How Ron Wood’s Rhythm Guitar and Occasional Bass Created a New Chemistry (and the ‘Glint’ Sound) with Keith Richards

The smartest thing the Stones did after Mick Taylor left wasn’t finding another lead guitarist—it was hiring a rhythm player who could also disappear into the bass pocket. Ron Wood came in 1975 and immediately stopped trying to out-blues Taylor. Instead, he locked into what Keith Richards calls the “glint”—that interlocking, almost telepathic mesh of two rhythm guitars where you can’t tell who’s doing what. On songs like “Emotional Rescue,” Wood even dropped down to bass (Bill Wyman sat that one out), letting Keith handle the upper-string chatter while Wood held the low end. That move alone freed up the whole band’s sound.

The “glint” isn’t magic—it’s two guys playing with zero ego, each leaving space for the other. Keith favors open-G tunings and