The greatest period of work from The Rolling Stones has Mick Taylor to thank, according to frontman Mick Jagger.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner, Jagger was full of praise for the band’s long-serving guitarist. Taylor would eventually leave the band in 1974, citing an interest in pursuing a solo career as his reason. It was revealed by the guitarist that he was suffering from a drug problem, and chose to depart The Rolling Stones because of this. His deteriorating relationship with bandmate Keith Richards was also cited as a factor years later. Despite his departure from the band, Taylor was a crucial member, and Jagger said as much in a tell-all interview with the veteran journalist.
Jagger suggested Taylor had made a “big contribution” during his time in The Stones, crediting the guitarist as the reason the band’s best works are so “musical.” The frontman shared: “I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don’t have now.
“Neither Keith nor [Ronnie Wood] plays that kind of style. It was very good for me working with him. Charlie and I were talking about this the other day, because we could sit down – I could sit down – with Mick Taylor, and he 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. Some people think that’s the best version of the band that existed.” Though Jagger would refuse to comment on the “best” period of the band, he did share that he respected Taylor’s decision to quit the band.
Taylor performed with The Rolling Stones from 1969 to 1974, appearing on some of the band’s best works, including Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St.
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.”
