Wayne Perkins almost got the job, not Harvey Mandel. Mandel didn't fit in at all, according to Keith and Wyman.

Mathijs

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Spud
Seems to me that Ronnie doesn't look at guitar playing as some kind of technical exercise, he looks at it as fun .

...and that is a big part of both his best and his dodgiest moments as a player.

Agree with this 100% and I often find audiences find that style more compelling. My own playing is firmly in Ronnie's school, I know my way around the fretboard but I can be sloppy sometimes, or play myself into a corner that I can't get out of and have to just shake my head at my guitar and smile, but when I look out at the crowds I'm playing to there are people laughing, dancing, and having a party. There's another guitar player on my local scene who's a lovely guy and can play absolute circles around me technically, but his shows tend to attract a more academic and sedate crowd.

I play guitar because it feels good and because I can send people home exhausted and happy and I'd much rather that than being a technical virtuoso. I'm sure we all love the Stones because their music and gigs feel like a party that we're lucky enough to be along for, and Ronnie was the perfect foil for that at the time he came along.

Category C? Funny

This is how Ronnie played round the time they hired him:





[www.youtube.com]

I'll take the «category C» over Mandel's tapping any day. Which memorable songs did he write, and how come I'm not more drawn to his work, if he was so special? He did good on Hot Stuff, I'll give him that, though. But I can't see how the Stones would have benefitted that style over a long career.

Nah, this is just jealousy.

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DaveyJMusician

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Spud
Seems to me that Ronnie doesn't look at guitar playing as some kind of technical exercise, he looks at it as fun .

...and that is a big part of both his best and his dodgiest moments as a player.

Agree with this 100% and I often find audiences find that style more compelling. My own playing is firmly in Ronnie's school, I know my way around the fretboard but I can be sloppy sometimes, or play myself into a corner that I can't get out of and have to just shake my head at my guitar and smile, but when I look out at the crowds I'm playing to there are people laughing, dancing, and having a party. There's another guitar player on my local scene who's a lovely guy and can play absolute circles around me technically, but his shows tend to attract a more academic and sedate crowd.

I play guitar because it feels good and because I can send people home exhausted and happy and I'd much rather that than being a technical virtuoso. I'm sure we all love the Stones because their music and gigs feel like a party that we're lucky enough to be along for, and Ronnie was the perfect foil for that at the time he came along.

Sono d'accordo...questo è Ronnie, uno a cui piace divertirsi e divertire.
Sul tecnicismo chitarristico di Ronnie, invece credo che non sia possibile vederlo solo com'è con gli Stones, lui è un chitarrista che sa adattarsi e con gli Stones sapeva che doveva essere la spalla di Keith e a lui piaceva.
1.122 / 5.000
I agree...this is Ronnie, a guy who likes to have fun and entertain.
On Ronnie's guitar technique, I think it's not possible to see him only as he is with the Stones, he is a guitarist who knows how to adapt and with the Stones he knew he had to be Keith's sidekick and he liked it.
But Ronnie is not only the one with the Stones, when he plays in his concerts and his music, he plays differently, like when he played in the Faces, I think that in the Faces Ronnie did great things, and he was a great guitarist also from a technical point of view. In some historic songs of the Faces his guitar is imprinted in everyone's mind.
I think he is a great rhythm guitarist who is also able to do great solos.
I don't remember where I read it, but it seems that he was chosen, because Keith risked being absent for a long time if he had been convicted and Ronnie would have been perfect to replace him.
Obviously he, like Keith and many others, has experienced good times and bad, his addiction to alcohol and drugs certainly played a major role in some periods.
His solo on this live version of I'd Rather Go Blind is simply fantastic.

[www.youtube.com]

[url//[www.youtube.com]]


Ronnie has it. Play it loud!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2025-02-18 01:44 by caschimann.

Poor Harvey, not sure if this is a click-bait interview article or if the guy really is delusional. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt...

Seriously, he's a footnote. D- footnote in the history of The Rolling Stones.

Ronnie is an A+ Rolling Stone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-02-17 20:26 by Kurt.

(Jeff Beck) came and went, saying he didn't want to have to play 12-bar blues all the time... (Rory Gallagher) played with us for three days and nights. A nice guy, but he didn't fit the mould... (Wayne Perkins) did very, very well but didn't look like a Stone... (Harvey Mandel) used too many electronic effects, which wasn't really Stonesy. He wasn't right at all. He was into his own thing.

- Bill Wyman, 2011

[timeisonourside.com]

It's like "Goldilocks and the three [or more] bears"

Ronnie was "...just right ! "

Concerning the so called 'guitar hunt' -so far the only players confirmed to have played in Rotterdam are Jeff Beck and Wayne Perkins, and for Munich Harvey Mandell and Ron Wood. Rory Gallagher travelled to Rotterdam but did not play, Steve Marriott supposedly was in Munich. But that's really all there is to the great guitar hunt it appears.

Mathijs

Remember reading similar stuff in other interviews by Harvey Mandel. He also claims that Van Halen learned his tapping style from him and he learned can't remember from whom.

I don't think he meant to be disparaging and in fact he is right.

On the other hand, rock and roll doesn't need A musicians. Mick's 88 version of the Stones, with Satriani, Ripp, Wimbish and Phillips was far from being better than the real thing (although many would disagree).

Jimi Hendrix wasn't an A guitarist either.

Years ago, a friend of mine who worked in advertising told me that they wanted to use Little Wing for a particular commercial, and the deal proposed by the Hendrix estate was X USD for the license to perform the music and x++ USD for the license of Jimi's actual performance. If solution 1 was chosen, the estate could deny the license if the performance was considered sub-par.

They went for solution 1 and hired one of the best session players available in Italy - who was a friend of my friend - to do the job. Eventually he passed the exam but confessed that he had to spend months to un-learn whatever he had learned as a guitarist to get into Jimi's feel for music.

C

I'm pretty sure Harvey is giving all these interviews to drum up hype for his new album coming out. He is one of my favorite guitar players, personally.

You might say that some musicians are more a technician than an artist.

WhenMick and Keith were looking to replace Brian in the spring of 1969 ,was Mick Taylor the only guitarist they considered, or was Ry Cooder also .

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Taylor1
WhenMick and Keith were looking to replace Brian in the spring of 1969 ,was Mick Taylor the only guitarist they considered, or was Ry Cooder also .

I'm unsure. Bill Wyman has been quoted, however, as saying that they considered asking Jimmy Page on 'several occasions' circa 1965, to replace the already ailing Brian Jones. I can't think for the life of me where I read this, though. Does anyone have any sources?

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Taylor1
WhenMick and Keith were looking to replace Brian in the spring of 1969 ,was Mick Taylor the only guitarist they considered, or was Ry Cooder also .

Taylor was the only guitarist they considered. Ian Stewart had recommended him to Jagger, and a simply phonecall to John Mayall was sufficient to invite Taylor to audition.

Mathijs

I don't think they would have wanted a "name " joining anyway.

The Jagger/Richards power axis was by then well in place ...with Bill and Charlie happy to come to work, get paid and go home.

Why spoil the equilibrium.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-02-18 15:04 by Spud.

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Mathijs

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Taylor1
WhenMick and Keith were looking to replace Brian in the spring of 1969 ,was Mick Taylor the only guitarist they considered, or was Ry Cooder also .

Taylor was the only guitarist they considered. Ian Stewart had recommended him to Jagger, and a simply phonecall to John Mayall was sufficient to invite Taylor to audition.

Mathijs

That's correct. In 1975 however, Taylor called the Stones office several times if they needed a guitarist [source: Bill Wyman]. Unfortunately for Taylor: "The Rolling Stones are like an army; you only get out in a Pine Box". [quote: Keith Richards].

Mandel would've screwed up The Stones just like he screwed up Canned Heat...

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TheflyingDutchman

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Mathijs

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Taylor1
WhenMick and Keith were looking to replace Brian in the spring of 1969 ,was Mick Taylor the only guitarist they considered, or was Ry Cooder also .

Taylor was the only guitarist they considered. Ian Stewart had recommended him to Jagger, and a simply phonecall to John Mayall was sufficient to invite Taylor to audition.

Mathijs

That's correct. In 1975 however, Taylor called the Stones office several times if they needed a guitarist [source: Bill Wyman]. Unfortunately for Taylor: "The Rolling Stones are like an army; you only get out in a Pine Box". [quote: Keith Richards].

BS comment by Keith

Bill Wyman, Brian Jones and Mick Taylor didn't.

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timmyj3
Sounds like someone is jealous and envious. I think if HM wants to get in a measuring contest for career achievements he would lose badly.

Well of course he is envious, who wouldn't be? He's a much more technically proficient guitarist and he missed out on an incredible opportunity due to personal friendships. Is he not allowed to have an opinion?

As far as career achievements, Mandel played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat at Woodstock, and John Mayall, plus had highly acclaimed solo records before the Stones tryouts.

Ronnie Wood played with Jeff Beck and then the Faces before the tryouts.

Most of what Wood is known for is because he was a compromise between Jagger (Mandel) and Richards (Perkins). That's not a slight against him, but let's not count his achievements with the Stones as something the other guitarist didn't have the opportunity to showcase.

I don't understand why fans take this stuff so personally. Ronnie Wood wants you to buy his records and concert tickets.

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DandelionPowderman
Category C? Funny

This is how Ronnie played round the time they hired him:





[www.youtube.com]

I'll take the «category C» over Mandel's tapping any day. Which memorable songs did he write, and how come I'm not more drawn to his work, if he was so special? He did good on Hot Stuff, I'll give him that, though. But I can't see how the Stones would have benefitted that style over a long career.

Nah, this is just jealousy.

I couldn't get through that. Too many bad Santana-isms. C+ IMO, not that it matters because it's good you like it.

It also doesn't matter if you don't like Mandel's work, plenty of others do. He was cutting it up in Chicago's Southside with TRUE bluesmen, played Woodstock, and played with John Mayall. His solo stuff is really interesting and he was doing a lot of experimentation.

Kind of like how Wood said he can do what Richards can, but not the other way around. Mandel can do what Wood can do, but not the other way around.

They changed the bassist - didn't do any good, on the contrary. They have a new drummer - injected youth and energy, but less swing. I was always thinking about what kind of difference
a guitarist like Waddy Wachtel would do to the band (or would have done, rather). Since the guitar section is the main drive of the band. What do you think?

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Stoneage
They changed the bassist - didn't do any good, on the contrary. They have a new drummer - injected youth and energy, but less swing. I was always thinking about what kind of difference
a guitarist like Waddy Wachtel would do to the band (or would have done, rather). Since the guitar section is the main drive of the band. What do you think?

Woodie and Waddy has quite a ring to it but I wouldn't like it.

There are people who think that Harvey Mandel is a better guitar player than Ronnie Wood. There are also people who think that Ronnie Wood is a better guitar player than Keith Richards. Like a guy that plays in a local band told me last week. Many people will also tell you that Taylor 'can play circles around Keith', completely missing the point. I just don't take those people seriously. It just tells me that they don't understand what Rolling Stones music is about.

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Rutger
There are people who think that Harvey Mandel is a better guitar player than Ronnie Wood. There are also people who think that Ronnie Wood is a better guitar player than Keith Richards. Like a guy that plays in a local band told me last week. Many people will also tell you that Taylor 'can play circles around Keith', completely missing the point. I just don't take those people seriously. It just tells me that they don't understand what Rolling Stones music is about.

Good point.

Maybe we should stop comparing guitar players. No use. I have my own list, others have theirs.

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GasLightStreet
(Jeff Beck) came and went, saying he didn't want to have to play 12-bar blues all the time... (Rory Gallagher) played with us for three days and nights. A nice guy, but he didn't fit the mould... (Wayne Perkins) did very, very well but didn't look like a Stone... (Harvey Mandel) used too many electronic effects, which wasn't really Stonesy. He wasn't right at all. He was into his own thing.

- Bill Wyman, 2011

[timeisonourside.com]

Has Bill listened to Some Girls?

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Testify
Come on...I always thought those auditions were just a ploy by Mick to get some guitar variety on their album, that way it was free.
Ronnie had been with them since the 75 tour....it was the most natural choice.
Mick is really a genius for getting free contributions.

The auditions and Mandel\Perkins contributions were all recorded before the 75 tour, right?

Well, we have an idea of how Waddy would have filled in since he placed on most tracks on Bridges to Babylon.

Wayne Perkins actually hung out with Keith for about two weeks in February 1975. He was basically chosen as the new guitarist, and it even leaked to the press, although there was no official announcement from the Stones.

I have seen a photo on Tell Me of Keith and Wayne hanging out together in Feb 1975.

This was after the Rotterdam auditions of Perkins, Mandel and others. By roughly early to mid-March, Perkins was out and Wood was in, and the Stones office made the announcement (April 14, 1975, I believe) that Ron Wood would accompany the Stones on the 1975 tour but only on a temporary basis.

To me, this is a really interesting couple of months in Rolling Stones history. I think it would make a great little book, or possibly an article.

Nico Zentgraph's website is a great source, so is this message list, among others.