needed a new guitarist

The Stones needed a new guitarist, and the recording sessions in Munich for the next album, Black and Blue (1976; No. 2 in the UK, No. 1 in the US), were effectively used as auditions. Guitarists as stylistically disparate as Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck were auditioned, as well as Robert A. Johnson and Shuggie Otis . Both Beck and Irish blues rock guitarist Rory Gallagher later claimed they had played without realising they were being auditioned. American session players Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel also tried out, but Richards and Jagger preferred for the band to remain purely British. When Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood auditioned, everyone agreed he was the right choice. He had already recorded and played live with Richards, and had contributed to the recording and writing of the track “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll”. He had declined Jagger’s earlier offer to join the Stones, because of his commitment to Faces, saying “that’s what’s really important to me”. Faces’ lead singer Rod Stewart went so far as to say he would take bets that Wood would not join the Stones.