Brotherly Love…in Rock

There have been scores of brothers in rock bands who wind up never settling many scores created during their time in and out of a recording studio.  The most famous and perhaps saddest are Tom and John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Saul Zaentz, who released Creedence’s work on his Fantasy label, repeatedly took John to court and took away the love John once had for his older brother.  John stated, “In some trick of mental agility, Tom ended up befriending Zaentz against me. By the end of his life, Tom was saying, ‘Saul is my best friend.’ He even wrote me nasty letters saying things like ‘Saul and I will win.’ The best I can say in Tom’s case is he was the older brother and the younger brother had a lot more talent; therefore, he was jealous even to a greater degree than the other two in Creedence.”

But while the Fogertys’ relationship was beyond repair, there have been musicians whose relationship with their younger brothers could’ve been a lost Leave it to Beaver episode where Wally helps the Beav become a superstar.  In Ron Wood’s case, he had two “Wally’s”, his brothers Art and Ted, who introduced him to the world of rock ‘n’ roll. Ron recalled: “My brothers were very encouraging – they were ten years older, artists and musicians too. They’d bring back their art school friends – all the girls! I’d be there, in short pants and grey flannels, thinking: ‘That looks like a good job. Lots of perks on the side and you can paint too!”  Drummer Ted Wood, who favored jazz, witnessed the nine-year-old Ron make his stage debut. Ron remembered, “Ted had to push me on, but then I wouldn’t get off.”

But even though Ted was a crackerjack musician, the record-buying public ignored his stints in various bands like Bob Dwyer’s Hot 6 and Colin Kingwell’s Jazz Bandits.

At the start of Art Wood’s career, he believed that he’d have the hit that eluded Ted. In 1962, his band, the Artwoods, sent R&B lovers and musicians in droves to see them at the Eel Pie Club in London. These included a slide guitarist who went by “Elmo Lewis” who caught the attention of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  Mick and Keith asked Elmo (a pseudonym for Brian Jones) if he wanted to be in their band called Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. But while that band later found worldwide success as the Rolling Stones, Art later found himself struggling to find steady work.

Art then hoped to release a record that he hoped rock fans would buy because of a little help from his friends.  Alas, Quiet Melon lasted a month. Art stated: “Ron and the members of the Small Faces were between jobs at the time and completely skint.  So we rounded up Rod Stewart, Kenny Jones, Ian McLagan, and Ronnie Lane. We played a few Melon gigs. But then Rod and Ronnie blew me off, the little bastards, and went on to become hugely famous as the Faces. Oh well!”

Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC were well acquainted with a hit maker: their older brother, George.  As part of the Easybeats, George co-wrote “Friday on My Mind,” a classic later covered by Bowie and revered by Bruce Springsteen who confessed: “To be truthful, when I wrote ‘Out in the Street,’ I was trying to copy one of my all-time favorite songs, ‘Friday on My Mind.’  I have always loved that song. The structure on that is just incredible.”

But constant touring and dealing with bandmates who indulged in drugs and drink helped George decide that he’d rather produce a group than be in one.  George and his fellow Easybeats-er, Harry Vanda, not only produced AC/DC’s first five albums, but also wrote “Walking in the Rain,” recorded by Grace Jones for her 1981 Nightclubbing album and “Hard Road,” which Rod Stewart included on 1975’s Smiler.

But for AC/DC’s sixth album, Atlantic Records broke up the family affair by replacing George with Mutt Lange. Malcolm and Angus accepted their new producer under protest, but their arguments became quite moot after their first two albums with Mutt (Highway to Hell and Back in Black) sold over 59 million copies and counting.  George was later brought back to produce his brothers’ 1999 album, Stiff Upper Lip.

Ron and Art Wood could relate to this example of what goes around, comes around.  Art had booked London’s Marquee Club to audition a new drummer for his band, with Ron tagging along to watch.  In another part of the club, Art encouraged a guitarist to relax and not to be so nervous. After all, he was merely auditioning to replace Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds. Two years later, that same guitarist asked Ronnie if he’d like to play bass in his band: the Jeff Beck Group.

-Mark Daponte

Photo: Angus Young of AC/DC , 2008 (Matt Becker via Wikimedia Commons)