Five years sober, the former heavy drinker tells Rolling Stone magazine he cannot believe how fast he lived when he was 17.

He says, "Those were the days of experimenting with scotch and Coke, and brandy. It used to bounce off us - that and all the travel we did in the van. If I had to do it now, I probably wouldn't last a week."

But Wood lived the boozy lifestyle for 45 years until finally getting to grips with his bad habit in 2000.

He admits he struggled with sobriety at first - especially when he was on tour - but nowadays he's rarely tempted to pick up a drink.

Wood adds, "It gets easier. The first few months I thought, 'Oh God, how am I ever gonna get through this?' But now I see everything in a different light, and more clearly."

The rocker has released a new book inspired by his 1965 tour diary, titled How Can It Be?