Thanks for the information, Lightnin'.

One riff played by Ron Wood: I could not guess what tone belongs to the guitar player I hear. It could be any player.

One note played by Mick Taylor:I immediately recognize the tone, it's Taylor.
That nails it to me..

Interesting MT interview. Posted on Rocks Off by Stoneshead from this site.
[www.classicbands.com]

Edward Twing - You make good explanations on the subject!

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sweetcharmedlife
Interesting MT interview. Posted on Rocks Off by Stoneshead from this site.
[www.classicbands.com]

Thanks for the link!

I really liked the quote by Jimmy Page. It seemingly is a well-known quote but it has somehow escaped my attention.

When you landed that gig with the Stones, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin remarked "Mick Taylor is an extremely fortunate man, kind of like a fellow who wins the lottery. All of a sudden he's worth a million dollars. No, maybe more. But, he's a nice fellow."

I really like because is really shows how much the Stones were appreciated by thdir hottest contempories at the time, and coming out of Page's mouth makes it even more enjoyable. (And this at the time when Zeppelin was in their way to make history, and the Stones have been relatively unprofilic for two years as Taylor later comments.)

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-31 12:20 by Doxa.

This woman is NOT a fan of MT. Has anyone seen this? MT's daughter looks cute.
thebeachcomber.org/mcminamin.htm


The McMinamins—A True Rock and Roll Family

By Chris Manson April 19, 2007 Issue

This started out being a piece about bluesician Hans McMinamin’s School of Rock—makes sense, considering they show the Richard Linklater film of the same name on TNT every other night. But when I get to Hans’ place round the back and upstairs at the Shores Shopping Center, I notice three articles from previous issues of The Beachcomber that featured McMinamin in some form or other. Not that I don’t appreciate seeing my articles posted around town — see also Blue Orleans, my absolute favorite restaurant on Earth.

But Hans really wants to draw my attention to his wife Susan’s recording career. A singer of considerable force and a first-rate interpreter, Susan McMinamin has often been overshadowed by the men in her life — like onetime Rolling Stones guitarist and ex-husband Mick Taylor. It was through Taylor that Hans first met his partner in music and life. Susan was six months pregnant with her daughter Emma—“big as a house and touring with Mick’s band.” During a stop along the border of Germany and the Netherlands, Hans and his blues mentor Ziggy Christmann approached Susan. The two men had driven a long way hoping for an audience with the man who played all those great guitar parts on Let It Bleed, Exile on Main Street, and, er, Goats Head Soup.

“Mick said he didn’t want to see them. He told me to tell them he had gas or something,” Susan says. Later, Susan got Hans and Christmann backstage passes. The rest, I suppose, is history. Hans gave up a 23-year gig with his German blues band to be with Susan and Emma in the United States. Emma joins her mother on the CD on a duet of Rademes Song from Elton John’s Aida. “Emma can pick up anything,” Susan says. “She’s got that raw talent thing.”

Emma’s biological father Taylor contributes some slide guitar to Another Place in Time, a collection of seven originals and a half dozen very interesting cover choices. Other guest musicians include Guitar Crusher — a frequent visitor to this area — Rick Derringer, Alvin Lee, and the Tower of Power horn section. Hans played most of the guitar, bass and piano on the recording.

“We were playing in Berlin with Crusher on New Year’s Eve 2006,” Susan recalls. “Willie Jackson, a former Motown producer was there, and he knew a lot of the old blues guys. He said to me, ‘I have a feeling you’ve spent your whole career supporting men.’” Jackson offered to finance a Susan McMinamin album. Hans produced, directed and coordinated the whole thing after Jackson failed to come through on the money end. “(Jackson) was a catalyst, and everyone’s excited about the finished product, so we’re not complaining,” Susan says.

Adds Hans: “The album was a very quick thing. We had the worst situation at the time. By the time we had the studio scheduled, Susan’s mom was very ill.” Nonetheless, they managed to lay down some terrific tracks. “It goes back and forth with different styles—heavy rock, Led Zeppelin kind of stuff. I worked to see if I could transcribe I’m Not That Girl (from the musical Wicked) from orchestra to guitar. I’m not a big fan of musicals, but I like albums where you go from one song to the next and say, ‘Wow! They can do that, too!’ Commercially, it might not be a success…”

“But who cares?” Susan interrupts. The entire project was recorded in about a week. The McMinamins hope to put a band together to support the album next year. They are currently shopping the disc to some of the European blues labels. Susan also plans to teach vocals at the School of Rock. Hans currently provides instruction on guitar, keyboards, bass and harmonica to students ranging in age from six to 80.

Susan was drawn into the worlds of theater and music when she joined a government-supported youth theater group in Orlando. “It was part of a program for the arts that supported underprivileged kids. One of the other people in the group was Wesley Snipes. We wrote our own shows and musicals.” The group performed at the opening of the Orlando International Airport, appeared at Disney World, and “anywhere else that would take us.” The Reagan administration pretty much did away with funding for the arts, and soon the young performers went their separate ways.

“I was 16 when I lied my way into a rock band,” Susan says. “I’d overheard this group saying they needed a singer that night, and I got the gig.” In addition to her love of musical theater, she got good exposure to rock through secret late-night viewings of Wolfman Jack’s Midnight Special television program with her brother. Susan once told a teacher she intended to marry Alice Cooper. She loved Styx and still has a great admiration for Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. “They’re the only girls that can rock out and be feminine. They always seemed to have a sweet, gentle D.W. Griffith starlet quality, but they wrote some pretty intricate stuff.”

She toured with an Orlando band called Trimaris that opened for acts like Molly Hatchet, Pat Travers, and the Outlaws. “I was only 17, but they were all wonderful to me,” Susan says.

Hans still plays at least four nights a week, mostly at Pandora’s in Grayton Beach and the Old Florida Fish House in Seagrove Beach. Of course, Susan often joins him on stage. “The goal between us is she’s a great singer and I’m a decent guitarist, so let’s do something,” Hans sa



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-08 07:05 by IceGiant.

Why isn't she a fan of MT? I don't see any bad feelings expressed in that article. Taylor even plays in her husband's record... And if a man has gas, well, what one can do...

- Doxa

Doxa,

Maybe I am reading too much into it, Woman's intuition .

Also I didn't know he had a wife named Susan.

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IceGiant
Doxa,

Maybe I am reading too much into it, Woman's intuition .

Also I didn't know he had a wife named Susan.

Yeah, who knows. I didn't know anything of Susan, either. Seemingly Taylor's 'affairs' are not hot tabloid stuff. So thanks sharing it, IceGiant,

- Doxa

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IceGiant
Doxa,

Maybe I am reading too much into it, Woman's intuition .

Also I didn't know he had a wife named Susan.

That's probably because he didn't.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-19 23:21 by Lightnin'.

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Lightnin'
That's probably because he didn't. They had a child in 1996 from a short affair which ended on bad terms. Ms McMinamin met MT in a hotel bar in London while on a cruise of Europe with her father. She got his address from his manager and started writing letters to invite him for a visit. Taylor declined. She came to England to pursue him (arrived on his doorstep unannounced). Taylor had doubts about the relationship from the start but because she got pregnant he tried to do the honourable thing. It didn't work out and she left to Florida (without telling him) while he was on tour, taking their baby daughter with her, as well as most of the furniture. Taylor went into a major depression after this. They were never married.

The tragedy of being famous. People tend to think that being famous is great, but it isn't. People develop some kind of fantasy picture of the person they idolise, and get very dissapointed to find out their hero is just an ordinairy human being and not that image created solemly for commercial ends.

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Lightnin'

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IceGiant
Doxa,

Maybe I am reading too much into it, Woman's intuition .

Also I didn't know he had a wife named Susan.

That's probably because he didn't. They had a child in 1996 from a short affair which ended on bad terms. Ms McMinamin met MT in a hotel bar in London while on a cruise of Europe with her father. She got his address from his manager and started writing letters to invite him for a visit. Taylor declined. She came to England to pursue him (arrived on his doorstep unannounced). Taylor had doubts about the relationship from the start but because she got pregnant he tried to do the honourable thing. It didn't work out and she left to Florida (without telling him) while he was on tour, taking their baby daughter with her, as well as most of the furniture. Taylor went into a major depression after this. They were never married.

As far as I know MT hasn't also contact with his first child (with Rosie, his first (and only?) wife. I don't know the name of the child and that's also not important. I'm not interested in those details, but the overal fact is imo that MT didn't have a very lucky private life (to use an understatement). Musically he had some bad luck as well, because he didn't profit from his quitting the Stones. I'm not well informed, but I mean to know that MT had (and still has?) quite some addiction problems, drugs, booze, eating. I think that he's a very kind and maybe too soft a man. But perhaps that's only my imagination because I don't know him personally of course. But I can't help feeling sorry for the Master Guitarist everytime I hear him play and see his pictures. Look at that Milano DVD 1970, it moves me to see him play that way, can't explain it but it makes me feel sad.

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kleermaker
But I can't help feeling sorry for the Master Guitarist everytime I hear him play and see his pictures. Look at that Milano DVD 1970, it moves me to see him play that way, can't explain it but it makes me feel sad.

I feel the same,his playing is always sentimental and straight from the heart. He look sad most of the time..like an unlucky child in a way....

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kleermaker
As far as I know MT hasn't also contact with his first child (with Rosie, his first (and only?) wife. I don't know the name of the child and that's also not important. I'm not interested in those details, but the overal fact is imo that MT didn't have a very lucky private life (to use an understatement). Musically he had some bad luck as well, because he didn't profit from his quitting the Stones. I'm not well informed, but I mean to know that MT had (and still has?) quite some addiction problems, drugs, booze, eating. I think that he's a very kind and maybe too soft a man. But perhaps that's only my imagination because I don't know him personally of course. But I can't help feeling sorry for the Master Guitarist everytime I hear him play and see his pictures. Look at that Milano DVD 1970, it moves me to see him play that way, can't explain it but it makes me feel sad.

Kleermaker, you should be careful believing things you read. Particularly when it comes to tabloid stuff like the last two pieces the Daily Mail did on Taylor. The authors of these reports refer to "interviews" with MT while in reality they were never given one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-19 23:22 by Lightnin'.

Thanks Lightnin', you and Gripweed know the most about the man behind the music. I don't believe everything I read as you can see in my former post. I said "as far as I know" and "imo" and "I'm not well informed" and "(I) mean to know" and "(MT) still has (?)" and "but perhaps that's my imagination" etc. That seems careful enough to me.

But that feeling I mentioned in my last two sentences I still have and that won't disappear. That's a question of feeling and intuition. Both have seldom deceived me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-09 00:39 by kleermaker.

Kleermaker - I did notice you made mention that you were in doubt about some of your own perceptions. There are certain assertions about Taylor that are now widespread, despite the fact they are erroneous. Obviously, false reports in tabloids have done much to facilitate this.
So when I see these false notions repeated (even with a question mark attached) I feel it's appropriate to point out where the traps are located that the unsuspecting reader will fall victim to, unless they are warned in advance.
Basically, I'm just trying to steer you (and others that care to know what's real) through a minefield of misinformation...

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Lightnin'
Kleermaker - I did notice you made mention that you were in doubt about some of your own perceptions. There are certain assertions about Taylor that are now widespread, despite the fact they are erroneous. Obviously, false reports in tabloids have done much to facilitate this.
So when I see these false notions repeated (even with a question mark attached) I feel it's appropriate to point out where the traps are located that the unsuspecting reader will fall victim to, unless they are warned in advance.
Basically, I'm just trying to steer you (and others that care to know what's real) through a minefield of misinformation...

That's just fine, Lightnin'. I'm aware of the negative assertions about MT. Many people think he's in a (very) bad physical condition. They say that he's way too fat and are sure that he has an alcohol problem, just like Ron Wood. An interview in some English 'paper' this year and added photographs of his assumed car and house but also of MT himself lifting up a glass of ? has contributed to those assumptions and opinions. And as long as MT himself keeps silent they will only grow I think.

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kleermaker
That's just fine, Lightnin'. I'm aware of the negative assertions about MT...
...but also of MT himself lifting up a glass of ? has contributed to those assumptions and opinions. And as long as MT himself keeps silent they will only grow I think.

In the photo you described, taken during a break on a German tour, MT is holding a paper cup filled with coffee. The "interview" you refer to (as presented by the D. Mail) was NOT an interview, but just a story they made up.
Actually this is a good example of the way the tabloids work. All kinds of things are implied, except for the truth. The guy responsible for that last trash piece was hounding MT for a long time and tried to collect material he could use to write a "riches to rags" story. The red tops in England love to break people down this way.
The thing with Taylor is that he didn't set out to become someone famous, he simply wanted to play the guitar to the best of his ability after he became intrigued by music as a teenager.
You see some "celebrities" nowadays that will do anything to get their picture in the paper, even though their message is meaningless and empty. Taylor is completely the opposite and therefore remains quite an enigmatic figure. The media attention that comes with being a member of a band which is recognised around the world is not something he craves. He doesn't really trust journalists and doesn't like intrusions of his privacy.

IceGiant, your female brain detected something was "off" in the story from the local Florida paper. And the basic summary of events given here may have served as confirmation that your intuition was not completely wrong.

In short: not the most fortunate twist of fate in MT's life.
However, the mindset and motives of this female were pretty unusual (as you could not help but notice yourself) .

I don't think you can draw any conclusions about other romantic liaisons MT has had in his life. This one experience left him pretty disillusioned and must have taught him to be more discerning about who to trust.
Most people don't spend 20 or 30 years as a one-dimensional figure. Someone with one overriding character flaw which is causing them to be drawn to the same type of woman over and over again.
As you can probably imagine, Taylor's life has not exactly been predictable like that. He has met and befriended people from all walks of life, lived in many different places and has learned a thing or two from his interesting experiences.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-19 23:24 by Lightnin'.

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I find it harder to get out, there are no indoor tennis courts in Diss. I'm not bad at tennis. I beat her." (“No he didn't," she insists)

So rather than focus on all the gossip and unpleasanties, how about something important? Such as, could you please post an updated tennis picture and his guitar string heights at the 12th fret?

Thanks

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kleermaker

I think that he's a very kind and maybe too soft a man. But perhaps that's only my imagination because I don't know him personally of course.

Well, I can confirm this because I met him a few years ago and we talked with each other quite normally. He is a very friendly but rather timid guy. It was nice meeting him, and if a friend who was too impressed at meeting Mick Taylor had not urged me to go I could imagine that we could have had a longer interesting conversation. (No romantic feelings involved here - I am male).

Lighthin', no one is one-dimensional, but often we experience others like that whilst they aren't.

As for MT, he were/is thus also not one-dimensional, but I can't help thinking of him as a personality like Mozart must have been (which doesn't imply that I compare him musically to Mozart!). But he seems not conscious of himself, as if he in a certain sense isn't aware of himself and doesn't think about himself. But there's something sad about/around him. He was a bit of a prodigy child, like Mozart was one, but of course less than Mozart. That must have influenced him strongly. Playing with the Stones at 20/21, Altamont. He expresses himself by his music, again, like Mozart did, though at another level. Through his music we can hear some of his sadness and melancholy, especially in some Stones-songs (which says also a lot about the quality of those songs). Look at his behaviour on stage during his Stones period, it has something autistic and is fascinating and sad at the same time.

To me MT is the most interesting of all those who ever were/are a Rolling Stone, not in the least place because his emotional way of playing. You have to have a musical antenna for that. True Taylorists have one.

Well said......real Kleemakerism

__________________________

Taylor does have a talent to convey profound emotions through his playing. This is an ability he already had as a teenager, so it can't really be explained by the hardship or pain he endured in his own life.
(Although he practiced playing guitar for up to 8 hours as a child).

It seems that from the start Taylor was in touch with the suffering in this world.
Later on, let's say from the mid 80's onwards, you could argue he'd really earned the right to play the blues.

It's true he's self effacing and doesn't regard himself as someone important or special.
"Feeling insignificant ain't no bad thing" (Lost in the Desert).
In other words: very different approach from many vain and self-centered celebs.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-28 05:57 by Lightnin'.

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Lightnin'

MT actually finds it quite strange that people are fascinated by him and want to know about his personal life. So when paparazzi with long lenses show up and try to score his picture (when he's not at work and wants to be left alone), he doesn't understand what they're after.

What to think about Jagger:" I don't care what they write about me on page 10,as long as my face is on the frontpage"

didn't realize that taylor was working on sainthood credentials.

You said: Stuck with Ronnie. Ronnie Wood is a great guitarist. He is an equal to Taylor and possibly even better. We are not stuck with Ronnie. We are blessed with Ronnie.

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flilflam
Ronnie Wood is a great guitarist. He is an equal to Taylor and possibly even better.

That is of course your opinion. So why do you think Woody is better than Mick? Just curious...

Taylor v. Wood. Met both of them and both are very nice guys. MT and RW are fine guitar players, however, one only needs to listen to the guitar solos in Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker and SFTD in concert and the music will do the talking. Ronnie's butchering of the solo in Heartbreaker in concert makes me wanna break something. OOF!!! If you play guitar, you know what I mean.

On the next Stones record, turn Ronnie up and let him rip or bring in MT as a session man. The muting of guitar solos and riffs post Taylor have left many of the post Taylor Stones recordings missing that special something.

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slew
Can the Mick Taylor hero worship PLEASE STOP!!!!

Never!!

PS: he was better than Wood, you know ;-)