How the Rolling Stones’ ‘Black and Blue’ Jam Sessions Became a Guitarist Audition

The making of Black and Blue is probably the most famous job interview in rock history. After Mick Taylor quit in late 1974, the Stones booked time at several studios—Munich’s Musicland, Rotterdam’s Goudsmit, and New York’s Electric Lady—and simply jammed for hours with a rotating cast of guitarists. Wayne Perkins, Harvey Mandel, and Jeff Beck all sat in, but the band was really looking for someone who could both play lead and blend with Keith Richards rhythmically. Ron Wood was already there as a friend and occasional player; his loose, slide-heavy style on tracks like “Hey Negrita” locked in so naturally that the Stones quietly realized they’d found their man.

“Hey Negrita” came out of one of those marathon jam sessions, and Wood’s slide guitar is the song’s secret weapon. He’d been playing slide for years—first with the Jeff Beck Group, then the Faces—and his approach here is raw and almost conversational, sliding into phrases that sound like they’re answering the rhythm section. The track itself is a funky, Latin-tinged workout, and Wood’s slide gives it a greasy, off-the-cuff texture that the other candidates couldn’t match. The Stones didn’t officially announce Wood as a member until 1976, but Black and Blue was essentially his tryout tape that he passed by accident—just by playing the way he always played.