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Hairball
Nice story on Wayne Perkins:

Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and me: Alabama guitarist's epic life



From link above:

"If Wayne Perkins had been born in 1951 in Birmingham, England instead of Birmingham, Alabama he might have become a Rolling Stone, after gifted soloist Mick Taylor quit the band in late-1974. He still came damn close. "We liked Perkins a lot," Stones guitarist Keith Richards wrote in his riveting 2010 memoir "Life." "He was a lovely player, same style, which wouldn't have ricocheted against what Mick Taylor was doing, very melodic, very well-played stuff." Another American, Harvey Mandel, also ended up on some "Black and Blue" tracks and was among other guitarists in the running. In the end, rooster-haired Ronnie Wood, from pub-rock band the Faces, won out. "It wasn't so much the playing, when it came down to it," Richards wrote in "Life." "It came down to the face that Ronnie was English! Well, it is an English band, although you might not think that now. And we all felt we should retain the nationality of the band at the time."

When he was working with The Stones, Perkins lived with Richards in a cottage behind The Wick, Wood's Richmond, England home. Richards' girlfriend, Italian actress/model Anita Pallenberg, and their two young children were there too. "It was a British family that I was becoming close to," Perkins says. "It was a bit of discovery period for me as well as being discovered. I was thinking more like a session player, but it was becoming clear to me that these guys were serious and wanted me as their new guitar player. It was a great situation to be thrust into."

If he didn't crash on the couch after playing guitar into the morning with Richards, Perkins slept on a single bed in the guest room he shared with Richards' hulking driver/body guard. "Keith and I got along great," Perkins says. "And I don't know if Mick (Jagger, Stones singer) approved of that because Keith and I were writing some things. That's a whole other monkey there. You're getting off into the bank account. [Laughs]" When they weren't making music or getting high in the cottage, Richards and Perkins would sometimes zoom off to clubs and music stores in a Ferrari or Bentley. Asked what it was like hitting the town with Keith Richards back then, Perkins laughs and says, "Oh man, we had a ball." Back then Perkins primarily played a black Gibson Les Paul Custom, but also had an old Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster at his disposal".

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wonderboy
What's the timetable on this?
I thought the B&B sessions were entirely in Germany -- is that right?
Was he living with Keith before they went to Germany to record?

As far as pictures, I have read they were taking potential publicity shots of the guest guitarists, so that might exist somewhere.

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TheflyingDutchman
If Keith had it his way he would have taken Perkins to replace Taylor. Jagger had a more commercial instinct and wanted to try someone else. That's how I remember the papers at the time.

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HouseBoyKnows
My recollection is that Ronnie was an "unofficial" Stone for the US 1975 tour. That Fall he toured with the Faces one last time. So when was he "officially" named as a Stone? Early '76 before the Euro tour? When he appeared on the cover of B&B that Spring?

Of course there was always the matter of when they actually started paying him as a full member of the band like Bill or Charlie.

HBK

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Rip This
Can't imagine anyone else but RW in the Stones.

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TornAndFried
I agree Harvey Mandel or Wayne Perkins were probably not a good fit for the direction the Stones' music was heading by the late 70's. I just wish Ronnie had kept up with his guitar chops like he did when he first joined the band in 1975. His look and personality have added a lot to enhance their public image but his actual playing skills have gone downhill over the years and at best, could be called erratic, and are often secondary to his onstage antics.

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Rip This
Can't imagine anyone else but RW in the Stones.

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powerage78
100 % agree.

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TornAndFried
I agree Harvey Mandel or Wayne Perkins were probably not a good fit for the direction the Stones' music was heading by the late 70's. I just wish Ronnie had kept up with his guitar chops like he did when he first joined the band in 1975. His look and personality have added a lot to enhance their public image but his actual playing skills have gone downhill over the years and at best, could be called erratic, and are often secondary to his onstage antics.

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Markdog
Perkins or Mandel wouldn't have lasted in the tight glimmer twins machine, they were better than the Stone's ...