Ronnie Wood got thrown right in the deep end when he joined
The Rolling Stones in 1975. He had a lot to prove as the successor of Mick
Taylor, the most classically accomplished musician ever to earn official-Stone
status. That Keith Richards was in deep with addiction meant Ronnie had extra
weight to pull on his first outing with the band, the Stones’ first tour of the
U.S. in three years. With Jagger at center stage it wouldn’t be accurate to say
all eyes were on him, but let’s face it, Ronnie had something to prove. Based
on his work in the new “From the Vault” DVD, L.A. Forum (Live in 1975), he did a damn good job. Don’t get me
wrong, Keith can still play, but he keeps an unusually low profile at this gig.
When it’s his turn to step to the mic for “Happy”, he often doesn’t even bother
to sing. The majority of the solos fall to Ronnie. When the band leans into
“Fingerprint File”, it’s down to the new boy to play the funky bassline Mick
Taylor handled on record. Bill Wyman sure couldn’t be expected to play it.
Ronnie stands out on Live
in 1975, but he’s still upstaged by spotlight-snatching Jagger and even
Billy Preston, who almost seems to be vying for bandleader at times. Kudos to
control freak Mick for allowing the keyboardist so much leeway. Perhaps he realized
he could use all the help he could get considering Keith’s condition. When the
energy starts flagging during the center of this two-hour-and-forty-minute show
(there’s an interminable version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” that
utterly fails to capture the recording’s propulsion), it’s Preston who gets it
back on groove with performances of his “That’s Life” and “Outa-Space”. From
there the Stones ride out the show with a Greatest Hits onslaught that never loses
steam again, right up to the transcendent, show-closing version of “Sympathy
for the Devil” that finds Mick leading a conga line of dancers and
percussionists across the stage.
Not all of Preston’s contributions are stellar. He could
have laid off his annoyingly squealing synth on several occasions. Yet he
mostly shines in this show, and it’s cool to see a concert movie that isn’t
solely owned by Mick for a change. We don’t see much of him, but Charlie Watts
really makes his presence felt during this mostly powerful set too.
Eagle Vision’s new DVD release of the L.A. Forum gig sounds
damn powerful too. The video is less spectacular, looking a lot like an old VHS
bootleg complete with washed out bars running through the screen. The poor
video quality actually didn’t do much to affect my enjoyment of this disc
though. I guess a good concert is a good concert.
