Mick Taylor’s stint with The Rolling Stones is considered the best period for the band in terms of their musical proficiency and sonic output. However, in December 1974, Taylor quit the group, leaving the rock icons without their most technically gifted guitarist.
Taylor joined the band in 1969 after Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had fired Brian Jones for his drug dependency. He’d been playing with John Mayall up until that point, and when Jones and the Stones parted ways, Mayall suggested Taylor to the group, and he made his live debut at a free gig in Hyde Park, London, on July 4th, 1969.
It was not just the public opinion that Taylor – who played on Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street – was part of the best Rolling Stones lineup. Jagger later claimed that Taylor made “a big contribution” to providing the Stones with their most accomplished sound. “He made it very musical,” Jagger said. “He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don’t have now. Neither Keith nor Ronnie Wood plays that kind of style. It was very good for me to work with him. I could sit down with Mick, and he would play very fluid lines against my vocals. Some people think that’s the best version of the band that existed.”
While Taylor’s accomplished guitar playing gave the Stones a new edge they had not had before, Taylor appeared to be less than impressed by the rest of the talent in the band. Discussing his first week of rehearsals with the band, Taylor later said: “I just couldn’t believe how bad they sounded. Their timing was awful. They sounded like a typical bunch of guys in a garage— playing out of tune and too loudly. I thought, ‘How is it possible that this band can make hit records?’”
Taylor persisted with the band, and as happens for many musicians who play with someone better than themselves, they improved, and the evidence was in the recordings and the live shows. However, at a party on December 12th, 1974, Taylor informed Jagger that he was departing the group and then just walked out.
There appear to be several reasons why Taylor left the Stones. One of them is the classic of writing credits, although, according to Taylor, that was not the primary motivation. “I was a bit peeved about not getting credit for a couple of songs, but that wasn’t the whole reason,” he said. “I guess I just felt like I had enough. I decided to leave and start a group with Jack Bruce. I never really felt, and I don’t know why, but I never felt I was gonna stay with the Stones forever, even right from the beginning.”
It also came to light that Taylor had been caught up in the lifestyle that playing in the Stones had afforded him, and he had begun to develop a heroin addiction. As such, he found that the only option to get back on track in terms of his personal life was to leave one of the most illustrious gigs on the circuit.
