Well...did he have one when he left the Rolling Stones in 1974?

I don't want to get into the argument why he left, why he shouldn't have left (I'm glad he did), he made the biggest mistake of his life (not)...that ship has sailed and sailed long ago. Most people are understanding even if they don't agree with his decision, others make very cruel and unfair remarks.

I haven't read anything that leads me to believe that he had a manager at that time, which I feel was a huge mistake if that was the case. It seems that after the Jack Bruce Band disbanded...well, MT bailed on them...he was sort of like a fish out of water for a long time. I personally feel he was at the end of his rope and probably a respite was necessary, but to the masses, at least, it seemed as though he fell off the face of the earth. Just doesn't seem to me he really knew what the hell he was doing other than primarily dreaming about a great career as a solo artist. I think someone on this board in response to an interview called his remarks "high-ideas". Yes, he was plugging away working on his first album, which I really enjoy, but it was a very crucial period in his career; a turning point if you will. For that reason, I feel he should have hauled arse a bit more. Got the word out that he was still on fire. I would like to believe that a good manager would have given him that advice. Not surprisingly, due to his age and other factors, he wasn't yet fully aware of his strengths and limitations. We all go through it; it's called maturity. Having been hired by two influential and hot bands with relative ease (which was deserved) he missed out on the struggle, being on the streets trying to put his own band together, dealing with rejection, being responsible for himself, etc. Very important lessons. When it came time to doing just that, he was ill-prepared not to mention that he had some other serious problems at that point to deal with, as well.

I can't help but wonder if he had his act together during that period in his life, and had proper guidance, what could have been. He certainly has the talent!!

Once again, sorry for the long post when I only had a very simple question.

He had big time drug problems at the time. his wife at the time
was his manager...

Not all managers are good...

He had plans to record a solo album before and for awhile after he joined them.

The reservations Keith had about someone like Clapton joining kind of played out with Taylor. Different fame wise, but not so much with regards to their mind set about bands.

Well, I knew about the drugs, of course. I had a feeling that his wife was managing his career for better or for worse, right from the beginning. I believe her brother, Robin Millar, played a role, as well.

Very strange how these kind of weird theories are plucked out of thin air.

Hot stuff: His wife ? Taylor wasn't married when he left the band.
And his girlfriend never proclaimed to be involved with his career. Neither did Taylor ever say she was.

Bellajane: You state that MT was dreaming of a solo career. That was not the case at all. It is well documented that Taylor did not see himself as a solo artist. He has clarified this many times in interviews.
He had been getting increasingly frustrated with the problems in the band for a while. So when the invitation from Jack Bruce came up, MT thought this would be an opportunity to do something different and perhaps a little more challenging on a musical level.
However, he did not leave the band to start a solo career. I think he had hoped for a longer and more fruitful collaboration with Jack Bruce.

True---Rose Millan was only his girlfriend then..They didn't marry until after he left the Stones..

I know he didn't leave the Rolling Stones nor the Jack Bruce Band to start a solo career. He was rehearsing several months with Jack Bruce before he left the Stones, and he was pinning his hopes that the Jack Bruce Band would be successful. He also was hoping that they could put out an album and tour the US. But sadly those plans went awry for many well-documented reasons, which was a terrible blow. It's too bad as I thought they were excellent. I have the Jack Bruce Band Live '75 cd.

After Jack Bruce, I think Taylor was at a crossroads, and being a solo artist was not entirely off the table. He released his self-titled album in 1979 which was referred to has his solo debut. If he had financial backing from the record company, he would have gone on the road promoting that album and a possibly his solo career would have emerged. At least it sounds to me like he was seriously putting his feelers out in that direction.

SundanceKid,

I respectfully disagree with your remarks about weird theories. Who cares when MT got married...his girlfriend, wife, significant other at the time had a profound influence on his decisions. Who was he confiding in then, who was giving him advice if not her? Not a professional manager as it appears. One of the reasons...just one of the many reasons why he said he left the Rolling Stones, was that marital problems may have colored his decision. You can interpret that any way you please.

From various remarks made by Nick Kent, Keith Richards, and Robert Greenfield, for example; one would get the impression that Rose Millar Taylor was definitely not on the outside looking in. She was a very bright, strong-willed woman who absolutely loved the rock 'n roll lifestyle. She was hardly passive as far as her husband's career was concerned, and undoubtedly thought she was doing the best by him. Plus, Mick Taylor is a gentleman and never has spoken an unkind word about the ladies in his life. I respect him for that.

I too have always been curious about Rose Taylor. Keith mentions in LIFE that he thinks Rose may have had something to do with Mick T. leaving the band.

That's right. They both were very young people caught up in this wild and crazy lifestyle and who knows if they knew what they were doing. It was fun for awhile!

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Bellajane
That's right. They both were very young people caught up in this wild and crazy lifestyle and who knows if they knew what they were doing. It was fun for awhile!

I doubt if Taylor had much 'fun' at that time. I recall a passage from CSB where he walks a bit lost. Musically he was at the right place at the right time, but socially and psychologically not so much. Regarding Rose Taylor there's also the rumour she had an affair with Jagger. Anyway, my personal impression is that Taylor never has been that strong a personality. He seemingly always needed a strong female character behind him. Which is not such a good basis to operate imo.

Mick Taylor left the Stones simply because Bob "Bubka" Watkins offered him a Sales Position with his company IPC located in Louisville Ky. At an early age the young Mick had fancied himself a sales pro with a large company in the states. Alas his dream had finally come true. The position offered Mick a stable salary, commissions on his sales and a solid working schedule that fit Micks lifestyle at the time. For several years Mick led the Sales Team as Sales Pro of the month offering him additional bonuses and leading to a fine sales career that spanned over 30 years until Mick retired in 2005. On April 27 of that year Mick hade been presented the prestigious Glinder Award, honoring him as a top Sales Pro with a lifetime full of sales acheivements for IPC, Jagger and Richards were in attendance at the retirement party, on that day Taylor had been quoted as saying that "my early days with the Stones were great but it is my carreer at IPC that I am most proud of".

I do agree with your remarks, kleermaker, very intuitive. I heard MT refer to his second wife, Valerie, as his manager and protector. So it does prove that he sought advice and guidance from his women. Why not! Maybe I'm old fashioned, but as a lady, I kind of want my guy to do his fair share of protecting (forget the managing part). Plus I thought that affair nonsense with Jagger was just a nasty rumor and was debunked.

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Bellajane
I do agree with your remarks, kleermaker, very intuitive. I heard MT refer to his second wife, Valerie, as his manager and protector. So it does prove that he sought advice and guidance from his women. Why not! Maybe I'm old fashioned, but as a lady, I kind of want my guy to do his fair share of protecting (forget the managing part). Plus I thought that affair nonsense with Jagger was just a nasty rumor and was debunked.

That's my main principle: feeling and intuition are the most important things.

I think Taylor still has the traits of a young boy, seeking protection at 'strong' women who behave like a dominant mother. Well, I don't want to psychologize too much, but it makes me think of a mother-complex. Asking your woman for advice is a good thing to me, but you have to stand on your own two feet and not behave like a rebellious kid which also is a trait of Taylor, according to my intuition. I always must think of those pics of him from the 1970 tour, the way he looks. Rather isolated and directed into himself (if that's proper English). His image as the kind, humble, friendly and subdued guy is much too one dimensional. Your man or woman as your manager is in itself okay, be it that you yourself finally make the main decisions concerning your own career, certainly as a musician. Anyway, I think Taylor is beside a special musician also an interesting personality.

a book would clear everything up.

c'mon MT ..if Keith can do it so can you..

None of us are one-dimensional creatures. How boring if we were! MT was all of the traits you mentioned and more. He even said that he was quiet onstage when he was a Rolling Stone, but he could be argumentative offstage especially about songwriting credits. Can't blame him for standing up for his rights, really. He and Jack Bruce had terrible fights. At one concert Mick Taylor stood with his back to the audience refusing to play except during the encore. What a little shite. If he tried doing this when he was a Rolling Stones he would have been a dead man for sure. But, mostly I've heard positive remarks about his personality and I hope they're true. Many people have had positive experiences when meeting him; some have not.

I don't think it's anything unusual for him being a rebellious kid in his late teens and early twenties. It's pretty much par for the course, especially considering the lifestyle he was living during that time. Nothing against John Mayall, but I don't know how many parents would have allowed their teenager to go on tour with him. Either it was the case that his parents trusted him and let him do what he wanted as his first wife maintained, they may have felt it was an opportunity of a lifetime to make something of himself, or he threw a tantrum and they let him go. In any case, what could they do really? Luckily, the John Mayall experience worked out well, but it could have been a disaster if he had hooked up with some nasty, decadent people.

So MT went from his parents' home into John Mayall's care. John Mayall was a teacher and protector, so he was still being parented to some degree, if you could call it that! However, the Rolling Stones were a different animal altogether...I bet Mick Taylor's parents died a 1,000 deaths when they heard he joined them. These guys were absolutely despised by parents and the Establishment, and the Stones liked it that way. I think this is where Mick Taylor lost his way. Crossfire hurricane..how about a F6 tornado. There was chaos, there was drama. He had to survive somehow, but just never seemed to have had the chance to develop the confidence and independence that he needed to grow up. Maybe his childlike nature is part of his genius personality, who knows. I tend to feel drugs played a huge part in this, as well. From a physiological perspective, a man's brain is not fully matured until the age of 25 (a woman at age 18)...but during this period from let's say age 20 onwards we know Taylor was using very dangerous, addictive drugs. He had a voracious appetite for cocaine. Arrested development; is it a myth? As I said before, I think his life would have been markedly different if he didn't indulge in so many drugs in the first place or got the help he needed at a young age. I think he would be a happier fellow.

Doesn't he have a problem right now with a guy who claims to be his manager? People have posted here that his former manager is running his webpage and other social media without Mick's permission. The guy (not a woman) used to be a drummer for one of his solo bands. I don't think the problem is lack of management, but more poor choices of management.

Managers aren't miracle workers. The artist has to do the work, but then give a percentage of their income to the manager, no matter how much or how little the manager does, or how competently/incompetently. Also, once the artist decides to leave the manager, it can be difficult if the manager decides he or she doesn't want to stop being that person's manager. There can be claims on getting a percentage of future income, because the manager can argue that the person wouldn't have secured the jobs without the groundwork the manager laid, or that the relationship can't be ended for some other reasons.

It's a two-edged sword, because there have been examples of good managers helping careers and leaving gracefully if asked, but there are plenty more examples of the manager making it impossible for their client to leave or taking more than their fair share, or both. The Stones themselves experienced that with Allen Klein, whose family still controls their early recordings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-08-05 22:36 by marianna.

A lot of things in the band probably pissed him off and he held it in until he finally had enough. When he got to his boiling point, he quit. He has said that they were quite full of themselves.
I am glad that this is not the case any longer. They've grown up.
Mick is probably able to speak up now, whereas before he was more introverted so instead of saying what bothered him and dealing with it, he held it in.
I'm sure he touched on that stuff in rehab.
He should write a book, but then again, he would have to deal with that stuff again. It's better left in the past.

He definitely should write a book. It's long overdue. It would certainly clear up a lot of misconceptions about his life, as well. Plus I want to read about his younger years pre-Rolling Stones. About learning the guitar, buying blues albums in record shops in London, his experiences in bands as a teenager, and his life as a Bluesbreaker. Touring the US, living in Laurel Canyon, gigs at The Whiskey..he lived rock 'n roll history and his story needs to be recorded. C'mon MT..get with the program!

Mick is better in other people's bands than his own, and is a good rock player in spite of his seeming propensity for blues and jazz fusion. He could have played with a lot of bands, but either turned them down or never got offers from bands that would have been a good fit. He would have been good playing with someone such as Bryan Ferry, for instance, whenever Ferry wasn't getting along with Phil Manzanera. Phil's style is in some ways similar to Mick's.

I'd like to know more about the tour with Bob..

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Bellajane
None of us are one-dimensional creatures.

Of course we aren't! But usually we look at others as if they were and sometimes we even experience them as such, because it makes things 'easy' so to speak.

I like the rest of your post (not quoted here) too, but I myself have a bit trouble too much psychologizing. Anyway, I think today's Taylor basically still has those boyish traits, the foundation of those probably lying in his childhood. I don't know nothing about his parents, so I can't say anything about their reaction when young Mick took off with good old John. Interesting though that is was just 'father' Mayall who advised the Stones to take Mick over (because he himself no longer needed a lead guitarist). Musically he was totally right, but psychologically totally wrong indeed.

It seems that Taylor has been in rehab recently, for a short period of time. To successfully finish a rehab much more time is needed, because it's the underlying problems that have to be solved in order to be able to master any addiction. I don't want to speculate about Taylor's private life, but he seems a sensitive guy, although he also shows some slight autistic behaviour to me, when I watch him interacting on stage, during his first tenure with the Stones as well as during this last tour. Remember his genuflecting? Well, that says much I guess. As if he begged father Jagger and mother Richards for forgiveness. Very interesting. At the same time I saw that special don't-mess- with-me-look in his face when he was doing his solo part on the Glastonbury Knocking. But there were also some signs of shakiness when he did his last Sway solo. To be short: Taylor still has some work to do, besides practising the guitar!

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duke richardson
I'd like to know more about the tour with Bob..

I remember an interview with Taylor (2001) in which he was extremely positive about Bob as a human being and as a musician/lyricist.

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duke richardson
I'd like to know more about the tour with Bob..

Mick Taylor played on Infidels which was a minor hit for Bob. The 1984 band was put together in the spring of 1984 in a very haphazard manner as per usual with his Bobness. The drummer wasn't decided until late. Rehearsals continued upon arrival in Italy and Mick Taylor told Bob he was unprofessional. Bob fired him but had to reinstate him as the tour was imminent (He did not have Charlie Sexton available to step in at a moment's notice like he does now). At the first show the first person to speak from the stage was Mick Taylor possibly aghast at Bob's habit of not necessarily addressing the audience. Taylor was a competent band leader but not particularly adept at adjusting to Bob's quirky approach to performing.

The genuflecting and the kissy face behavior was disturbing. Whatever happened to our morose guitar hero!! Can you imagine what would have happened if he kissed Keith on the 1972 tour? Maybe he's made peace with his past, or maybe he genuinely needs the money. He said that he was back in his element, but I recall his complaints about being bored onstage when he was a Rolling Stone. I can't figure him out.

All kidding aside, I hope he will continue with his rehab program. It's been a long time coming and he really needs the help.

As far as John Mayall referring Taylor to the Stones, that always bothered me. He probably thought he was helping the kid out but, then again, he knew his personality type, didn't he realize he was sending him into the lions den?

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stewedandkeefed

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duke richardson
I'd like to know more about the tour with Bob..

Mick Taylor played on Infidels which was a minor hit for Bob. The 1984 band was put together in the spring of 1984 in a very haphazard manner as per usual with his Bobness. The drummer wasn't decided until late. Rehearsals continued upon arrival in Italy and Mick Taylor told Bob he was unprofessional. Bob fired him but had to reinstate him as the tour was imminent (He did not have Charlie Sexton available to step in at a moment's notice like he does now). At the first show the first person to speak from the stage was Mick Taylor possibly aghast at Bob's habit of not necessarily addressing the audience. Taylor was a competent band leader but not particularly adept at adjusting to Bob's quirky approach to performing.

this is what ought to be in the book!

seriously..its hard to fathom Taylor would have been so unaware of how Bob can be.

The discrepancy between Taylor's behaviour on stage in the old days and during this last tour is indeed enormous. We're so used to his special stage behaviour back in the day that it was, well, almost shocking to see him act like he did during the first come-back show in London, 2012 Nov 25. I found his recent stage behaviour significant and intriguing but hard to properly analyse. Anyway, he showed at times that he still has that lyrical feeling. But I have a hard time to believe his words from the past that he was bored playing on stage, especially when I listen to this rendition of YCAGWYW, which contains so much lyricism, feel and emotion, the very reason why I love his live playing on Stones songs so much:

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kleermaker
To be short: Taylor still has some work to do, besides practising the guitar!

Don't we all.....I think MT quit because Keith was very difficult to be around at that time, was a total jerk to him and a terrible influence to his health and lifestyle. It seemed great from the pictures and music when I was young, but what a shallow, self-centered, drug addled , back stabbing world it must have been for the sensitive mature musician that we all can imagine MT was at the time. I can't even imagine him surviving people like Freddie Sessler, et al.

He would have most probably done much better profesionally if he has the foresight, ability and resources to hire a PR machine, brilliant manager, finincial advisor and drug saavy minder. peace

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Naturalust

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kleermaker
To be short: Taylor still has some work to do, besides practising the guitar!

Don't we all.....I think MT quit because Keith was very difficult to be around at that time, was a total jerk to him and a terrible influence to his health and lifestyle. It seemed great from the pictures and music when I was young, but what a shallow, self-centered, drug addled , back stabbing world it must have been for the sensitive mature musician that we all can imagine MT was at the time. I can't even imagine him surviving people like Freddie Sessler, et al.

He would have most probably done much better profesionally if he has the foresight, ability and resources to hire a PR machine, brilliant manager, finincial advisor and drug saavy minder. peace

well ..and denying him writing credits had to be part of why he quit, but yes he was sick of it..

This is interesting......figuring out Mick Taylor ??? I got out of the figuring out business many years ago. Most people cannot even figure out themselves or those around them...what a waste of time.... trying to figure out someone that you don't even know... Is this some sort of pyscho analysis board ??? or is it lets figure out Mick Taylor Day in the UK.- F'ing Twisted ???



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-08-06 01:17 by 2120Wolf.