He's such a class act both as a musician and as a human being. The stones owe their first wave of success to Brian Jones and their second wave to Mick Taylor. They've since turned into their own tribute act.
Interesting background on Taylor but the captioning effect with the shifting emphasis on each word was seriously distracting, even before the rapid visual cuts and zooms.
A back-handed compliment from Keith ! Saying Mick was a virtuoso is his way of saying he couldn't play with him. That's why he prefers Ronnie Wood - he's a team player. But I love Mick's playing, especially the work he did with the great John Mayall. Listen to his playing on Sandy, from Bare Wires. Not flash, but just so right.
The Mick Taylor times were the best of times for the Stones music creation, I don't know anyone that feels differently. Never met anyone that could even make an argument for an album not made with Taylor. They spent way more on shows later, everyone did but the music never improved or even changed much.
The Stones didn’t deserve Taylor. He was there to make the best possible music, they were there to indulge their appetites. Leaving was a wise decision.
Clapton, Beck, Page get mentioned all the time, but Mick Taylor should've been the 4th face on the Mt Rushmore of rock guitarists. Other worldly note choices, especially for one so young. Perfect vibrato. An astounding player.
I love all the Stones eras but the Mick Taylor era is my favorite. I think Ronnie and Brian Jones were more versatile in that they had a wider range of sounds bit when it came to pure lead guitar Mick Taylor was on another level.
woods was a horrible choice ,looks like a stone ,as many say is ridiculous who cares about that ,69 to 73 stones live over the last 51 years of out of tune ,boring ,crappy guitar solos ,too much posing and trying to look cool.
All of rock sort of matured in the 70s. The Beatles, Beach Boys, Dylan, the Stones and Motown had kicked it up a notch at the end of the 60s. The early work of Hendrix, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell and Santana was far different than Meet the Beatles or Surfin' Safari.
Nothing the Stones did before or after Mick Taylor comes within miles of what they accomplished with him! Mick Taylor was also present on Tattoo You on “Tops” (beautiful outro) and “Waiting on a friend” both of which were originally recorded during Goats Head Soup. Some people dispute “Waiting on a friend” but if you know Taylor’s sound you would agree. “I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don't have now.”……”Mick Taylor would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off. Some people think that's the best version of the band that existed". - Mick Jagger
I think Mick Taylor was really great and he was a tonic to the Rolling Stones. Ronnie Wood is very good, too. But some of the best ever Stones tracks had Mick Taylor playing guitar on them. The whole band is very talented, but Mick Taylor added a lot of spice.
Mick Taylor is an awesome guitar player, but he brought nothing to the table songwriter wise. Yes his solos were amazing, but if he supposedly Co-wrote all those great songs, then why doesn’t he have any Hits before and after his 5 years with Keith&Jagger? He was a hired gun that’s all he ever was, if he woulda stayed he would be worth millions today. Crying over spilled milk gets old.
Since about 1981 they have had to rely on touring rather than being a successful recording band. I think they only managed 2 top 20 hits after then. Still great live though, Mick has the energy of a 20 year old!
I'm so tired of hearing about how "Taylor made the Stones" and "real Stones fans know it." No, real Stones fans know their real ascent began in 1968, a full year before Taylor joined. And the quality of their material declined while he was still there. And rose again later. Taylor didn't make the band. He added great guitar to their live performances. The guy was a great guitar player. But that's all he was. Mick and Keith were the Stones. Period. Sorry if you can't handle that, but stop pretending you're somehow knowledgable or keeping it real by making Taylor something he wasn't.
Mick could see the writing on the wall, with that direction of Black and Blue. I'm sure he was exposed to those ideas and that direction. It's only Rock n' Roll had some good songs, but they were moving more away from the blues and more into a kind of pop/soul period... Mick J was going that direction and relying more on Taylor, and Keith was an unreliable junkie. Taylor would be left holding the bag with more responsibility and less credit as evident on IORnR. He didn't want to be that naive kid that was taken and intimidated by the savvy business minded Gimmer Twins. So he left with his dignity and life intact. In my opinion it fell on the Glimmer Twins to create the kind of atmosphere that was conducive to positive work environment. Taylor was not just any lead guitarist, he proved his impact and should have been compensated better
I dare say he the best ever after Hendrix. And completely different. But Keith hit it. Melodic. Alot of greats lack Melodic. At least as brilliant as Taylor.
Mick's guitar was great, but I think Ronnies rock sensibilities are far better. This is simple music that doesnt require complex melodic guitar playing
