(Credit: Miss Sophie)
Sat 10 January 2026 21:07, UK
While Keith Richards may forever be remembered as the beating heart of The Rolling Stones’ ever-changing guitar lineup, he didn’t ever have a partner as good as Ronnie Wood.
Brian Jones was, of course, integral to the foundation of the band in the 1960s, providing the technician-like safety required for them to perfect their catalogue of blues rock covers. But as his drug use spiralled and his creative grip on the band loosened, his artistic chemistry with Richards began to wane.
Mick Taylor was similarly brilliant but notoriously difficult to work with, and so despite laying down the parts for some of the band’s most iconic original works, he never felt like a true sustainable partner for Richards. While he may have been understandably fatigued when yet another guitarist walked through the door in 1975, a quick rehearsal with Wood would have confirmed that in an instant, he received his lifelong musical partner.
The pair had a sort of musical symbiosis that all great bands do, communicating with each other solely through music and telepathically following their respective ideas. It was a chemistry showcased best on the 1978 record Some Girls and more particularly the track ‘Beast Of Burden’.
While it was later the source of lyrical intrigue and a sort of creative friction between Richards and Mick Jagger, the soul of the track is inherently representative of Richards and Wood’s symbiosis. There’s an ease to the groove that Wood lays down, which subsequently allows for Richards’ licks.
“That’s another one that just came very naturally in the studio,” Wood explained. “And I slipped into my part and Keith had his going. It may have appeared as though it was planned. We can pick it up today and it will just naturally slip into the groove again with the guitars weaving in a special way. It’s quite amazing really.”
He continued, “Ever since Keith and I first started to trade licks, it was a very natural thing that, for some unknown reason, if he’s playing up high, I’m down low and the other way around. We cross over very naturally. We call it an ancient form of weaving – which we still are impressed by it to this day. Unexplainable, wonderful things happen with the guitar weaving. There’s no plan.”
Not only did the song bring out the best in each other, but it pushed Jagger into new vocal realms. It was a deeply rhythmic guitar performance from the pair and so Jagger had to follow suit, providing a sense of performative depth that differed from the more traditional rock and roll style songs the band prided themselves on.
Ironically, while the finished performance is oozing with emotion, the sentiment is sorely lacking. While many have speculated who the subject is, the band have regularly diffused any rumours, which Jagger even saying: “Lyrically, this wasn’t particularly heartfelt in a personal way. It’s a soul begging song, an attitude song. It was one of those where you get one melodic lick, break it down and work it up; there are two parts here which are basically the same.”
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