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TonyMo

This.

Just imagine what Mick Taylor could've done with Tumbling Dice -a flurry of triplets and trills then a trip up and back the pentatonic major in thirds followed by more trills and triplets. Heaven!! (did not Mick write 'Heaven' as a paean to what'Tumbling Dice' might have been had not Keith stuck his slow motion fingers in there?)

You're right on another count. Keith should have stuck with rhythm guitar composition and the master should have tackled the likes of Let It Loose and Sweet Black Angel (and later, Angie, which suffers for the lack of a Taylor solo--instead we're stuck with a pedestrian Hopkins solo )

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DandelionPowderman
Both those songs are perfection. Clearly among the best tunes they ever recorded.

That's probably why they didn't see the need for extended guitar solos on them. That goes for most of Exile, btw, it's an album where the songs are more important than the flashy parts.

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TonyMo

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TravelinMan
Anyway, songs like Happy and Tumbling Dice would have benefited from Taylor's lead, especially if he was allowed to work out a part. Like Richards admitted: he, himself is not a lead guitarist. He sounds like Chuck Berry in slow motion. Don't get me wrong, he's one of the greatest rhythm guitar composers of all time, I think he should have stuck to that on this album.

This.

Just imagine what Mick Taylor could've done with Tumbling Dice -a flurry of triplets and trills then a trip up and back the pentatonic major in thirds followed by more trills and triplets. Heaven!! (did not Mick write 'Heaven' as a paean to what'Tumbling Dice' might have been had not Keith stuck his slow motion fingers in there?)

You're right on another count. Keith should have stuck with rhythm guitar composition and the master should have tackled the likes of Let It Loose and Sweet Black Angel (and later, Angie, which suffers for the lack of a Taylor solo--instead we're stuck with a pedestrian Hopkins solo )

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Stoneburst
The number of people on this board that don't seem to realise TonyMo is a troll/Taylorite pastiche continues to astound me

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Brstonesfan
Exile was more Keith, but RO, ADTL , TD, SBD, are MT masterpieces.

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Brstonesfan
Exile was more Keith, but RO, ADTL , TD, SBD, are MT masterpieces.

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DandelionPowderman

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FP
I was always a big fan of Taylor's stunning melodic solos on Sticky Fingers and Goats Head Soup, 2 albums where there is a clear division between the lead and rhythm guitars of Taylor and Richards. When I first heard Exile I was a bit disappointed; I loved the songs but missed the solos. It was always a more dense and difficult album to define who played what, being a rhythm based album with piano, horns and other percussion fighting for space with the guitars. It took me a while to unpick all the layers of playing and now it is my favourite Stones album. Despite being a huge Taylor fan I do feel this is Keith's album through and through and in many ways the mix seems to marginalize Taylor's talents aside from the flashes of inspired slide guitar. He is relegated to bass on many tracks or missing completely. For no particular reason I decided to listen to the whole album and assess Taylor's contributions on each track. Most of this is guess work or based on things I have read in other places but I want to leave it open for debate!

Rocks off

Richard on left opening riff followed by another Keith rhythm part on right and a melodic harmony riff in centre from Taylor. Then main rhythm riffs by Richards take over for the bulk of the song as Taylor is mixed very low to provide a few melodic parts which sound almost like an electric piano. At .50 into the tune Taylor brings in a slide guitar part that sounds like a ghostly backing vocal. The rhythm guitars keep up the same feel then Taylor plays an elegant run at about 1.05. Taylor is mostly inaudible until after the bridge when some slide comes in at 2.50 followed by a run at about 3.00. At 4.00 Taylor plays the same fill as at 1.05 followed by a brief solo at 4.15, the only time he comes up in the mix before a sudden fade. I always wanted the end solo to go on further and it feels more like a warm up than an actual solo. Live Taylor played some nice country fills on this tune but as on Tumbling Dice this song never seemed to work with any lead guitar and Taylor seems to over play live rather than meshing with Keith. I always assumed it was all Keith playing rhythm parts but if anyone knows better let me know.

Rip This Joint

The rhythm guitars on this song again both sound like Richards. Taylor comes in a 0.23 with a slide fill. Taylor returns with a melodic fill at 0.46. At 1.16 he again plays a slide fill. His playing is again quite low in a dense mix but cuts through better than Rocks Off.

Shake your Hips

Another song which could be all Keith, but as it is such a dense tangle of guitars it feels like a live take and I think this is Keith on the left and Taylor on the right. The solo like fills are Keith I think as he plays them in rehearsal videos I have seen. If it is Taylor this is a very nice example of how he could mesh with Keith when required but it is a rare example of this type of playing which was more prevalent in the Ron Wood Years.

Casino Boogie
Keith on riff on left and Taylor right, a nice mesh like the previous tune unless all rhythm parts are Keith? Sounds like Taylor on the bass as well as the part is very melodic. Taylor (?) plays some nice slide riffs 0.26. Subtle rhythm playing with occasional slide embellishments through first verses on right. Nice slide fills through out sax solo from 1.20. A great bluesy riff from 2.10 comes in on the left, sounds like Keith but then develops into a solo that is surely Taylor? Bounces off the slide riffs on the right to great effect as it pans around. Quite low mix though sadly.

Tumbling Dice
Taylor on bass for this one. Keith plays the intro riff before being joined by a slide riff at 0.09 which I presume is Taylor? A second rhythm part on right could be Taylor or Richards. The slide is very concise which makes me think it could be Richards? Through out the slide adds a melodic element without being a solo. The main break is at 1.49 where the slide plays a rhythmic device before playing a delicate harmony on the bridge chords. At 2.30 a descending melodic riff comes in on both left and right with some slide textures, could both be Keith layering.

Sweet Virginia
Richards opens with chords on left followed by mandolin link trills from Taylor. Taylor plays melodic acoustic accompaniment throughout the tune plus backing vocals.

Torn & Frayed
Keith plays all the guitar with Taylor on bass and steel guitar by Al Perkins.

Sweet Black Angel
Sounds like just Keith on acoustic and does not feature Taylor? Possibly Taylor plays the high acoustic outro.

Loving Cup
Keith comes in at 0.25 with beautiful acoustic strumming. Another heavier electric riff comes in at 0.55 but this sounds like Keith so I am not sure Taylor is on this tune although he plays the heavy riff part live.

Happy
Richards plays the signature riff and it feels like he plays all the guitars on this. Either way both slide guitars play variations on the same riff in the Keith style. Most likely the guitar on the right is Taylor if he is on it at all. The slide solo at 1.12 sound like Richards as it is very cool but quite easy.

Turd on the Run
All Keith until about 1.00 when a great riff comes in from Taylor. Sounds like horns but is a syncopated guitar part. This comes in again at 1.50. Great unique sound particularly the shuffling guitars at the end.

Ventilator Blues
Cool riff from Taylor starts the song. Richards plays some acoustic rhythm from about 0.30. Most of the guitar sounds like Taylor, playing some acoustic slide in the middle. A similar solo under the coda as Casino Boogie but much tighter and higher in the mix from Taylor.

I Just Want to See His Face
Taylor on electric bass and Richards on electric piano?

Let it Loose
Leslie speaker arpeggio guitar, sounds like it is all Richards unless Taylor is just playing the same part doubled? Or maybe Keith's idea but played by just Taylor?

All Down the Line
Most conventional rhythm and lead split on the album, Keith plays charging riff and Taylor plays searing slide through out plus a great but brief solo at 2.05.

Stop Breaking Down
Similar to the above accept Jagger plays rhythm guitar and Taylor great spooky slide though out . Could be a follow up to previous Jagger/Taylor duet Sway but this is a cover of course.

Shine a Light
No Richards on this. Mainly piano and organ based until Taylor’s solo fills come in at 1.00. He plays epic guitar until the main solo at 2.40. The best mixed solo on record but again rather abruptly cut off in mid flow by a bridge of strange Leslie effect vocals. Brief coda solo before sudden ending. Taylor and Wyman claim the bass line.

Soul Survivor
Sounds like this could be all Richards. Left channel riff is Richards with a slide part also coming in on left at 0.05 with some delicate extra rhythm on right. Not sure if slide is Taylor but most likely contribution particularly the parts from 3.34 as it has his thick rich tone.

No Taylor on Rocks Off, until the ending.

No Taylor at all on Let It Loose, Sweet Black Angel, Turd On The Run, Loving Cup or Happy.

Taylor is only heard toward the ending on Ventilator Blues.

No Taylor guitar on Torn & Frayed, I Just Wanna See His Face, Tumbling Dice

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TravelinMan

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DandelionPowderman

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FP
I was always a big fan of Taylor's stunning melodic solos on Sticky Fingers and Goats Head Soup, 2 albums where there is a clear division between the lead and rhythm guitars of Taylor and Richards. When I first heard Exile I was a bit disappointed; I loved the songs but missed the solos. It was always a more dense and difficult album to define who played what, being a rhythm based album with piano, horns and other percussion fighting for space with the guitars. It took me a while to unpick all the layers of playing and now it is my favourite Stones album. Despite being a huge Taylor fan I do feel this is Keith's album through and through and in many ways the mix seems to marginalize Taylor's talents aside from the flashes of inspired slide guitar. He is relegated to bass on many tracks or missing completely. For no particular reason I decided to listen to the whole album and assess Taylor's contributions on each track. Most of this is guess work or based on things I have read in other places but I want to leave it open for debate!

Rocks off

Richard on left opening riff followed by another Keith rhythm part on right and a melodic harmony riff in centre from Taylor. Then main rhythm riffs by Richards take over for the bulk of the song as Taylor is mixed very low to provide a few melodic parts which sound almost like an electric piano. At .50 into the tune Taylor brings in a slide guitar part that sounds like a ghostly backing vocal. The rhythm guitars keep up the same feel then Taylor plays an elegant run at about 1.05. Taylor is mostly inaudible until after the bridge when some slide comes in at 2.50 followed by a run at about 3.00. At 4.00 Taylor plays the same fill as at 1.05 followed by a brief solo at 4.15, the only time he comes up in the mix before a sudden fade. I always wanted the end solo to go on further and it feels more like a warm up than an actual solo. Live Taylor played some nice country fills on this tune but as on Tumbling Dice this song never seemed to work with any lead guitar and Taylor seems to over play live rather than meshing with Keith. I always assumed it was all Keith playing rhythm parts but if anyone knows better let me know.

Rip This Joint

The rhythm guitars on this song again both sound like Richards. Taylor comes in a 0.23 with a slide fill. Taylor returns with a melodic fill at 0.46. At 1.16 he again plays a slide fill. His playing is again quite low in a dense mix but cuts through better than Rocks Off.

Shake your Hips

Another song which could be all Keith, but as it is such a dense tangle of guitars it feels like a live take and I think this is Keith on the left and Taylor on the right. The solo like fills are Keith I think as he plays them in rehearsal videos I have seen. If it is Taylor this is a very nice example of how he could mesh with Keith when required but it is a rare example of this type of playing which was more prevalent in the Ron Wood Years.

Casino Boogie
Keith on riff on left and Taylor right, a nice mesh like the previous tune unless all rhythm parts are Keith? Sounds like Taylor on the bass as well as the part is very melodic. Taylor (?) plays some nice slide riffs 0.26. Subtle rhythm playing with occasional slide embellishments through first verses on right. Nice slide fills through out sax solo from 1.20. A great bluesy riff from 2.10 comes in on the left, sounds like Keith but then develops into a solo that is surely Taylor? Bounces off the slide riffs on the right to great effect as it pans around. Quite low mix though sadly.

Tumbling Dice
Taylor on bass for this one. Keith plays the intro riff before being joined by a slide riff at 0.09 which I presume is Taylor? A second rhythm part on right could be Taylor or Richards. The slide is very concise which makes me think it could be Richards? Through out the slide adds a melodic element without being a solo. The main break is at 1.49 where the slide plays a rhythmic device before playing a delicate harmony on the bridge chords. At 2.30 a descending melodic riff comes in on both left and right with some slide textures, could both be Keith layering.

Sweet Virginia
Richards opens with chords on left followed by mandolin link trills from Taylor. Taylor plays melodic acoustic accompaniment throughout the tune plus backing vocals.

Torn & Frayed
Keith plays all the guitar with Taylor on bass and steel guitar by Al Perkins.

Sweet Black Angel
Sounds like just Keith on acoustic and does not feature Taylor? Possibly Taylor plays the high acoustic outro.

Loving Cup
Keith comes in at 0.25 with beautiful acoustic strumming. Another heavier electric riff comes in at 0.55 but this sounds like Keith so I am not sure Taylor is on this tune although he plays the heavy riff part live.

Happy
Richards plays the signature riff and it feels like he plays all the guitars on this. Either way both slide guitars play variations on the same riff in the Keith style. Most likely the guitar on the right is Taylor if he is on it at all. The slide solo at 1.12 sound like Richards as it is very cool but quite easy.

Turd on the Run
All Keith until about 1.00 when a great riff comes in from Taylor. Sounds like horns but is a syncopated guitar part. This comes in again at 1.50. Great unique sound particularly the shuffling guitars at the end.

Ventilator Blues
Cool riff from Taylor starts the song. Richards plays some acoustic rhythm from about 0.30. Most of the guitar sounds like Taylor, playing some acoustic slide in the middle. A similar solo under the coda as Casino Boogie but much tighter and higher in the mix from Taylor.

I Just Want to See His Face
Taylor on electric bass and Richards on electric piano?

Let it Loose
Leslie speaker arpeggio guitar, sounds like it is all Richards unless Taylor is just playing the same part doubled? Or maybe Keith's idea but played by just Taylor?

All Down the Line
Most conventional rhythm and lead split on the album, Keith plays charging riff and Taylor plays searing slide through out plus a great but brief solo at 2.05.

Stop Breaking Down
Similar to the above accept Jagger plays rhythm guitar and Taylor great spooky slide though out . Could be a follow up to previous Jagger/Taylor duet Sway but this is a cover of course.

Shine a Light
No Richards on this. Mainly piano and organ based until Taylor’s solo fills come in at 1.00. He plays epic guitar until the main solo at 2.40. The best mixed solo on record but again rather abruptly cut off in mid flow by a bridge of strange Leslie effect vocals. Brief coda solo before sudden ending. Taylor and Wyman claim the bass line.

Soul Survivor
Sounds like this could be all Richards. Left channel riff is Richards with a slide part also coming in on left at 0.05 with some delicate extra rhythm on right. Not sure if slide is Taylor but most likely contribution particularly the parts from 3.34 as it has his thick rich tone.

No Taylor on Rocks Off, until the ending.

No Taylor at all on Let It Loose, Sweet Black Angel, Turd On The Run, Loving Cup or Happy.

Taylor is only heard toward the ending on Ventilator Blues.

No Taylor guitar on Torn & Frayed, I Just Wanna See His Face, Tumbling Dice

I can hear Taylor all through Rocks Off, he's playing slide possibly, higher notes than the other guitars.

Taylor's guitar is definitely audible during the outro of Torn & Frayed. Sounds similar to Ya Ya's SFTD lines.

I'd argue he has guitar lines in Tumbling Dice as well as some of those other songs he's actually LISTED playing guitar on. It is such a dense mix, but there are parts where the engineers bumped the faders up to fill in gaps. That's the beauty of this album: they had so much to work with that they could pick and choose when the audience can have a listen.

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bitusa2012
IT'S A GREAT ALBUM. All that matters

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bitusa2012
IT'S A GREAT ALBUM. All that matters

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dcba

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bitusa2012
IT'S A GREAT ALBUM. All that matters

But it's always good to know who did what.
It's Mathijs' expert posts thta made me realize Taylor's input on the band studio effort was sometimes almost non-existant.

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TravelinMan
Taylor starts playing slide at the 17 second mark on Rocks off and can be heard at various parts of the song, like doing a walk down into the chorus.

There is a lap steel at the end of Torn & Frayed, but there is also an electric guitar, that does not sound like Keef (it may be him), doing some two string work. Sure sounds like a Taylor thing to me.

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DandelionPowderman

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dcba

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bitusa2012
IT'S A GREAT ALBUM. All that matters

But it's always good to know who did what.
It's Mathijs' expert posts thta made me realize Taylor's input on the band studio effort was sometimes almost non-existant.

Actually, that goes for all band members from time to time

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dcba

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DandelionPowderman

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dcba

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bitusa2012
IT'S A GREAT ALBUM. All that matters

But it's always good to know who did what.
It's Mathijs' expert posts thta made me realize Taylor's input on the band studio effort was sometimes almost non-existant.

Actually, that goes for all band members from time to time

Sure but it must have been a huge blow to a young hot-headed guy like MT. He probbaly joined the Stones thinking "I'm so good gonna give these a big kick in the butt" then he slowly discovers year after year thta most of what he tracks in the studio is erased by Keith and Mick.

I'm sure this hurt the man.

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DandelionPowderman

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TravelinMan
Taylor starts playing slide at the 17 second mark on Rocks off and can be heard at various parts of the song, like doing a walk down into the chorus.

There is a lap steel at the end of Torn & Frayed, but there is also an electric guitar, that does not sound like Keef (it may be him), doing some two string work. Sure sounds like a Taylor thing to me.

Keith plays the electric guitar on Torn & Frayed. There is only one.

There is indeed a thing happening in the middle of the soundscape round 0:17 on Rocks Off. However, to identify that as a slide guitar might be a stretch? And that sound just wasn't as audible on releases prior to the re-mastered Universal releases.

You have a good ear if you recognise Taylor doing these sounds, though

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LuxuryStones
No Taylor guitar on Torn & Frayed, I Just Wanna See His Face, Tumbling Dice


He plays bass on all the 3 of them though, which is quite a nice effort.

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DandelionPowderman

No Taylor guitar on Torn & Frayed, I Just Wanna See His Face, Tumbling Dice

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LuxuryStones

He plays bass on all the 3 of them though, which is quite a nice effort.

Absolutely. The TD bass is great, imo.

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LuxuryStones

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DandelionPowderman

No Taylor guitar on Torn & Frayed, I Just Wanna See His Face, Tumbling Dice

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LuxuryStones

He plays bass on all the 3 of them though, which is quite a nice effort.

Absolutely. The TD bass is great, imo.

That's the one I like the least strangely enough, neither live nor in the studio. I think I'm pretty alone with this statement.

Taylor's bass on JWSHF is buried under the left hand of the Fender Rhodes, so it isn't that audible. Nothing wrong with T&F though?

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Naturalust
The lack of Taylor in the mixes was a probably consequence of Taylor not being present for the mixing.. As most musicians can attest to, the mixers (or those present) tend to want to bump up their parts in the mixes. peace

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TravelinMan
Taylor starts playing slide at the 17 second mark on Rocks off and can be heard at various parts of the song, like doing a walk down into the chorus.