK, but here he simply doesn't get the respect he deserves.

There's an overlooked Dylan live album, 'Hard Rain', with Mick Ronson on lead guitar. One of my faves.

Love Mick's playing, and his singing and arranging for that matter. One of my favorite guitar lines ever is that beautiful, plaintive crying line at the end of Bowie's Time after the "guilt for dreaming" lyric. My friend Mike interviewed Mick and Ian H. individually here in Victoria back in '88 and the Mick interview ended up on the bonus disc of a release called Showtime. Mick and Ian (I interviewed Hunter the following year) were both extremely gracious.

Who played the opening guitar part on Cracked Actor ?

I like to crank up the volume and stick my head between the speakers for that!

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MJG196
I subscribe to several guitar magazines, and rarely - very rarely - does he merit more than a mention, whereas plenty of other dead guys (Randy Rhoads, Hendrix, et al.) get regular multi-page spreads and tablatures. And even though I am repulsed by Rolling Stone mag, I have to admit I read their "Top 100" lists, and he was #64. Hell, John Frusciante is #18.

ok, that does seem pretty low. He'd be in my top 10. But Hendrix is always going to be in his own category in Guitar Magazine Land, and he and people like Randy Rhoads and Stevie Ray Vaughan died young, which adds to their mystique. Ronson died too young, but his star had diminished. You could say that he's somewhat limited. He began so over the top that it wasn't clear where he could take his sound from there. And it's true, he even stopped playing guitar for a while around 1980 (he appears on a TV appearance with Hunter, playing only keyboard). He had toned his sound down somewhat on Schizophrenic, but he becomes less recognizable then. He amped it back up for the late '80s album he did with Hunter, but that's not very distinguished work. I bet that when the next round of Ziggy Stardust attention comes, in 2012, he'll rise in the rankings again. Or take a look at what people saying when that movie Velvet Goldmine and the 25th anniversary of Ziggy were happening.

as andrew writes, it's perhaps as a producer that he's most overlooked, and where his career should have flourished when he tired of guitar. So I wonder why he wasn't able to do more there... perhaps something personal.

I'm a big Hunter fan and often listen to "Michael Picasso" (when I'm feeling ready for it), so Ronson is a constant presence for me.

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Edith Grove
Who played the opening guitar part on Cracked Actor ?

I like to crank up the volume and stick my head between the speakers for that!

yes, that's Ronson. Amazing track.

Hunter and Ronson rocked together.Met both of them in Los Angeles in 1979.Super cool guys and Ian took his sunglasses off when my girl asked him if she could see his beautiful eyes.

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sweetcharmedlife

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loog droog
It's too bad he was busy with Ian Hunter when the Stones were looking for a new guitarist in '75...

Yeah,but I like his stuff with Ian Hunter as well. Your Never Alone With a Schizophrenic is a great album.

Me too. I think the first Ian Hunter solo album is even better.

The four year break between his work with Hunter was a shame. If he hadn't run off to tour with Dylan and produce Roger McGuinn and stuck it out with the Hunter-Ronson band, I think they would have been huge...

As much as I like that stuff, he could have been great with the Stones. Better still, the Faces would have remained intact.

Count me in,a great distinctive player who somehow never resorted to cliche.

Aside from the obvious stuff this is great...

A lovely musician. And vastly underrated. A beautiful arranger as well. He did all the string arrangements and a lot of the keyboard work on Hunky Dory and Ziggy. And probably one of the most epic guitar solos on Width of a Circle from Santa Monica 72~

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whitem8
A beautiful arranger as well. He did all the string arrangements and a lot of the keyboard work on Hunky Dory and Ziggy.

true--on Lou Reed's Transformer as well. So for me the question really is, why didn't Mick Ronson sustain a successful career as a producer?

He worked here in Canada a fair amount during the 80's, producing artists like Lisa Dalbello and the Payolas (I know: who? and who?) during the period where he seemed to have completely lost interest in playing guitar. In fact, the first time I saw him live was as a keyboard player with the Payolas, opening for Split Enz here in Victoria in 1982.

Is that Ronson on guitar on "Vicious" from "Transformer"? Unbelievable....

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andrewm
He worked here in Canada a fair amount during the 80's, producing artists like Lisa Dalbello and the Payolas (I know: who? and who?) during the period where he seemed to have completely lost interest in playing guitar. In fact, the first time I saw him live was as a keyboard player with the Payolas, opening for Split Enz here in Victoria in 1982.

The Payolas.....I remember them..or at least one song: 'Eyes of a Stranger'.

Ronson was a great guitarist. I like Earl Slick's playing with Bowie (both in the 70s and on Bowie's last tour). I never got to see Ronson, other than on video. He just worked it...never too flashy, he let the music have all the flash.

Loved him on Dylan's Rolling Thunder tour. Kind of a counterintuitive mix, but it somehow worked.