the golden years...
“the golden years...”
Yep. Mick pretty much inferred that as well in an interview. When pressed he said something to the effect of (paraphrasing) - “well I really don’t want to come right out and say that was the peak period of the Rolling Stones do I because that doesn’t speak well about our current line-up does it?”.
But my read from the look on his face was that Ron Wood was there because Keith likes him and keeps him happy. Keith likes the style of two mediocre guitarists weaving in and out. Mick Taylor had a normal guitar soloist style and was a bit of an oddity for Keith to work around.
I forget exactly when that interview took place but it was when Woody was in the band and the lineup guitar-wise hasn’t changed in decades.