DISCOVERING your old teenage diary is often a cringe-inducing affair, though when you're as cool as Ronnie Wood, that's not the case. In fact the Rolling Stones guitarist has chosen to share his teenage diary with the world.
Originally penned in 1965 – a decade before he joined The Rolling Stones, following the departure of Mick Taylor – it charts young Wood's experiences with his first outfit, The Birds, as they made their way on the London gig circuit.
"I always knew, even when I was in The Birds, that I was going to be in The Rolling Stones," says Wood. "I was going to be in that band one way or another, and I would broadcast the fact. I thought it looked like a good job, and it turns out that it is," he adds with a customary cackle. "It goes to show you can set your sights on something and get it, if you think big and put in the work."
Wood's diaries are an insight into how the journey starts. "It's the diary of a 17-year-old rock and roller," says the now 68-year-old. "I used to keep a diary quite diligently, but I'd lost it until recently and forgotten all the details, until I went back through and it all came flooding back."
The leather-bound book had been in the hands of Wood's late brothers, Art and Ted, who had picked it from their mum's house when she passed away. He was born in Hillingdon in 1947, into a family of 'water gypsies'. He says in his autobiography that his generation was the first of the family to have been born on dry land.
"The diary is like an old friend, it was all familiar enough. I go back in time when I read it."
He says he remembers each gig with either joy or horror, from the times his band got a rapturous reception, to when The Birds were booked at a working men's club "full of wallflowers" who didn't want to get up and dance, too busy nursing their pints and concentrating on their dominoes.
The most memorable parts of the whole year seemed to come from life in the van, driving around the country from gig to gig.
"We were all piled in the van on top of each other and all the gear, and it was rough," he says. "But it meant we knew each other inside out. There was back-biting and arguing, being that hemmed in, and situations would come up that no-one would normally have to deal with."
While in The Birds, Wood says he worked every night of the year, which is backed up by the way the diary rips through at a pace; he never seems to be in the same place more than one day in a row.
"There were so many venues back then. The Catford Savoy, I used to love that place. Nottingham Boat Club was another, where there were three venues in a row. A typical night would be someone like John Mayall in one, me and The Birds in the middle, and my brother Art and his band in the other. We'd be at the bar together swapping stories, and then one of us would be called to the stage."
It was on this circuit that Wood – a talented artist who went to Ealing Art College, where Freddie Mercury and Pete Townshend were also students – met many of the people who went on to have significant roles in his life and career. Like Jeff Beck, whose group he would join in 1967, after a short stint in The Creation.
"The Who would be around. I remember playing at The Ealing Club and they were in the crowd, yelling about how they were the best band."
This all fits in with Wood's idea that any young band must pay their dues, as he did as a teenager, trying his best to emulate the likes of Jimmy Page, already an established musical figure.
"Me and The Birds were learning the ropes," he recalls. "Rehearsing in a garage, getting in the gig wagon and playing hundreds of shows, that's what it's all about. More young bands should try it."
Without his diary, he never have remembered many of the great things he experienced. "Going back through my diary from 1965, I remembered I bumped into Sid James one night. I loved his films."
Another entry reads, 'Had a great time with Wilson Pickett'. "Midnight Hour was the biggest record there was for me that year, but I'd forgotten all about our adventure together until I picked up the diary again. How can you forget meeting Wilson Pickett?!"
He does have one regret, however. "I'm happier now than I've ever been, with my wife Sally," he says. "One regret I have is that I can't remember what a lot of my girlfriends looked like years ago. I don't regret the drinking – I drank for Britain for 50 years, 'til I got sober five years ago – that was a learning curve I had to go through – but not remembering the wonderful girls is a regret."
:: How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary by Ronnie Wood is published by Genesis Publications.
