... joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1966, at the age of 17. He made his debut with the Stones playing live in Hyde Park, two days after Jones's death. He went on to play on the albums Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll. He left in 1974, and was replaced by Ronnie Wood.
It later emerged that Taylor had found it difficult to get on with Keith Richards, and he also said that he was aggrieved at being denied songwriting credits. Later still, Mick Jagger said in an interview that "[Taylor] made [the band] 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 ... 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. Some people think that's the best version of the band that existed."
In 2011, Taylor was ranked 37th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash named Taylor as his biggest influence.
© Haydn Thompson 2017