Although he would go on to work with Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn and Morrissey, Mick Ronson’s creative high was unquestionably in 1971-2 on David Bowie’s incredible Hunky Dory and The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars LPs. Much more than a mere guitar foil, Ronson also helped arrange arguably the best songs in Bowie’s glittering canon.
Ronson manned the desk on another stone cold classic alongside Bowie in the shape of Lou Reed’s Transformer, an album that also featured his distinctive, Jeff Beck-influenced lead guitar. However, for all his studio invention, it’s the image of a glammed-up Spiders-era Ronson wielding his paint-stripped 1968 Les Paul Custom onstage that endures.