Actually I think that Duane Allman was ranked #2 or #3 in Rolling Stone's latest big guitar issue from earlier this year (or last year)...that was refreshing to see.

Keith was in the Top 10 as well.

Keef - Even Jagger admits Keith (or Ronnie) can't hold a candle to Taylor!
said so in a in-depth interview he did a while back. When he was talking about
Taylor's playing on the old stuff he said: Keith & Ronnie don't play like that.
Then something was said by the interviewer about Jagger liking that music
better and Jagger said, well that would be saying that band was better than the
current Stones. Which is exactly what Jagger said!! MLC

Well, I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that MT is nearly peerless in terms of technical ability, dexterity, fluidity, etc...

...but Keith is the riffmeister, a great songwriter and a peerless rhythm player who can work a groove better than near anyone. So although he rarely engaged in guitar pyrotechnics over the years, his other skills more than make up for that.

And IMO, the Keith/Ronnie team (even at their peak) doesn't really hold up to what the Keith/MT team accomplished, although both are quite strong in their own ways.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-29 21:24 by keefriff99.

Question from 1969 to 1974 no one came close to taylor's lead guitar
studio contributions and not even mentioning his live solos.

Sway
CYHMK
Moonlight
BS - with Keith
Bitch with keith
Dead Flowers with keith
Wild Horses with keith
Shine A Light
All Down The Line
Winter
100 Years Ago
Hide Your Love
Ventilator
Stop Breaking Down
Casino Boogie with keith
Sweet Virinia - with keith
Rocks Off
Turd on the Run
I dont know the reason why
Jivin Sister
Traveling Man
Time waits
If You Cant Rock Me
Dance Little Sister
Angie
Till The Next Goodbye
If You Really Want To Be My Frind
Silver Train
Fingerprint file - ON BASS
Tumbling Dice - ON BASS

WILD HORSES'S that scene in "gimme Shelter" where they are laying down the tracks ....sick!!! just awsome the rough cut and the brown sugar....yes Taylor...what a shame he could not keep it togehter...it was'nt like kieth was nailing his old lady!!!

tat2you - if you are coherent - the wild horses track on GS has only acoustic
guitars and no electric - that was added back in London by keith. He plays the
solo not Taylor.If you listen to the outtakes of keith's solo on wild horses you
are amazed how keith got the final clean melodic solo down. The outtake solos
are terrible by keith on wild horses.

i like the raw sound on it you are correct acoustic KILLER.....coherent is reliative, you defintaly know more then i do , as i recall the scene i am reffering too as you know is where they are all hanging out...and maybe they are just listening to WH....you think they(solos) are terrible....???how about the ONE plus ONE movie where they are putiing toghter SFTD...forget that other non-sense to this day i have no clue what all the other stuff is about...is taylor in that???

no taylor was not on SFTD on Beggars Banquet - taylor is on YA ya's and he plays
the SECOND solo and RIPS into it as only taylor can.

On the movie sympathy for the devil - jagger and brian jones are fooling around
on acoustic with the opening intro and keith comes by and sits down and plays
in OPEN E and the song takes off and as you watch you see how the song evolved

Yes the YA YAs SFTD is quite possibly the best live song ever...my moto is" you must listen to that at least once a day or you are not living life correctly!!" TAT2YOU

awesome also listen to time waits and winter its great for the soul.

maybe part of Taylor's unsung hero status is partly because of his "shy" low-key personality? he's obviously not the take charge kinda guy...just his nature....if he would of "stepped it up" on stage some more he wouldve grabbed peoples visual attention and maybe gained more respect from the fairweather fans....but agreed: ya yas is essential listening for a better existence...taylors leads on that record are hypnoticly beautiful



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-29 22:30 by Leonard Keringer.

Four Stone Walls Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With Taylor, the mastery was not just what he did
> with his fingers, but more about how he uses his
> pedals to get the most amazing tones and colours.
> He just aimed for a new richness and expanded the
> palette. That's his true genius. That's where he
> leaves most other virtuoso guitarists "in the
> shade".

Great point. The colors are key to appreciating the solos; that is, you have to listen, not just hear them, and for some that just is not what RnR is about, which is why some folks think "all the solos sound the same".


Hound Dog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> T&A, do you know what the date was when Taylor
> played with the Dead? I'd love to hear that.
>
> Gonna find my way to heaven, cause I did my time
> in hell

A few months ago someone posted a link to an online video. I don't have the link, but it was fun to watch. Taylor was given lots of time to play.

love mick taylor s style we cant compare and if we do brain jones laugh ovr there ya know

We aren't the only one who appreciated Taylor, back in the day. If you remember,
Stevie Wonder opened for the Stones in 1972, Stevie's backup band where some of
the most Top Notch Black session musicians around. One of them mentioned in a interview that they were "dissing" on the Stones in the beginning, who are these
British white boys who think they can play the Blues, then one of the Stones
got their attention! who's that playing Guitar?? It was Taylor!!

MLC

during 89 tour on MTV interview ,,,, bill wyman said taylor was best musician ever in the band ,,i have this piece on dvd ,,was surprised he said that

Somebody above says that it's ashame that Taylors work has been forgotten. How's that? 90% of all the threads on this site is about how great he was compared to Woody, and how great the albums from 1969 - 1974 was, compared to every record before and after..... Something ain't right here.... Right?

As for ratings: Jones, Taylor and Wood are all great players, and they have all contributed with their own personal style and feel to the Stones' legacy. I love them all!

As for other guitarists, I couldn't care less.....

chippy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> during 89 tour on MTV interview ,,,, bill wyman
> said taylor was best musician ever in the band ,,i
> have this piece on dvd ,,was surprised he said
> that

That doesn't surprise me...Bill was probably close to being fed up with Mick and Keith, and that was a nice way to twist the knife.

And he's wrong IMO...sure, Taylor is brilliant as a soloist and by far the best technical player, but the Stones would be nothing without Mick and Keith's songwriting. They're far better (and more prolific) musicians than Taylor.

The riff to Satisfaction alone is worth more than several of MT's solos.

The riff to satisfaction is easy to tire of, (it's the song as a whole that counts).

Taylor's work just leaves you wanting more.

Here's the link for Mick with GD at MSG:

[hans.users.sunwave.net]

If Mick Taylor was never in the Stones he would have been forgotten long ago. I am not trying to be mean. He is an extremely talented guitar player, but so are another 10 million guitar players out there who did not get chance to play with the Stones.

He was fluid and had great tone. His slide playing was very good. He could play very nice solos on the blues scale, which he did repeatedly on Goats head Soup and IORR, where his solos are almost all the same and uninspired. Time Waits for No One is just a repetative blues scale, sounds great, but technically it is no big deal....and I am not hung up on technical playing

I am not a MT hater, but I do not think he is among the greatest players. There are also other guitar players that I feel are way over rated.

In the end MT dropped some good solo's on top of great songs MJ & KR wrote and then walked away from the greatest rock n roll band the world will ever know.

If they had a stupidest guitarist list, Mick Taylor would definitely be # 1

Milo, NYC
I knew it right from the start

Its not playing over blues scales against the glimmers songs its
improvisation and thats why Taylor is brilliant and no one came close to
his studio work he did with the stones during that period 1969-1974.

"The riff to satisfaction is easy to tire of, (it's the song as a whole that counts). Taylor's work just leaves you wanting more.".... ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!! FROM A STONES FAN AS WELL!!!

Is the whole ethos of the Stones long guitar solos, how ever good they are?????

What taylor had no FEELING on WINTER for example what are you hearing
that solo is melodic wonderment to my EARS, What Taylor's intro solo on
If You Cant Rock Me has no feeling - try to play and get that sound on that
controlled solo. what no feeling on his solo work on If You Really Want To
Be my Friend, His melodic BASS on Fingerprint file, great slide on silver
train, great blues jam with jagger on Hide Your Love, HIS brilliant short
solo on Heartbreaker try to get that tone. His work on IORR and GHS SAVED
THOSE RECORDS

For taylor quitting i will turn around the arguement and say he had the balls
to quit and mature as a musician and collaborate with other talented and
famous artists,while ron wood and keith played it safe as artists and never
really improved as musicians.

Mick was great and also very different from Ronnie and Brian.
Plus he is a Les Paul player which gives him that fat tone.Ronnie doesn't play Les Paul-maybe he would sound more interesting with it.

Milo,

If Mick Taylor had not joined the Stones they may not have made it to Superstardom after 1968. He was essential to take them to a higher level, live especially. It's so easy now to take his contributions for garnted. But he transformed their studio stuff. He transformed Keith too. The first time in ages that Keith had been able to work off another guitarist so effectively. "Effectively" because of their contrasting styles. Challenged Keith to higher levels. Just listen to all the '69-70 studio jams for example. And ofcourse Mick was hugely inspired by Taylor.

People say " Oh any other lead guitarist could have done wht Taylor did". But no, most had big egos and I don't think any had his instinctive feel for playing with another guitarist like Keith, or his magic tones that grace SF through to IORR.

It was Keith's decline via Smack, that meant he was no longer so inspiring to work with, that must have taken a lot of joy from working with the riffmaster.
And presumably MT couldn't, or didn't want to, keep up with that sort of lifestyle. He started developing other interests, (as had Wyman).

Taylor may have committed financial suicide in the long run. But so what. He saved his soul. And I'm so glad that he's kept on playing his fantastic stuff down the years. "He's done it his way". Other guitarists (not mentioning Ronnie Wood by name!) might have just hung on in quiet desperation, for the money!

Taylor is nothing compared to Django Reinhart!!!

Four Stone Walls Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> If Mick Taylor had not joined the Stones they may
> not have made it to Superstardom after 1968. He
> was essential to take them to a higher level, >
>

I disagree with that , they were superstars before 68 and they made half of the big 4 without Taylor( save two tracks on Let it Bleed ) They were already great, Taylor added some nice guitar but the stones were stars before, during and after Taylor.
This notion that somehow Taylor is responsible for the rebirth of the band after Satanic, is a popular myth, Jimmy Miller had much more to do with it then Mick Taylor






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-30 16:48 by Ket.

Ket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Four Stone Walls Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > If Mick Taylor had not joined the Stones they
> may
> > not have made it to Superstardom after 1968.
> He
> > was essential to take them to a higher level,
> >
> >
>
> I disagree with that , they were superstars before
> 68 and they made half of the big 4 without Taylor(
> save two tracks on Let it Bleed ) They were
> already great, Taylor added some nice guitar but
> the stones were stars before, during and after
> Taylor.
> This notion that somehow Taylor is responsible for
> the rebirth of the band after Satanic, is a
> popular myth, Jimmy Miller had much more to do
> with it then Mick Taylor
>
>
>
> i totally agree with ket on this topic...i know this has been gone over before but the stones would've been just fine without mick taylor (and i say this with all due respect to mr.taylor..my favorite stones period are the taylor years)...with mick & keith at the helm (writing all those brilliant songs) and jimmy miller producing, they wouldve still been the "force" that they are....and with their status as a band, the stones couldve picked from numerous blues rock guitarists to fill in live and in the studio
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at 09/30/05 16:48 by
> Ket.

Ah guys, if you'll look up a little history you'll see that Taylor was becoming
Jagger's main writing partner back in the early 70's. Keith was MIA on alot
of stuff, off in his Smack world with B. Keys & company. That's why Jagger was
the one who got so pissed when Taylor left and it shook Keith up enough that
he had get back in the saddle with Jagger to keep the Stones going. And all this
crap about any guitarist could have filled in where Taylor did is CRAP!!!

The buzz on the street in the 70's was TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don't know how to scream it any louder!! HE was the one everyone was talking
about when their concerts were being discussed!!!

MLC

In '69 they had not played the States for three years. I think they did a Poll-Winners concert in UK in 1968. Some Europaean shows in '67. As MCCDLTC says - they were almost finished financially.

But it was the winter '69 tour that really got them started as THE live band. By 1969 they'd done two fantastic studio albums - but they were NOT Superstars. They got that label through their live performances ( and two-three more wonderful albums). Probably Ya-Yas did the most to make people realise how fantastic they were live - exciting, earthy but totally professionally accomplished. That is the edge Taylor gave them. They were one helluva rock and rhythm unit - but he just added that extra ZING. And it's not about just playing lead. Listen to Ya Yas - he and Keith are interchanging effortlessly and naturally.

That album and combination of SF, Exile and 1970 -1973 tours is what really propelled Stones to their deserved BRRBITW title. Taylor was one of the essential 5 ingredients in that Best etc Band title. But most younger fans on this board just don't know this. Mick, Keith, Bill and Charlie do!

They may not admit it publically - but they know when they were really the best and why.

ps i don't live in that past. I listen to DW and SW more than any other albums. Then maybe Bridges. And the First album after MT left is a personal favourite. So don't assume I'm anti-Woody. He's had his moments. But he's been little more than a session musician on the last three albums. I wish that weren't so.

I wish ABB had been based on Ronnie and Keith working together and Jagger adding some songs and ideas. But that's not how it is or how it is ever likely to be again. Hence why I don't rate ABB as a great Stones album. It's a very good Jagger album. Some excellent ideas, good lyrics and well put together. Too many formularised Jagger rock songs however. Drum and bass sound not far from Primitive Cool however.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-09-30 20:18 by Four Stone Walls.