Two guitars, one pulse—Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood turned a friendship into a language long before the spotlights found them together, hanging around the Stones orbit while Ronnie was still with Faces, then sealing it in 1975 when he stepped in for Mick Taylor. Onstage they don’t draw lines between “lead” and “rhythm”; they lean, feint, and answer each other until the parts braid into one feeling—the kind of give-and-take Keith calls their interlocking guitar “weaving,” and Ronnie says is just how they talk when the amps are warm. If you want to hear that bond snap into focus, cue up “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones (1981): Keith’s ignition-spark riff, Ronnie’s sly replies tucked around it, the whole thing strutting forward like a grin you can’t shake—proof that a brotherhood can sound like motion.c

Introduction

Some friendships are built on words. Others are built on sound. For Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, their bond has always spoken louder through six strings than any conversation could. Long before the world saw them side by side on the grand stages of The Rolling Stones, their connection was quietly taking shape—back when Ronnie was still with Faces, hovering in the Stones’ orbit, trading laughs, riffs, and late-night jam sessions with Keith. In 1975, when Ronnie officially stepped in to replace Mick Taylor, it didn’t feel like a recruitment. It felt like destiny finally putting two halves of the same heartbeat together.

What makes their partnership so special isn’t flashy solos or ego-driven showdowns. It’s how seamlessly they blur the invisible line between “lead” and “rhythm.” Onstage, they don’t take turns—they intertwine. Keith calls it their “weaving,” a style where one slips through the cracks left by the other, creating a single living texture of sound. Ronnie describes it more simply: it’s just how they talk when the amps are warm. They lean, feint, and answer each other, until what comes out isn’t two guitars anymore—it’s one feeling, pulsing and alive.

If you want to hear that brotherhood crystallize in real time, spin Start Me Up (1981). Keith kicks it off with that ignition-spark riff, sharp and insistent, and Ronnie slinks in behind him with sly, playful replies that coil around the rhythm like smoke. The whole track struts forward with a swagger you can’t shake, as if the guitars are grinning at each other the whole way through. It’s not just a song—it’s the sound of two friends moving as one, proof that sometimes, the strongest language doesn’t need words at all.

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