Ron Wood – Gimme Some Neck
Gimme Some Neck, the title of Ron Wood’s third solo album from 1976, refers not to any vampiric tendencies on the ace guitarist’s part but rather to his exuberant attitude towards playing anything with four or more strings. Give this man enough neck and you’re liable to wind up with a pair of terminally scrambled frontal lobes.
Ron Wood responded to the challenge of his third solo album with a top-notch collection of songs that offer ample proof of his skills as a compelling songwriter, convincing vocalist and superb instrumentalist. He’s sympathetically aided by a number of heavy friends–fellow Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, old Face compatriot Ian McLagen, Jim Keltner, Dave Mason and Bobby Keys represent the rock contingent while Crusaders’ bassist “Pops” Popwell adds his funky flavorings to the proceedings.
Producer Roy Thomas Baker has done his usual excellent job of capturing a sound that boasts the kind of loose, roadhouse feel that has always been at the core of great rock and roll from day one. There’s a music vitality in these grooves that’s far removed from the sterile product that so often pops out of studios.
The stand-out track here is “Seven Days”, a song penned exclusively for Wood by Bob Dylan. Powered by the man behind the beat for the big Mac, Mick Fleetwood, the tune sets Wood’s searing pedal steel work against a remarkably expressive, Dylanesque vocal. You’ll probably find it hard to believe that Mr. Dylan didn’t drop by the studio to do the singing himself.
Wood composed eight of the eleven selections and most of them are blazing examples of classic British Rock’n’Roll, centered around the slashing rhythm stylings that helped establish the faces as one of the premier rock bands of the 70’s and contributed so much to the recent rejuvenation of the Stones. “Infeckshun” sports a superb mid-song jam that only comes from complete empathy between the musicians, “Buried Alive” features the full Stones complement on the album’s hardest-driving rocker. “F.U.C. Her” blends incisive, witty lyrics with a musical marriage between Chuck Berry and funk. The album closes with what could well be Wood’s motto towards Rock’n’Roll and life in general, “Don’t Worry.”
Tracklisting:
01. Worry No More 02:36
02. Breakin My Heart 04:20
03. Delia (Interlude C) 00:42
04. Buried Alive 03:37
05. Come To Realise 03:53
06. Infekshun 04:03
07. Seven Days 04:00
08. We All Get Old 04:10
09. F.U.C.Her 03:15
10. Lost And Lonely 04:17
11. Don't Worry 03:25
Total: 38:18