Ron Wood

Ronnie: The Autobiography
$25.95
Hard to believe how someone who has spent much of his life in the limelight, surrounded by so many notable characters in the world of music can offer so little insight, so few details. Instead, we have here a gripping saga of Ronnie Wood's real estate transactions and the siring of his sundry children, and of course his drinking and drugging himself into oblivion. Precious little information or illumination is contained here, though. What must it be like to be on tour -- on stage -- with the Stones, Stewart, Beck? Dunno, really. Is Jagger a megalomaniac? What's it like to be in the studio with the Stones? How about the songwriting process? He simply doesn't delve into such matters.

We are given to believe, for instance, that Jeff Beck is not a warm, cuddly sort, but are given not a shred of evidence to support that conclusion. Rod Stewart? Dunno much about him either, either; but Ronnie evidently bought a house about that time. It had a studio (they all did), and he painted (he always did) and had a another kid or two. Want details? Most likely the poor sotted lad can't recall many, having lost many a brain cell to drugs and drink en route to his eventual sobriety. Best of luck, Ron, but gee, this is a poor effort.

The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn
$25.97
I enjoyed the CD/DVD very much. Seeing how Ronnie & Kieth guitar weave before ronnie joined the stones was a real treat. The music and jamming is really good. Of course the quality of the picture and music is not the greatest but it is better the good. Overall a good product with some great musicians performing some good music. I reccomend.

Ronnie
$17.95
The thing I like about autobiographies is that you always get a real sense of the person no matter how much they may try to put a spin on their life (or major events in it) - the essence of the person always comes through. And Ronnie comes through much like a regular guy and a pretty decent bloke - well, a regular guy who wound up in The Rolling Stones and lived the rock 'n roll lifestyle. The one thing that really struck me in this book was that he went from boom to bust a number of times. Drugs, alcohol and surrounding himself with bad people lead to him losing all of his money more than once. I also found myself wondering what it would be like to live this sort of life - playing music with your friends, travelling the world again and again, living in hotel rooms, being mobbed by fans, constantly being tempted by naughtiness. That's some sort of life. I'd wager he would be a great dinner party guest.

Possibly not a book in which hard core fans will find anything new. And possibly a little disappointing for those looking for insight into the inner workings of The Rolling Stones. But for a casual fan of the band such as myself it was a great read.

Gimme Some Neck
$6.99
Being an old fan, I felt like adding some musical memories to my Ipod play lists. Last time I played the vinyl album was some 30 years ago. After re listening to the whole CD album I only imported three tracks. I'd reckon you go straight to "Breaking My Heart", "Seven days" and possibly "Lost and Lonely". Musically you can live whithout the CD in your collection.
PGB