Quote
GravityBoy
The real sad thing is that Ronnie never made the same scale of contributions to the Stones.

Either he wasn't allowed or he was a bit shy.

That may be true. Or it may depend on how you hear it. What Ronnie did on SOME GIRLS, EMOTIONAL RESCUE and UNDERCOVER is quite exceptional work. He didn't have much to do with TATTOO YOU in terms of an impact via the album proper like he did the 2 before and the one after since it was all over the place from sessions going back to 1972.

Yeah yeah yeah, he gets credit on DIRTY WORK but that's just garbage anyway. That was a bizarre time for them and does not represent The Rolling Stones proper. STEEL WHEELS was where the end for Ronnie started and it's never gotten better. He played bass on a few tracks, some nice slide on a few tracks but otherwise hasn't been allowed to contribute anything like he did from 1977-1983.

Agreed, Gaslight. VOODOO LOUNGE is the last time Ronnie (and the only time Darryl) really seems to be part of the band. Otherwise BRIDGES, BIGGER BANG, and everything else is just session work from most accounts. The reasons why differ. Sometimes it was Ronnie being in rehab in order to make the tour. Sometimes it was because Mick brought a "highly polished" demo to the band and said, play your bit here. Keith has been guilty of the latter as well, truth be told.

Quote
Rocky Dijon
Agreed, Gaslight. VOODOO LOUNGE is the last time Ronnie (and the only time Darryl) really seems to be part of the band. Otherwise BRIDGES, BIGGER BANG, and everything else is just session work from most accounts. The reasons why differ. Sometimes it was Ronnie being in rehab in order to make the tour. Sometimes it was because Mick brought a "highly polished" demo to the band and said, play your bit here. Keith has been guilty of the latter as well, truth be told.

An ingredient to their lack of inventiveness as a band since, well, 1983 really. I've always thought they've made weird decisions on what makes an LP, which seems to be, from what all I've read, 98% Mick, post 1983.

Although SOME GIRLS sounds odd in an audiophile way, get past the tinniness of it and there's some spectacular work going on in the songs - a big part of it is Ronnie. Perhaps a bit more even keeled on EMOTIONAL RESCUE and more boogie woogie centered on UNDERCOVER, to me it's the reason why they pretty much ended as a creative force after U - it just became the Mick and Keith show. Ronnie's slide solo for Out Of Tears is fantastic, flat out beautiful, really, but that's about the only thing on the record that stands out other than how Love Is Strong sounds like the Stones and that Keith ripped himself off, and of course, Moon Is Up.

I can't pinpoint anything on BRIDGES that Ronnie did other than his audible laugh in How Can I Stop.

On BANG it was just what you said, Mick "pleading" for Ronnie to play slide on Rough Justice and a couple of other tracks.

In 1974 Ron and Keith had the same barber. There they met each other.

I don't think Ron's low input in the late era is all his 'fault'. It is the system that became their new M.O. Even Keith got sidelined. He really features strongly on his own songs, and because he is Keith, and the fans and press will demand it.
I think if their true Stones-y way of writing and working were still operating, he would be way more involved. With Jagger bringing in 80% of songs, and Keith the other 20% the sessions are not about long jams anymore. Feeling out a tune, discovering nuances, experimenting. Don Was MIGHT have tried to re-introduce that but he is ultimately too weak.
Jagger likes to have his songs all ready, and tied up with a bow by the time he brings them to the band, so e most likely has ideas what Ronnie should do, and that's it. ABB was the worst of it. Steel Wheels too.
VL sounds like it had a good bit of experimenting, but in the end they used all the wrong songs IMO.
B2B was recorded all over the place, with so many different set-ups that it must've been a matter of was around, got the call. Lucky for us, the songs were exceptionally strong, and the best thing: they took them on the road.

I have developed huge respect for late era Ronnie. I don't think he feels the least bit frustrated artistically. He does solo albums if he wants, he has a huge world that deals only with his paintings. He does the radio show. he publishes books. And if all fails he can always talk about the Faces.

Quote
astmalia
In 1974 Ron and Keith had the same barber. There they met each other.

They knew each other a lot earlier than 1974. Ronnie (and the rest of The Faces) were guests at Mick and Bianca's wedding reception three years earlier. They were well acquainted with one another and had hung out on the road and in the studio before then.

Quote
astmalia
In 1974 Ron and Keith had the same barber. There they met each other.

They had met in 1967 or some year like that.
it was destined.
jeroen