Pourquoi j'ai quitté les Stones

[Ayler]

He is the forgotten man of the greatest ever rock group who has played in front of thousands of screaming fans at some of the most prestigious venues across the globe.

Emily Dennis talks to ex Rolling Stone Mick Taylor about his decision to quit the band and his upcoming gig in Norwich.



It is a question that Mick Taylor always gets asked. Why did you leave the Rolling Stones?

At the time of his departure the band was at the height of their fame and without him they went on to sell out stadiums around the world.

He is reported to have walked out after five years with the rock-and-roll legends after saying he “saw the group as not going anywhere”.

The guitarist, who lives near Diss, seldom talks about his time with the group but yesterday he lifted the lid on life with the Rolling Stones and said he had no regrets at leaving when he did.

“In the period when I left, the band was in one of their down times,” he said. “It was an unhappy time for me, and probably for the rest of the band as well.

“It was just after the release of It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, the last of the six albums I did with them. It is probably publicly known that Keith Richards and Mick Jagger had fallings out from time to time and this was one of those, really. Me and Bill Wyman talked about it. He got very frustrated at that time but he stayed.

“In a way, that sort of friction and chaos can produce great music, but it was getting harder and harder.

“Around that time we were either in the recording studio or living in the south of France.

“From being just an ordinary musician making £50 a week, I suddenly for no good reason had to become a tax exile. It wasn't that I had tax problems, but they did.

“I have no regrets about leaving when I did. I do not wallow in nostalgia. I have lots of regrets about other things, but then what musician or anybody approaching their 60th birthday doesn't have regrets?”

Taylor joined the Rolling Stones in 1969, replacing Brian Jones shortly before Jones was found dead in a swimming pool.

He worked on such albums as Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street, and was described recently by drummer Charlie Watts as “clearly the best solo guitarist the Stones had”.

But after five years he walked out and was replaced by Ronnie Wood of the Faces.

Yesterday, he described his time with the band as a “rollercoaster” and praised Mick Jagger for keeping the group together.

He said: “I fell into it quite naturally and picked up bad habits. I really did think they were a spoilt bunch of pop stars when I joined them. It took me a while to catch up - but I did.

“It was more or less like a rollercoaster. There were huge stadium tours. The longest one was about six weeks and the longest we ever played on stage was maybe an hour and a half. Now there is so much more history to draw on they do two- hour sets. They found a whole new market in terms of touring stadiums for vast numbers of people.”

He continued: “Mick Jagger is very clever, very intelligent and very funny. If it wasn't for Mick Jagger's ability to organise things and keep things going, the band would have never stayed together. He basically managed to pull them all together and got them to carry on.”

Still friends with his former band mates, he said: “I am still friends with them, especially Bill Wyman. I have not seen Mick Jagger since 1999. But there is no ill will on my part and I cannot think of any reason why there is anything but good will on theirs.”

Taylor also knocked suggestions that the band was the most raucous of their time. “Being in the Rolling Stones was mostly hard work and mostly fun,” he said. “It was no more excessive or decadent than any other rock-and- roll band at that time.”

He paid tribute to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, describing him as a “huge influence”.

“Jimi Hendrix was such a huge influence on all of us, not just guitar players. I knew him very well. Off stage he was very shy and quiet, but on stage he was completely the opposite.”

The former Stone got his first big break at the age of 16 in 1965. “Eric Clapton inspired me and that is how I got my first job,” he said. “I went to a show John Mayall was doing with the Bluesbreakers in Welwyn Garden City. For some reason Eric Clapton hadn't shown up to this gig. I watched the first half which they did as a quartet. Then I went backstage and asked if I could stand in with them. I borrowed Eric Clapton's guitar and that is how it started.”

Only 10 when he first began learning the guitar, he said: “My mother's younger brother was in the army and he was in Germany.

“I suppose during that time the GIs were there and the American forces and he heard lots of American music. He bought himself a guitar and taught himself. I used to hate school dinners so I would go to my grandmother's house for lunch. Afterwards I would go upstairs and play his guitar.”

Currently touring with his new band and due to play the Waterfront in Norwich on December 10, the group includes guitarist Denny New-man, acclaimed keyboard player Max Middleton, bassist Kuma Harada and drummer Jeff Allen. They will be supported by Norwich band Lot 55.

Taylor said people attending the gig could expect a great night. “We do some original songs and a few cover songs and we sometimes even play a couple of the Rolling Stones songs that I am associated with,” he said. “I don't think I have ever played in Norwich before, so I am really looking forward to it.”

Source : http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=NOED25%20Nov%202008%2019%3A00%3A10%3A663

[leptilou]

Toujours une grande admiration pour Mick Taylor et pour sa contribution aux meilleurs albums des Stones.
Je l'ai vu la dernière fois au new Morning en Octobre 2003.
(courte chronique )

A mon avis un de ses meilleurs solos se trouvent sur "heavy tunes" sur "Expresso II" de Gong (avec Allan Holdsworth en rythmique).

[jipes]

Tiens Ptilou toi ici ? Ca alors quelle belle surprise Ouais Mick Taylor respect pour l'homme et le guitariste un superbe touché et un son bien à lui

[benoit]

Vraiment un excellent guitariste ce Mick Taylor. Il était hallucinant dans les stones, toujours les bonnes notes, les bonnes ambiances et jamais démonstratif. Personnellement mon album favori reste Exile On Main Street, rien à jeter, que du bon.

[keith49]

Personnellement mon album favori reste Exile On Main Street, rien à jeter, que du bon.

PAREIL POUR MOI ;EXILE ON MAIN STREET EST UN PUR CHEF D'OEUVRE d'un bout à l'autre !!!!!
En ce qui concerne MICK TAYLOR, guitariste irréprochable qui collait TOTALEMENT à cette période STONES. J'aurais été curieux de voir ce que çà aurait donné par la suite s'il ne les avait pas quittés.

[Ayler]

ROCK LEGEND Mick Taylor has no regrets about walking out on the world's greatest rock'n'roll band.

The guitarist claims he would have died if he had not quit The Rolling Stones in 1974.

His drug-fuelled lifestyle with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts almost killed him.

Mick, 60, said: "People thought I was crazy to walk away but I'd have ended up dead from my heroin addiction.

"Drugs went hand in hand with what was going on creatively with the Stones at that time. Heroin was available to me and I got hooked, simple as that.

"Towards the end of my time with the Stones it got too crazy. I'd become very depressed. I felt my life with the band was falling apart so I decided to quit.

"Life clean is much better than being a drug-ravaged member of The Rolling Stones."

It was in 1969 that Mick got the big break that would earn him a place in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

The guitarist said: "In 1967 I went down to Olympic Studios in London to buy a Gibson Les Paul guitar - which was once owned by Keith Richards - from their Scottish road manager Ian Stewart.

"They were recording the album Their Satanic Majesties and wearing those silly costumes from the album sleeve.

"I only saw them through a glass partition. That was as close as I got."

When Brian Jones was sacked in 1969 Mick was asked to jam with the Stones.

He said: "I didn't realise they were auditioning me so I wasn't nervous.

"The first track I played on was Honky Tonk Women and the second was Live With Me, from 1969 album Let It Bleed.

"I actually said, 'Are we going to play more tonight? If not, I'm going home'.

"Mick Jagger called up the next day and said, 'Do you want to join the band?'"

Mick's first Stones gig was their historic appearance at Hyde Park in London on July 5, 1969.

It became a tribute to guitarist Brian Jones, who had died two days earlier.

On his first US tour, Mick played at Altamont when 18-year-old fan Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death in front of the stage by Hell's Angels after pulling a gun on Mick Jagger.

Mick said: "The first album I ever made with John Mayall was Crusade in 1967. It was recorded and mixed in seven hours.

"But the Stones had a much more nonchalant approach to recording - we'd be in the studio for months. I got used to it. The entire time I was in the band I was either making records or touring."

Mick played on a six-year run of albums which included Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile On Main Street (1972), Goat's Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock'n'Roll (1974).

He also appeared on the classic Get Yer Ya Ya's Out (1970), recorded at Madison Square Garden, New York - hailed as one of the greatest live albums in rock history.

He said: "Mick and Keith were big personalities. They always had a natural, instinctive feel when playing together.

"It was a very creative period, the most interesting stuff they did, and we were just starting to play sports stadiums.

"My favourite album was Sticky Fingers because I think the songs on it - such as Brown Sugar, Bitch and Wild Horses - were great. Exile On Main Street was difficult. We recorded it in Keith's house which was always full of his friends wanting to party.

"It put a strain on Keith's relationship with Anita Pallenberg. He once stayed with me to get away from his own house."

But Mick missed out on the big bucks tours which earned the band millions.

He said: "I don't think any of our tours made much. We didn't have global sponsorship or lucrative merchandising deals then.

"I bought my first house for s12,000, the proceeds of my first Stones tour in 1969. They only started making money on the massive Steel Wheels tour of 1989.

"On their last, A Bigger Bang world tour, they made $250million. People say, 'Don't you wish you were still part of that?' But I can't really say I do." When Mick quit the group in 1974 it was a shock to the band. He was replaced a year later by guitarist Ronnie Wood.

He said: "Mick flew back from Nicaragua and tried to persuade me to stay. Later, we went to Eric Clapton's birthday party and I got so drunk I could barely stand up.

"Discussions went on for days but I'd had enough. I felt better for leaving. I've never lived to regret it.

It's very hard to think about the road not taken. "But if you'd asked any of us in 1972, to you think you'll go on until you're 60?', we'd have said no."

Mick is still in big demand as a guitarist and has appeared with stars such as Bob Dylan, Mike Oldfield and Cream bassist Jack Bruce.

He said: "Dylan is one of the most impressive guys I've met. I'd listened to Bob's music since I was 15 but never thought I'd get to play with him."

Now, as the Stones make millions touring the world, Mick is happier playing blues guitar in tiny clubs.

On May 9 he appears at the Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow, guesting with blues guitarist Stephen Dale Petit.

He will play the 500-capacity venue to promote his friend's latest album, The Crave, which features new single As The Years Go Passing By.

It's a far cry from Mick's first Glasgow show with the Stones at the legendary Apollo in 1973.

Mick says playing in Glasgow always brings back fond memories.

He said: "I remember playing the Apollo in '73 on that infamous 25ft-high sloping stage with the dressing room underneath. "Bianca Jagger came on stage and started to dance with me. You don't forget things like that.

"Playing the Ferry with Stephen should be great. He's a brilliant blues guitarist."

Mick first created waves on the London music circuit aged just 15 when he joined legendary band John Mayall's Bluesbreakers after Eric Clapton failed to turn up for a show.

He said: "I picked up the guitar at 10 and was self-taught. I had a very good ear and was blessed with musical talent. At 15 I'd travel from home in Hertfordshire to London to see bands.

"I saw The Yardbirds, Georgie Fame, James Brown and John Mayall. One night Eric Clapton didn't turn up for a show so I went backstage and asked John if I could sit in with them.

"To my amazement he said yes. It was a real baptism of fire but I never looked back. I served my musical apprenticeship with John playing six nights a week and doing two tours of America."

Source : http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/

[Purple Jim]

Une interview avec Mick Taylor dans le Daily Mail :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1213013/The-Rolling-Stone-whos-stony-broke-Why-Mick-Taylor-lives-rundown-Suffolk-semi-shabby-car.html

Il préférait The Beatles !

[Ayler]

Démenti vis-à-vis du contenu de l'article précédent :

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/taylor-has-no-plans-to-sue-rolling-stones_1116189

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