Remember When: The Rolling Stones Made the Ideal Choice in Hiring Guitarist Mick Taylor

At age 20, Mick Taylor was hired to replace Brian Jones in The Rolling Stones. Compared to the charismatic, mercurial Jones, Taylor, somewhat shy and retiring, seemed like an odd fit. At least until people heard him play.

Taylor played in the band for five years before leaving just as suddenly as he was hired. Here’s the story of Taylor’s hiring and what he brought the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.

Guitarist Wanted

Brian Jones was fired by the Rolling Stones in June 1969. By that time, he was largely ineffectual at Stones’ sessions, both because of his own deterioration due to drug and alcohol, and because the band no longer trusted him as a contributor. Considering the Stones had enjoyed great success with a return to a harder-rocking, blues-based sound with their 1968 record Beggars Banquet, it made sense for them to look for somebody who could fit well into that role.

Mick Jagger asked John Mayall, whose Bluesbreakers band were practically a British institution at that point, for recommendations about whom to hire. Without hesitation, Mayall recommended Mick Taylor, who had displayed virtuosity and fearlessness in playing with the Bluesbreakers as a teenager. The Stones summoned him for an audition.

Taylor played live in the studio with the group on the track “Live with Me,” which was destined for the in-progress album Let It Bleed. He also added overdubs to “Honky Tonk Women,” which would become a smash hit single for the band.

Legend has it Stones producer Jimmy Miller jumped about in the studio with joy when he heard “Live with Me” and the interplay on guitar between Taylor and Keith Richards. But Taylor’s demeanor also helped him get the gig. Even though he had just met the band, he allegedly chastised them on that first session for wasting too much time. They quickly hired him.

On July 5, 1969, the Stones planned to debut their new lineup at a free concert in Hyde Park in London. Two days earlier, Brian Jones died unexpectedly. The shellshocked band went through with the performance anyway. What should have been a coming-out party for Taylor turned into a kind of memorial for Jones. Considering Taylor’s reluctance to stand out, he probably didn’t mind a bit.

Taylor-Made

The Stones toured America in 1969 for the first time in years, and those performances were the basis of the 1970 live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out. This was the first time many folks heard what the band sounded like with Taylor, and they heard an outfit more polished, more powerful, and more soulful than ever before. But Taylor’s true impact came when he started recording with the band.

It’s impossible to imagine the band’s 1971 masterpiece album Sticky Fingers without Taylor. From his jazzy riffing in “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” to his tasteful country fills on “Dead Flowers” to his otherworldly tangents on “Moonlight Mile,” Taylor’s versatility allowed the Jagger/Richards songwriting duo to travel along any musical avenue they wished with confidence.

Exile on Main St. followed that, and Taylor always seemed to be in the right place with the right notes in the middle of the claustrophobic mix on that record. When people mention the best Stones albums of all-time, those first two studio sets with Taylor are often fighting it out for the top spot, and deservedly so.

Taylor played on two more Stones albums and joined them on a few more tours. And then, in a sudden, shocking move, he announced his departure at the end of 1974, just a few months after the release of the album It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll.

Mick’s Emotions

At different times in his post-Stones career, Mick Taylor gave competing reasons for why he left such a plum gig. Right when it happened, there was a dispute over songwriting credits. But it seems like a buildup of different factors contributed to his departure more than any one incident.

Being a member of the Stones meant being exposed to excess, and Taylor started to worry about the long-term effects on him if he continued living that life. Personality clashes with Richards may have been an issue. Taylor has also explained he always envisioned the Stones as a temporary job, perhaps due to his discomfort in the spotlight.

In 1976, the Stones used the album Black and Blue as an excuse to audition potential Taylor replacements. Although both Harvey Mandel and Wayne Perkins acquitted themselves well on the record, Ronnie Wood got the job, in large part because of how well his personality meshed with the others. And it’s hard to argue with that choice, as Wood is till going strong with the group almost 40 years later.

But it’s still fair to wonder what the Stones might have sounded like had Mick Taylor stuck around. He was the right choice at the right time. And his span in the group left more than enough momentous performances to make up for how quickly he departed.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by RB/Redferns