Ronnie Wood has addressed rumours that Jeff Beck was invited to join the Rolling Stones, saying that he “wouldn’t have kept up with the timetable”.
Wood was speaking to MOJO about the late musician, who died in January at the age of 78 after contracting bacterial meningitis.
“He wouldn’t have kept up with the timetable! Eric Clapton once said to me, ‘I could have joined that band.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but you gotta live with them, Eric!'” remarked Wood [via MusicNews]
He also said that Beck wasn’t keen on the spotlight, nor the “simple blues and rock ‘n’ roll” sound of the Stones. “Anything to do with the spotlight, he’d be like, ‘You can take care of this,’ and he would be gone. And Jeff was not satisfied with the simple blues and rock’n’roll approach – much as he loved Buddy Guy. When he hooked up with Jan Hammer, the experimental jazz stuff, that was where I got off, although we’d already gone our different ways.”
Wood shared a tribute to Beck upon the news of his death, tweeting: Now Jeff has gone, I feel like one of my band of brothers has left this world, and I’m going to dearly miss him. I’m sending much sympathy to Sandra, his family, and all who loved him. I want to thank him for all our early days together in Jeff Beck Group, conquering America.”
He continued: “Musically, we were breaking all the rules, it was fantastic, groundbreaking rock ’n’ roll! Listen to the incredible track ‘Plynth’ in his honour. Jeff, I will always love you. God bless.”
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Beck’s funeral was held in his hometown of Wallington, Surrey, earlier this month. In his eulogy, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page described him as “the quiet chief”.