How the Stones Picked Ronnie Wood Over Jeff Beck During the 'Black and Blue' Sessions

The most interesting part of the Stones’ 1976 “Black and Blue” sessions in Munich isn’t the album itself—it’s the open cattle-call audition for a second guitarist. With Mick Taylor gone, the band invited a dozen players to Musicland Studios to jam on unfinished tracks, most famously “Fool to Cry.” Jeff Beck was the flashy frontrunner, but his sessions were tense and short-lived.

Ronnie Wood, then in the Faces, showed up expecting nothing. He already knew Keith Richards from years of partying and playing together. But the key was how Wood locked into a loose, slightly sloppy rhythm that mirrored Keith’s—exactly what the Stones wanted. Unlike Beck’s virtuosic lead work, Wood blended in, making the band feel tighter without stepping on Richards.

Beck later claimed he was offered the gig but turned it down because the money wasn’t right. The Stones have always said they never officially offered it to him. Either way, Wood’s chemistry won out, and he stayed for 50 years. The “Fool to Cry” outtakes with Wood’s rhythm parts are still some of the best documentations of that decision.