Mick Taylor ‘left The Rolling Stones because of Keith Richards’ according to Mick Jagger

A disagreement over music with legendary guitarist Keith Richards led to Mick Taylor departing The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger has claimed.

The veteran frontman suggested bandmate Taylor had left the group over a difference of opinion with Richards. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner, Jagger suggested Taylor found it “difficult” to get along with the guitarist. Taylor would go on to have a solo career, something Jagger noted Taylor had been wanting to pursue in his last years with the band. Taylor would join The Rolling Stones in 1969 and leave the group in 1974, with his impact on the band immeasurable. It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll would mark his final studio appearance for the group, though he missed several sessions due to a sinusitis surgery.

Jagger, speaking to Wenner, claimed he still doesn’t “really know” why Taylor left the group, but put it down to Richards and a mounting musical pressure. He said: “Not really. He wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith.” Wenner asked if the issues with Richards were “musical,” and Jagger replied: “Everything. I’m guessing.”

Those who had worked on It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll allege Richards, whose drug use had worsened, had been abusive to Taylor and would erase his taped guitar work. The Rolling Stones’ producer at the time, Andy Johns, encouraged Taylor to leave the band when the guitarist began complaining that Richards and Jagger would not let him record songs.

A statement given by Taylor on December 20, 1974 confirmed his departure from the group. He said: “The last five-and-a-half years with the Stones have been very exciting and proved to be a most inspiring period.

“And as far as my attitude to the other four members in concerned, it is one of respect for them, both as musicians and as people. I have nothing but admiration for the group, but I feel now is the time to move on and do something new.”

Taylor says he left the group as he believed they had gone as far as possible, and that he expected The Rolling Stones to retire. He said in 2009: “By 1974, I felt I’d gone as far as I could with the band. I didn’t think they’d stay together.

“The records were doing well, but the band was falling apart — it was in chaos…I told the Stones’ office I was leaving, and they asked for my gold Amex card. Mick [Jagger] tried to persuade me to stay, but I told him I was fed up and that my drug problems were beginning to worry me. Mick suggested taking six months off, but I’ve never been good at taking advice. Maybe I should have listened.”

Jagger would praise Taylor’s work in the interview with Wenner, adding: “Mick Taylor would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off.”