One of the better albums I have heard as of late is "Heaven And Hull". I loaded it on my Ipod and everytime one of that album's cuts played I was going "WTF! Who IS this?". Mick Ronson every time.
I have dug "Slaughter on 10th Ave" for a while, but didn't realize how good the other stuff was.
He had such a good reputation as a producer and arranger.
Was Ronson involved in the Great Guitarist Hunt of 75?

He really kicked ass on Dylan's Hard Rain tour.

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Chris Fountain
He really kicked ass on Dylan's Hard Rain tour.

really? I love Ronson, but thought he was kind of lost in the shuffle on all the recordings I've heard of that tour.

Isn't Ronson most famous as Bowies Guitarist under Ziggy Stardust? and then touring with Ian Hunter a couple of years...

'The Prettiest Star...La La La'

2 1 2 0

He was a producer and arranger for/with Bowie from 69 to 73 ish. Check out the film of Ziggy's last gig to see him in full glam rock guitar god mode.

Great bloke by all accounts. I think he passed away in 93 .

sc uk

Heaven and Hull is great. I love the songs Don't Look Down and When the World Falls Down in particular as well as the cover of Angel City's Take a Long Line. Ronno is greatly missed. My friend Mike interviewed him in '88 and said he was a really good dude. Saw him live twice in '89 with Hunter-great shows!

When the World Falls Down is incredible! Arranger, vocalist, guitarist, pianist, all around go to man. I disagree with the statement about him being lost in the shuffle for the Rolling Thunder Review. I just think he radically changed his style and became part of the gypsy caravan. I love it. I also love his stuff with Ian Hunter. Once Bitten Twice Shy is a knock out.

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cc

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Chris Fountain
He really kicked ass on Dylan's Hard Rain tour.

really? I love Ronson, but thought he was kind of lost in the shuffle on all the recordings I've heard of that tour.

If I recall correctly he was prominent on the first leg (1975) but fell out of favour later and was underused on the second half (76). I think that on the Hard Rain album he's only on Maggies Farm.

Ronno is one of my favourite guitarists. I saw him solo and with Ian Hunter on various tours and he was always brilliant. Of course he was also great with Bowie. He also played on a million different sessions including a great Wildearts track.

Really? What Wildhearts tune is he on, do you recall?

Is it true that the piano at Trident used by Mick Ronson on Hunky Dory and Ziggy was the same piano used by the Beatles for "Hey Jude"?

Ken Scott (the co-producer and the engineer on the Ziggy Stardust album):
Yes it was the same piano used on "Hey Jude",
the early Elton John albums, Nilsson, Carly Simon, Genesis and Supertramp amongst many others.
That was one of Trident's claim to fame. THE piano sound. It was an amazing piano.

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Toru A
Is it true that the piano at Trident used by Mick Ronson on Hunky Dory and Ziggy was the same piano used by the Beatles for "Hey Jude"?

Ken Scott (the co-producer and the engineer on the Ziggy Stardust album):
Yes it was the same piano used on "Hey Jude",
the early Elton John albums, Nilsson, Carly Simon, Genesis and Supertramp amongst many others.
That was one of Trident's claim to fame. THE piano sound. It was an amazing piano.

That piano sounds great on the early Queen stuff as well.

Ronson was great guitarist, an original and distinctive player. Imaginative but always on the right side of pure flash.

One of my favourite solos of his, the unreleased( at the time) version of Madman Across the Water

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andrewm
Really? What Wildhearts tune is he on, do you recall?

He plays on "Caffeine Bomb" and "My Baby is a Headfuck".

Great raw crude playing! The whole "The Man Who Sold The World" album is great. Love the energy...

Producer Ken Scott (who worked on SO many great records) has a book out called From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust. Recommended. Drags a bit in parts, but well worth a read!

I became a big fan of Bowie AND Ronson upon hearing Ziggy Stardust and absolutely loved Ronsons studio work. However it became apparent to me after hearing and seeing the last Spiders show in London AND hearing the recent release of Live in Santa Monica '72 that Ronson's live work was much more shambolic than the studio stuff. Probably because he's trying to do the Hendrix trick of playing rythm AND lead by himself. It's obviously very difficult to do because he often veers off into pure sound and feedback instead of actual guitar playing. I find it very distracting and I think Bowie must have thought the same thing. Their live shows were quite bad sonically speaking even though their records were absolutely transcendant. I think Bowie made a conscious decision to find 1 or 2 guitar players that could give his live performances a better guitar sound. If you listen to the Live in Nassau N.Y. show from the Station To Station tour and compare that to the Ziggy tour the difference in the sound is night and day. Maybe he could have kept Ronson and simply added a second guitar (like Green Day does) but I think Ronson liked to get a little too drunk or stoned before a show. His guitar playing on stage with The Spiders was out of control.

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Palace Revolution 2000

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andrewm
Really? What Wildhearts tune is he on, do you recall?

He plays on "Caffeine Bomb" and "My Baby is a Headfuck".

Could be wrong but I think it's just headfuck.

Ronno was a genius. Saw him once on his own and lots of times with Hunter. Still much missed by his fans.

I still don't think his contribution as a player and arranger to Bowie has been given enough credit.

Tribute to Mick, some nice stuff here - I will always treasure and remember watching him (me as a young 'un) on TOTP when Bowie did "Starman" and I thought WTF is this?? I had the pleasure years later of seeing him with Ian Hunter, in a small club, and I was at the front of the stage in front of Mick. That was a magical night

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Duane in Houston
I became a big fan of Bowie AND Ronson upon hearing Ziggy Stardust and absolutely loved Ronsons studio work. However it became apparent to me after hearing and seeing the last Spiders show in London AND hearing the recent release of Live in Santa Monica '72 that Ronson's live work was much more shambolic than the studio stuff. Probably because he's trying to do the Hendrix trick of playing rythm AND lead by himself. It's obviously very difficult to do because he often veers off into pure sound and feedback instead of actual guitar playing. I find it very distracting and I think Bowie must have thought the same thing. Their live shows were quite bad sonically speaking even though their records were absolutely transcendant. I think Bowie made a conscious decision to find 1 or 2 guitar players that could give his live performances a better guitar sound. If you listen to the Live in Nassau N.Y. show from the Station To Station tour and compare that to the Ziggy tour the difference in the sound is night and day. Maybe he could have kept Ronson and simply added a second guitar (like Green Day does) but I think Ronson liked to get a little too drunk or stoned before a show. His guitar playing on stage with The Spiders was out of control.

Duane, I've always thought exactly that, and have also read a magazine article in a guitar mag which points out the fact, too. Totally marvellous and talented musician, arranger and all the rest, but certainly no technical whizz when it came to live playing. Not suggesting that every guitarist needs to play perfectly when on-stage, as the raggedness can be appealing, but with Ronno the difference could occasionally be marked. A top man, nonetheless.

Declan

I was just a little to young at the time for the whole Ziggy Stardust phenomenon. My first Bowie album was Diamond Dogs. What made Mick Ronson one of my guitar heroes was his playing on Ian Hunter's first solo album(1975). Once Bitten Twice Shy rocks and is one thousand times better than the pale Great White cover from the 80's. His solo on The Truth the Whole Truth is simply stunning.

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2000 LYFH
Great raw crude playing! The whole "The Man Who Sold The World" album is great. Love the energy...

Mick Ronson in full ROAR!

CBII

Bowie has had a lot of excellent guitarists over the years (Carlos Alomar, Adrian Belew, Earl Slick, Reeves Gabrels, etc.). But they all played in Ronson's shadow.

His Les Paul tone throughout Ziggy, especially on Moonage Daydream, and Aladdin Sane, especially on Time, is one of the all-time greats.

I disagree that any of those guitarists were in Mick Ronson's shadow - as great as Mick was.

They all made their own unique mark on Bowie's records.

Bowie has been blessed to be surrounded by such talent.

But it works both ways I think.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-03-26 12:03 by GravityBoy.

Don't forget Fripp! Great playing on Herosandscarymonsters. I also disagree about Bowie's other guitarist being a thin shadow of Ronson. Ronson was phenomenal for Bowie, and perfect for his glam phase, but also Bowie heard a different sound for his future, and Ronno's style wasn't what he heard. And interestingly, after Ronno left Bowie took on more of the guitar duties on his studio stuff. Playing all the guitar on Diamond Dogs, and lots of guitar on the Berlin trio.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-03-26 12:33 by whitem8.

Mick Ronson – The Man With The Golden Guitar

Monday 1 April

10.00-11.00pm

BBC RADIO 2

Gary Kemp marks the 20th anniversary of the death of his guitar hero Mick Ronson with a celebration of his career.

Mick rose to fame as lead guitarist and music arranger on David Bowie’s albums, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs.

Through his work with Bowie, Mick came to the attention of and subsequently worked with some of the biggest names in rock. Mick co-produced Lou Reed’s Transformer album, enjoyed a stint with Mott the Hoople and then became a long-time collaborator with Mott's former leader Ian Hunter.

Mick was also a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue live band, and can be seen both on and off-stage in the film of the tour. He also made a connection with Roger McGuinn during this time, which led to his producing and contributing guitar and arrangements to McGuinn's 1976 solo album Cardiff Rose. Roger Daltrey employed Ronson's guitar on his 1977 solo release One Of The Boys, and in 1979 Ronson and Hunter produced and played on the Ellen Foley debut album, Night Out, with We Belong To The Night and the hit single What's A Matter Baby.

In 1982, Ronson worked with John Mellencamp on his American Fool album, and in particular the song Jack & Diane. In 1992, Mick produced Morrissey's album Your Arsenal. The same year, Ronno's final live performance was at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

Presenter/Gary Kemp, producer/Des Shaw (Ten Alps)

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Braincapers
Mick rose to fame as lead guitarist and music arranger on David Bowie’s albums, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs.

Pin Ups.

Yeah, does play some amazing guitar on Pin Ups. Pin Ups is fantastic! But Ronno doesn't play guitar on Diamond Dogs. Bad error by the journalist, which shows he doesn't know much other the basics. Bowie plays all the guitar on DD, and I love it. Basic, but powerful, especially at the end of Sweet Thing/Candidate. Pin Ups is an amazing album and I love that album and always have. I never understood why some Bowie fans don't like it. Great versions, especially his version of Any Way Any How Any Where.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-03-28 10:33 by whitem8.

There is some amazing guitar on Pin Ups.

Yeah, Pin Ups (glam) rocks. The version Bowie cut of 1984 with Ronno and the Spiders shows how cool Diamond Dogs could have been. It would have sounded more like a natural progression. Doubtful they would have been appropriate for the change to Young Americans though, as Bowie started his 70's "reinventions." interestingly enough, Bowie made overtures first to Ronno and then to Steve Hunter before settling on Earl Slick as the "rock" guitarist on the '74 tour.