Early Career
Taylor grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. He began playing guitar at age nine. As a teenager, he formed bands with schoolmates and started performing concerts under names such as The Juniors and the Strangers. They also appeared on television and put out a single.[citation needed] Part of the band was recruited for a new group called The Gods, which included Ken Hensley (later of Uriah Heep fame). In 1966, The Gods opened for Cream at the Starlite Ballroom in Wembley.
In 1965, when Taylor was 16, he went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers performance at "The Hop" at the Community Centre, Woodhall, Welwyn Garden City. Former drummer with the Juniors, Danny Bacon remembers, "On the night in question, I had gone to The Hop with some guys from our band, former schoolmates and Ex-Juniors: Mick Taylor and Alan Shacklock. This was after John Mayall had finished his first set without a guitarist, that it became clear that for some reason Eric Clapton was not going to show up. A group of local musicians, which included myself, Robert "Jab" Als, Herbie Sparks and others along with three local guitarists: Alan Shacklock, Mick Casey (formerly of the Trekkas) and Mick Taylor were in attendance". Mick Taylor approached John Mayall during the intermission and ended up filling in as the guitarist for the second set, playing Clapton's guitar which had already been set up on the stage.
Despite his young age Taylor began to earn respect for his guitar skills[citation needed] and when Peter Green resigned from the Bluesbreakers, Taylor was asked to take his place. Taylor made his debut with the Bluesbreakers at the Manor House. For those in the music scene the night was an event... "Let's go and see this 17 year old kid try and replace Eric". Before he turned 18, Taylor toured and recorded the album Crusade with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969, Taylor developed a guitar style that is blues-based with latin and jazz influences. Later on in his career he further developed his skills as a slide guitarist.
The Rolling Stones
When The Rolling Stones wanted to tour North America in 1969, the problems surrounding founding member and guitarist Brian Jones could not be ignored. His conviction for illicit drug usage prevented him from obtaining the work visa needed to perform on tour in America; this and his emotional problems had alienated him from the rest of the group and would have made touring difficult, if not impossible. Jones was fired from the band in early June 1969 (less than a month later, on July 3, he drowned in his swimming pool).
Mick Jagger reportedly did not want to hold auditions to replace Jones and the process by which Taylor became a Stone was significantly different from that used for Ronnie Wood five and a half years later. Jagger simply asked John Mayall from the Bluesbreakers for his advice. Mick Taylor was recommended, and Jagger invited him to a recording session. Taylor arrived at the studio thinking they wanted him to do some session work, but after a while he realised he was being auditioned as a new guitarist for the band. Taylor did overdubs on two tracks, "Country Honk" and "Live With Me" from the album Let It Bleed. This impressed Richards and Jagger enough to tell him: "See you tomorrow..." before he left the studio. Taylor continued rehearsing and recording with the band during the summer of 1969.
Mick Taylor made his debut with the Stones at a July 5th free concert in London’s Hyde Park that was attended by an estimated quarter of a million people. The concert launched the 1969 tour while at the same time paying tribute to Brian Jones.
By 1970 Jagger and Taylor started developing a way of working together when Richards was "missing in action", mainly because of Richards' increasing dependency on drugs.[citation needed] In Richards' absence, Taylor and Jagger worked on songs like "Sway", "Moonlight Mile", "Winter" and "Time Waits for No One", but Taylor was never given writing credit. Taylor consequently became disenchanted. He received songwriting credits for only one song, "Ventilator Blues" on the Exile on Main St. album.
After the 1973 European tour, the future for the Stones looked dim. Richards’ drug problems had worsened and were affecting the whole band. Taylor started to get impatient because the group was in a stalemate situation with band members opting to spend their time abroad between recording sessions. While musical trends strayed away from the blues, it looked like the Stones would collapse as a band.
In January 1974 Taylor had sinusitis for which he had to undergo surgery. The band started recording sessions for the LP It's Only Rock 'n Roll and Taylor missed one (albeit important) get together at Musicland in Munich, most likely the title track recording. Taylor was present at all the sessions in April at Stargroves, England where the LP was finished and most of the overdubs were recorded.
Not long after the It's Only Rock 'n Roll sessions Taylor went on a six week expedition to Brazil, travelling down the Amazon River in a boat and exploring Latin music which he had started to take an interest in.
Just before the release of It's Only Rock 'n Roll in October 1974, Taylor told Nick Kent from New Musical Express about the new LP and that he had co-written "Till the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits for No One" with Jagger.[citation needed] When Kent showed Taylor the record sleeve, it showed that Taylor had not been given any songwriting credit. However, in an interview with Gary James, Taylor states that during his tenure with the band he only had issues with two songs. Taylor also claims that any disagreements over songwriting credits had no bearing on his eventual decision to leave the band.
In December 1974, Taylor announced he was leaving the Rolling Stones. The Stones were at a party in London when Taylor told Mick Jagger he was quitting and walked out. Taylor's decision came as a total shock to many. The Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich.
Jagger was taken aback completely, but took the news professionally. Keith Richards complained about Taylor's departure as he felt that Taylor left at a very inconvenient moment. Taylor's future, however, looked bright. At the time, he was considered one of the best guitarists in the world, and it was expected that he could build a solo career as had Eric Clapton.
In an essay about the Rolling Stones, printed after Taylor's resignation, music critic Robert Palmer of The New York Times wrote that "Taylor is the most accomplished technician who ever served as a Stone. A blues guitarist with a jazzman's flair for melodic invention, Taylor was never a rock and roller and never a showman."
Mick Jagger, in a 1995 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine, said Taylor never explained why he had left, and surmised that "He (Taylor) wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith." Charlie Watts stated: "I think we chose the right man for the job at that time just as Ronnie was the right man for the job later on. I still think Mick is great. I haven't heard or seen him play in a few years. But certainly what came out of playing with him are musically some of the best things we've ever done". Another statement made by Keith Richards is "Mick Taylor is a great guitarist, but he found out the hard way that that's all he is".
Any hard feelings have dissipated over time. Taylor appears on "I Could Have Stood You Up", a song from Talk is Cheap, Richards' first solo album. On 14 December 1981, Mick Taylor appeared on stage with the Rolling Stones for almost the full show at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. And at a Mick Taylor show in NYC (at the Lone Star Cafe) on 28 December 1986, Richards appeared on stage with Taylor, jamming .. to the Highway" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Stones and Mick Taylor in 1989.[8] Taylor also worked with Bill Wyman on Wyman's solo project The Rhythm Kings in the early 90's.
Taylor's live presence with the Stones is preserved on the Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! live album recorded over three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 27 and 28, 1969. He performed on only two tracks from Let It Bleed but participated on every Rolling Stones album up to 1974. Recordings that remain bootlegs of the 1972 American Tour and the 1973 European Tour are also available and include Taylor performing with the Stones. Taylor is sometimes mistakenly credited as playing on "Worried about You" from Tattoo You, but the solo on that song is performed by Wayne Perkins.
Solo Career
After leaving The Rolling Stones, Taylor has worked on a wide variety of projects.
In June, 1973, he joined Mike Oldfield onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a performance Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Taylor was asked to take part in this project by Richard Branson as he felt Oldfield was unknown having just been signed to Branson's fledgling label, Virgin Records. Taylor joined Oldfield once more for a BBC television broadcast in November, 1973.
After Taylor's resignation from the Rolling Stones, Jack Bruce invited him to form a new band with keyboardist Carla Bley and drummer Bruce Gary. In 1975, the band began rehearsals in London with tour dates scheduled for later that year. The group toured Europe, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop festival, but disbanded the following year. A performance recorded on 1 June, 1975, unreleased 2003 with the title "Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall") and another released performance from the Old Grey Whistle Test appear to be the sum total of the only material available from this brief collaboration.
Taylor appeared as a special guest at the Rainbow Theatre in London, 1977 with Little Feat, which appears on the Waiting for Columbus album (see discography). In the summer of 1977 he collaborated with Pierre Moerlen's Gong for the album Espresso II, released in 1978. Taylor began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album and worked on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. He was present at many of the recording sessions for John Phillips' first solo album. The recordings for Phillips' album took place in London over a prolonged period between 1973 and 1977. This led to Taylor working with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger who were also working on the Phillips' album. Atlantic Records eventually cancelled the project but copies of the sessions(under titles "Half Stoned" and "Phillips '77") circulated among bootleg traders. The original tapes were rescued and restored and were officially released in 2002 as Pay Pack & Follow.
In 1977 Taylor signed a solo recording deal with CBS Records. By April 1978 he gave several interviews to music magazines to promote the new album which was finished, but would not be released for another year. In 1979 the album, titled Mick Taylor, was released by CBS. The album material mixed rock, jazz and Latin-flavoured blues musical styles. Sales were poor but the album reached &035;119 on the Billboard charts in early August with a stay of five weeks on the Top 200. CBS advised Taylor to promote the album through American radio stations and would not back the guitarist for any supporting tour. Already frustrated with this situation, Taylor took a break from the music industry for about a year.
In 1981, he toured Europe and the United States with Alvin Lee (from Ten Years After), sharing the bill with Black Sabbath. He spent most of 1982-1983 on the road with his John Mayall, for the "Reunion Tour" with John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) and Colin Allen. During this tour, Bob Dylan showed up backstage at The Roxy in Los Angeles in order to meet Taylor.[citation needed] Subsequently, in 1983, Taylor played on Bob Dylan's Infidels album. He also appeared on Dylan 's live album, Real Live, as well as the follow-up studio album, Empire Burlesque.
In 1984, Bob Dylan asked Mick Taylor to assemble an experienced rock and roll band for a European tour he signed with Bill Graham. Ian McLagan was hired to play piano and hammond organ, Greg Sutton to play bass and Colin Allen , an old friend of Taylor, on drums. The tour lasted for 4 weeks, sharing the bill with Santana and, for a few shows, Joan Baez was also hired.
Taylor lived in New York throughout the 1980s. He battled with addiction problems before getting back on track in the second half of the 1980s and moving to Los Angeles in 1990.[citation needed] During this time Taylor did session work and toured in Europe, America and Japan with a band including Max Middleton (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), Shane Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin. Taylor moved back to England in the mid 1990s. He never seemed to feel comfortable in his role as a former Rolling Stone until he released a new record in the year 2000, the CD A Stone's Throw. Playing at clubs and theatres as well as appearing at festivals has connected Taylor with an appreciative audience and lasting fanbase. In 2003, Taylor reunited with John Mayall for his 70th Birthday Concert in Liverpool along with Eric Clapton. A year later, in autumn 2004, he also joined the Bluesbreakers for a UK theatre tour. In October 2007 he toured the US East Coast with the Experience Hendrix group. The Experience Hendrix group appeared at a series of concerts which were set up to honour Jimi Hendrix' musical legacy and Taylor played with Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and Robby Krieger.
Guitar History
Throughout his career, Taylor has used various different guitars, but is mostly associated with the Gibson Les Paul. His first Les Paul was bought when he was still playing with The Gods (from Selmer's, London in '65). He acquired his second Les Paul in 1967, not long after joining The Bluesbreakers (Taylor came to Olympic Studios to buy a Les Paul that Keith Richards wanted to sell). This Les Paul Standard '59 with Bigsby arm was stolen from Nellcôte in the South of France in summer '71 during the recording of Exile on Main Street. On the '72/'73 tours Taylor used a couple of Sunburst Les Paul guitars without a Bigsby. Other guitars include a Gibson ES-355 for the recording of Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, a Gibson SG on the 1969, 1970 and 1971 tours, and occasionally, a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Telecaster.
