Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have been considered the driving forces behind The Rolling Stones for the past six decades, not only because they are the only two original members in the band, but also because of their successful songwriting partnership. However, none of the albums they released would sound the same without the contributions of other important musicians who were part of the band.
One of them was Mick Taylor, the guitarist who replaced Brian Jones after the band fired their original lead guitarist. He played on many of the band’s classic records, and over the years, Keith Richards talked about him, sharing his opinion on Taylor as a guitar player.
Keith Richards’ opinion on Mick Taylor as a guitarist
Keith Richards confirmed many times during the past decades that his favorite Rolling Stones albums were especially the ones made with Mick Taylor. So he was and continues to be a big fan of his ex-bandmate and even said he was in awe sometimes when he listened to him play. “By May (1969 after firing Brian Jones) we were playing in his replacement, Mick Taylor, at Olympic Studios—playing him in on ‘Honky Tonk Women,’ on which his overdub is there for posterity. No surprise to us, how good he was. He seemed just to step in naturally at the time. We had all heard Mick, and we knew him because he’d played with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.”
“Everybody was looking at me, because I was the other guitar player. But my position was, I’d play with anybody. We could only find out by playing together. And we did the most brilliant stuff together, some of the most brilliant stuff the Stones ever did. Everything was there in his playing—the melodic touch, a beautiful sustain and a way of reading a song.”
Keith Richards continued:
Richards said Taylor opened “beautiful possibilities” to the Rolling Stones
Mick Taylor joined the band in 1969, being part of the albums “Let It Bleed” (1969), “Sticky Fingers” (1971), “Exile on Main St.” (1972), “Goats Head Soup” (1973) and “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll” (1974). Those are some of the most successful and praised albums the band ever released. Keith Richards, for example, said a couple of times that “Exile on Main St.” was his favorite one.
Answering fans’ questions on his Youtube channel in 2017, Richards talked about Taylor. He said he opened “beautiful possibilities” to the Rolling Stones. “Taylor opened up some beautiful possibilities. Especially in recording because I would just lay down 3 or 4 different rhythm guitars. Mick was very much a solo player. Incredible melodic and sensitivity about his playing. Most of those early Stone records, you know, the big ones.”
“He’s probably 6, 7 maybe 8 sometimes, guitars on these tracks. But you wouldn’t know that. When I play guitar I wanna play with another guy. If he is providing the other side of the coin, if I’m laying down that rhythm then the complements that come from the other guitar then will be moving into the rhythm guitar.,” Keith Richards said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Richards said that even Mick Taylor can’t explain why he decided to leave the Rolling Stones
“Wyman, he mainly developed this fear of travelling. Like, what, after going round the world 10 times?! I don’t know if that was the whole reason. When I ask Mick Taylor that question, he says, ‘It’s a mystery to me. I don’t have any idea… Put it down to my old lady at the time.’ I said, ‘That won’t wash with me!’ (Long laugh) I think he believed that he had the extra step to go, career-wise. And being in the Stones you get big ideas. You want to be a producer or a writer. But then, ‘What have you written in the last 15 years?’ ‘Nothing, really…’ Taylor’s a funny sod, but I do love him. He’s his own worst enemy,” Keith Richards said.
Since he left the band, Taylor reunited with them a couple of times on stage, more recently in 2012 and 2014. After leaving the band, he had recorded two solo studio albums and worked with other artists. Some of them are Bob Dylan, Carla Olson, Jack Bruce, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards (on their solo albums).