Ron Wood says he brought Mick Jagger and Keith Richards back together

The Rolling Stones' Ron Wood says that he was responsible for mending bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' estranged relationship in the 1980s. Wood told Uncut magazine that he took it upon himself to try to save the Stones, recalling that, "I said, 'No, this can't happen to the institution.'" Wood said that he didn't mind acting as the middle-man between Jagger and Richards, who by 1988 were pursuing solo careers, feuding in the press, and barely on speaking terms.

Wood recalled that, "Mick rang me up and says 'He won't talk to me.' I was saying, 'He will 'cause I've just spoken to him. If you wait 15 minutes, I'll have him ring you.' I rang Keith and said, 'Ring Mick now.' Then they spoke. Mick rang me back and he said, 'Oh wow, it's not as bad as I thought.' He put it down to the different things being misread in the media. That seemed to have cut the ice."

Wood also gave details of Richards' fall from a palm tree in Fiji earlier this year, which resulted in Richards undergoing brain surgery and temporarily sidelining the Stones' European tour: "(It) happened right behind me and I just saw his head hit the ground. He landed on his back and he cut all the inside of his mouth. There was a lot of blood. I knew something was very wrong. He said, 'Go away,' but then started getting headaches. It got real bad... I was relieved when it was all under control. He still likes the sympathy: 'Oh excuse, I've got brain damage.' He gets out of many situations now by saying that."

He went on to say that a reunion with the Faces -- Rod Stewart, Ian "Mac" McLagan, and Kenney Jones -- is still up in the air, despite Stewart reportedly warming to the idea: "I got a call from Mac saying, 'Rod's doing it just for his own benefit. Let's not do it.'" This American Songbook stuff, Mac doesn't like him doing it, he says 'What happened to the old Rod?'"

Wood added that he also isn't fond of Stewart's take on the standards or recent cover versions: "With all the years he's been stranded away from the group thing, he's Hollywood-ified... He's lost the earthiness I know he still has inside him."

Ron Wood's recent compilation, titled The Essential Crossexion, included the previously unreleased Stewart-Wood collaboration "You Strum And I'll Sing."