Mick Taylor

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Mick Taylor

Born	17 January 1949 (age 58) Welwyn Garden City, England
Genre(s)	Blues-rock Rock and Roll
Affiliation(s)	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers The Rolling Stones
Label(s)	Deram, Decca, Rolling Stones Records, Atlantic, Columbia, EMI, Virgin Records, CBS (later: Sony), Maze
Notable guitars	Gibson SG Gibson Les Paul Fender Stratocaster
Years active	1965 - Present
Official site	www.micktaylor.net

Michael "Mick" Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an English musician best known as the former lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Filmography
4 Awards
5 Guitar History

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early career

Mick Taylor grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and began playing guitar at age 9. As a teenager he formed bands with schoolmates and they soon began to do gigs under the name The Juniors (or the Strangers). They even appeared on television and put out a single. 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.

When Taylor was 16 years old (1965) he had come to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers college gig in Hatfield with some of his mates from his band. Eric Clapton failed to show up for some reason and after Taylor approached Mayall during the intermission, he ended up filling in as the guitarist for the second set, playing Clapton's guitar.

Taylor started to become known as a musical prodigy, and was asked to join the Bluesbreakers after Peter Green's resignation. Before he turned 18, Taylor was touring and recording the album Crusade with English blues pioneer John Mayall in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969 Taylor grew to develop his fluid and emotive guitar style that is blues based, but Latin and Jazz influenced. Taylor is also seen as one of the most prominent slide guitar players.

[edit] The Rolling Stones

When The Rolling Stones wanted to tour North America in 1969, a tour which was to be their first in three years, the problem of founding member and lead guitarist Brian Jones could not be ignored. His conviction for illicit drug usage prevented him from obtaining a work visa status that would have allowed him to perform on tour in America; this and his inability to cope in general had alienated him from the rest of the group, and this would have made touring difficult if not impossible. Jones was fired in early June 1969, and died by drowning on 3 July 1969. Jagger reportedly did not want to hold auditions to replace him, and the process by which Taylor became a Stone was significantly different from the way in which Ron Wood would 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 realized he was in fact being auditioned as a new guitarist for the band. Taylor did overdubs on two tracks, "Country Honk" and "Live With Me" from the 1969 Let It Bleed album. This impressed Richards and Jagger enough to tell him: "See you tomorrow" before he left the studio the first day. Taylor continued rehearsing and recording for the summer of 1969. The Stones were rehearsing Stevie Wonder's "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)" when Jagger answered the telephone informing the band Jones had drowned.

Mick Taylor performing on stage

After the 1969 tour, Jagger and Taylor developed a way of working together when Richards was "missing in action", mainly because of Richards' growing use of drugs. Jagger and Taylor wrote and recorded together songs like "Sway", "Moonlight Mile", "Winter" and "Time Waits for No One", but Taylor never received proper credits for his writing. This resulted in Taylor becoming more disgruntled the longer he worked with the band, because it became clear he would always be a junior partner. To date Taylor only received two songwriting credits, namely for the Jagger/Richards/Taylor composition "Ventilator Blues" and a Jagger/Richards/Wyman/Watts/Taylor credit for "Stop Breaking Down", both on the "Exile on Main Street" album. The latter credit was withdrawn after a lawsuit by the Robert Johnson estate.

Taylor with the Rolling Stones.

Just before the release of the It's Only Rock 'n Roll album in October 1974, Taylor was interviewed by Nick Kent, and Taylor was talking proudly about the album, and especially about the two songs he had written with Jagger, namely Till the next Goodbye and Time Waits for No One. When Kent confronted Taylor with the record sleeve it was clear that Taylor had not received credits for his part. Taylor told Kent angrily "we'll see about that". The Stones met for a business meeting in the south of France in November 1974, and according to Bill Wyman Jagger and Taylor had a fall-out on the first day over song writing credits and the lack of recognition for Taylor’s role within the Stones, and Taylor left the meeting angry and emotional. Within a month, Taylor resigned from the Rolling Stones in December 1974, just before the Stones were to start recording a new album in Munich, West Germany. As the story goes, the Stones were at a party in London when Taylor announced he was quitting and walked out. Jagger, took the news professionally, but Richards complained about Taylor's departure as he felt that Taylor left on a very inconvenient moment.

Lack of songwriting credits wasn't the only reason he chose to leave the band. While recording Exile on Main St. in the South of France in 1971 Taylor started to dabble with heroin (source: Rolling with the Stones by Bill Wyman), and as early as 1972 he talked to people about "escaping the Stones". Also important is that after the 1973 European tour, the future for the Stones looked dim. With Keith Richards heavily strung out on drugs while Richards and Jagger at an increasing distance from each other (Jagger expressed to Taylor how he just could not cope anymore with Keith's unreliabe behaviour and the problems he was causing). While musical trends strayed away from the blues, it looked like the Stones would collapse as a band. As Taylor was considered one of the best guitarists in the world, it was expected that he could build a solo career as had Eric Clapton.

After Taylor left, the remaining Stones have always kept quite secretive and withdrawn about Taylor. Mick Jagger, in a 1995 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine, nearly admits the years Taylor was a member of the band were the best musically. Jagger 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 "he was such a beautiful musician, far better than any of us. But he thought he could write and produce just like Mick and Keith, but nothing came out of him after he left" and Keith Richards stated that Taylor is "a beautiful guitarist, but unfortunately that's all he is". However, hard feelings 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 for almost the full show at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City with the Rolling Stones; and at a Mick Taylor show in NYC (Lone Star Cafe) on 28 December 1986, Richards appeared on stage with Taylor, jamming on "Key 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. Brian Jones and Ian Stewart were acknowledged during Mick Jagger's speech (and Brian Jones was posthumously inducted). 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!, a live album recorded over three concerts at the Madison Square Garden in New York on November 27 and 28, 1969. Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock 'n Roll were the four studio albums Taylor recorded with the Stones. However, to the many fans of the Rolling Stones, the 1972 American Tour and the 1973 European Tour are the best show cases for Taylor with the Stones but unfortunately the band was unable to officially release material recorded on these tours as they were contractually prohibited from officially releasing any material that was owned by Allen Klein's company ABKCO. It's a tragedy for Taylor's and Stones' fans that his best live work can only be heard on obscure sound and film recordings found on bootlegs of mostly mediocre sound quality, although 21st century re-masters of these bootlegs are now becoming more readily available through internet.

After Taylor's resignation his playing can be heard on the compilation album Metamorphosis, Sucking in the Seventies, Made in the Shade as well as CD's like Rewind, Singles Collection: The London Years, Hot Rocks, More Hot Rocks, Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones and Forty Licks. Two new songs on 1981's Tattoo You also feature Taylor ("Tops" and "Waiting On A Friend"). 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.

[edit] Solo career

In 1973 Taylor had also been involved with introducing Mike Oldfield's music to the public by performing Tubular Bells live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in June of that year. Taylor was asked to take part in this project by Richard Branson because Mike Oldfield was the first artist he had signed to his fledgling label Virgin Records, but Oldfield was still completely unknown. Mick Jagger came to witness the first live rendition of Tubular Bells, and Taylor introduced him to Richard Branson. Taylor also played once more time with Mike Oldfield for a BBC Performance in November 1973.

After Taylor's resignation from the Stones, Jack Bruce asked him to form a new "supergroup" together with Carla Bley and Bruce Gary. The band got together for rehearsals in London in 1975. Because tour dates had already been lined up for later that year, there wasn't much time left for writing new material, and in the studio it became clear that in Jack Bruce's view the object of touring was to promote his three solo albums. The group toured Europe (including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop Festival), but was disbanded for various reasons (mostly conflicting egos) before any studio material was recorded. In May 2003, the double CD Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall (recorded June 1st 1975) was released by Polydor after some tapes were found back in someone's attic. This, and their performance Live at the Old Grey Whistle Test, is the only material available from this line-up which included drummer extraordinaire Bruce Gary (a good friend of Taylor). Bruce Gary passed away in Los Angeles in Aug '06, at the age of 55.

In the mid 1970s there was an extremely unhealthy climate in the music business, which lasted well into the '80s. This may have been part of the reason that Taylor disassociated himself somewhat from the scene after starting work on his first album. He developed his own musical ideas, wrote the songs and recruited the musicians. He then got on with recording and producing the tracks at the studio. Apart from singing and playing rhythm plus lead guitar, he'd mastered bass guitar and keyboards, as is in evidence on the album.

Taylor worked with American guitarist Lowell George and his band Little Feat, appearing as a special guest at the Rainbow Theatre in London, and on the Waiting for Columbus album (see discography). He collaborated with French drummer Pierre Moerlen and his band Gong (Expresso II album), Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. He was present at many of the recording sessions for John Phillips' first solo album which took place in London during the second half of the 1970s. This led to Richards, Jagger and Taylor working together on some of the tracks. (After Atlantic Records pulled the plug on the project, the sessions did not result in an official release, but illegal copies of the "Half Stoned" record circulated amongst bootleg traders). Decades later the original tapes were rescued and restored, and an official release came about in 2002 under the title "Pay Pack and Follow"). In 1975 and 1976 Taylor also contributed to the soundtrack of the Nicolas Roeg film "The Man Who Fell to Earth", starring David Bowie.

In 1979, four years after he had left the Stones, Taylor's first solo album, the self-titled Mick Taylor, was released on CBS. The album met with critical acclaim but could not have come out at a worse time. Taylor's new material was rock, jazz, and Latin flavoured blues while the year 1979 was the height of the punk and new wave movement. Still, it was his only charting album on both US or Europe, reaching #119 on Billboard in early August with a stay of 5 weeks on the Top 200. The record label told Taylor he should promote the record by visiting American radio stations. Taylor, on the other hand, wanted to take a new band on the road, which he saw as the best way to introduce new audiences to his own songs, but this plan wasn't backed by the record company. Already frustrated with this situation, Taylor took some time out and deliberately kept a low profile for about a year. He had moved to the US East Coast to promote his solo record and was now living in the house where The Great Gatsby was filmed (Long Island).

In 1981 he toured Europe and America with Alvin Lee (from Ten Years After), sharing the bill with Black Sabbath. He spent most of 1982-1983 on the road with his old mentor John Mayall for the so-called Reunion Tour with John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) and Colin Allen. It was during this tour that Bob Dylan showed up backstage at The Roxy in Los Angeles because he wanted to meet Taylor.

Perhaps Taylor's second most known work came in 1983 with Bob Dylan's Infidels album, on which Taylor played with Mark Knopfler as well as Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. Taylor lived in New York throughout the decade, which turned out to be a dark period. He battled with addiction problems for part of the decade before getting back on track the second half of the 1980s and moving to Los Angeles in 1990.

At the end of the 1980s and early '90s, Taylor managed to find his way back by doing session work and touring in Europe and America with a band including Max Middleton (formerly of Jeff Beck group), Shayne Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin (now a back-up musician with the Stones). 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 (impossible for the Stones) as well as appearing at festivals has connected Taylor with an appreciative audience and lasting fanbase.

[edit] Discography

[edit] With John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

Crusade (Decca, 1967)
Diary of a Band Volume 1 & 2 (Decca, 1968)
Bare Wires (Deram, 1968)
Blues from Laurel Canyon (Decca, 1968)

Return Of The Bluesbreakers (AIM, 1985/LP, 1993/CD)
Wake Up Call (1993)
Along For The Ride (2001)
Rolling With The Blues (2003) - selection of live recordings '72-'82

[edit] With The Rolling Stones

Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969) (compilation)

Taylor plays on "Honky Tonk Women"

Let It Bleed (1969)

Taylor plays on Country Honk and Live With Me

Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! (1970)
Sticky Fingers (1971)
Hot Rocks, 1964-1971 (1972) (compilation)
Exile on Main St. (1972)
Goats Head Soup (1973)
It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974)
Made in the Shade (1975) (compilation of hits 1971-1974)
Metamorphosis (1975)

Taylor plays on "I Don't Know Why", "Jiving Sister Fanny" and "I'm Going Down".

Sucking in the Seventies (1981) (compilation of hits, album cuts and outtakes 1974-1981)
Tattoo You (1981)

Taylor plays on "Tops" as well as "Waiting on a Friend" both tracks recorded in 1973 during the Goats Head Soup sesions.

Rewind (1971-1984) (1984) (compilation of hits 1971-1983)
Singles Collection: The London Years. (1989) (compilation of singles 1963-1971)
Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones (1993) (compilation of hits 1971-1989)
Forty Licks (2002) (compilation 1964-2002)
Rarities 1971-2003 (2005)

Taylor plays on "Let It Rock" (live 1971) and the 1974 b-side "Through The Lonely Nights".

Non-Rolling Stones work with Rolling Stones members:

Pay, Pack & Follow (John Phillips) (first official release Eagle Rock, 2002)

from 1970s recording sessions in London aka "Half Stoned" sessions

produced by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

I've Got My Own Album To Do (Ronnie Wood solo album) (1974)
Now Look (Ronnie Wood solo album) (July 1975)
Talk Is Cheap (Keith Richards solo album) (1988)

[edit] With Jack Bruce

Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall (2 CD, Polydor, 2003)

[edit] Notable work with Bob Dylan

Infidels (1983)
Real Live (In Europe, 1984) (1984)
Empire Burlesque (1985)
The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3 - Rare & Unreleased 1961 -1991 (1991)

[edit] Solo discography

Mick Taylor (1979) US #119 [5 wks on top 200]
Stranger in This Town (1990)
Too Hot for Snakes (1991) (Carla Olson & Mick Taylor)
Arthur's Club-Geneve 1995 (Mick Taylor & Snowy White) (Promo CD/TV Especial)
A Stone's Throw (2000)
Coastin' Home aka Live at the 14 Below (1995) re-issued 2002

[edit] With Carla Olson

Too Hot For Snakes aka Live at the Roxy (1991 live album)
Within An Ace (1993)
Reap The Whirlwind
Special - The best of Carla Olson (1995, Virgin Records)
The Ring of Truth (2001)

[edit] Other session work

Tubular Bells Premiere (Mike Oldfield) June '73 Queen Elizabeth Hall
Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) Telecast Tubular Bells Part One and Tubular Bells Part Two. Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House Nov '73 and aired in early '74 and June '74

Note: recently repeated on BBC and included in Mike Oldfield DVD

The Tin Man Was A Dreamer (Nicky Hopkins) (1973)
Billy Preston - Live European Tour (Billy Preston) (A& M, 1974). Recorded with Stones Mobile Studio during the '73 tour. Preston opened up for the band with Mick Taylor on guitar.

released on CD (A& M - Japan, 2002)

Reggae II (Herbie Mann) (Atlantic, 1976)
Waiting for Columbus (Little Feat) (1978) double CD released 2002
Expresso II (Gong) (1978)
Alan Merrill (Alan Merrill)'s solo album (Polydor, 1985) recorded in London in 1977
Once in a Blue Moon (Gerry Groom) (1993)
Cartwheels (Anthony Thistlethwaite) (1993)
Crawfish and Caviar (Anthony Thistlethwaite)
Mick & I (2001) Miyuki & Mick Taylor
From Clarksdale to Heaven (BlueStorm, 2002) John Lee Hooker Tribute Album.
Key To Love (Debbie Davies) (Shanachie Records 2003)

Shadow Man (re-release of a Sasha album from '96) (2003)

This album has wrongly been marketed as a Mick Taylor album. It is in fact a Sasha album. Taylor was only hired as a guitarist and would not have chosen to put this album out under his own name.

[edit] Music DVD's

Blues Alive video (RCA/Columbia Pictures 1983), recorded at Capitol Theatre, NJ 1982
Jamming with the Blues Greats DVD release from the 1983 video, featuring John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Albert King, Mick Taylor, John McVie, Sippie Wallace and Junior Wells (Lightyear/Image Entertainment 2005)
The Stones in the Park Hyde Park concert video (Granada Television, 1969)

released on DVD (VCI, 2001)

Gimme Shelter (Maysles Films, 1970) music documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, shot at the Rolling Stones concerts at Madison Square Garden, NY on 27th/28th November and Altamont, CA on 6th Dec December 1969.

restored and released on DVD (Criterion, 2000)

John Mayall, the Godfather of British Blues documentary about John Mayall's life and career (Eagle Rock, 2004. Region 1: 2005)
70th Birthday Concert (Eagle Rock, 2004. Region 1: 2005). Bluesbreakers Charity Concert (Unite for Unicef) filmed in Liverpool, July 2003. John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with special guests Chris Barber, Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor.

Music DVD's - Unofficial

[edit] Filmography

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) starring David Bowie. Directed by Nicolas Roeg.

Contributed to soundtrack

The Last of the Finest (1990) directed by John Mackenzie. Assisted composer Jack Nitzsche with the moviescore
Bad City Blues (1999) directed by Michael Stevens. After the book by Tim Willocks.

Music composers: Mick Taylor and Max Middleton

[edit] Awards

Inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (with the Rolling Stones, 1989) Hall of Fame
Taylor's handprints are on Hollywood's RockWalk since 6th September, 1998. RockWalk

||==External links==

Mick Taylor Fan web site
Time waits for No One Another good fan site.

||==Wiki links==

[1] Gibson players

[edit] Guitar History

Throughout his career, Taylor has used various Gibson guitars (mostly Sunburst Les Pauls, Gibson SG's, occasionally a Firebird) and Fender Stratocasters. His first Les Paul was bought when he was still playing with The Gods (from Selmer's, London in '65). He acquired his second LP in 1967, not long after joining The Bluesbreakers (Taylor came to Olympic Studios to buy this LP from Keith Richards). This LP 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's main guitar was a Sunburst LP without a Bigsby.