(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Tue 30 December 2025 20:00, UK
Mick Taylor may only have been in the fold of The Rolling Stones for a span of five years, but in that time firmly cemented himself as one of the all-time great guitarists.
Of course, let’s not forget that he has also achieved a lot outside of that finite prism, but when considering those seismic Stones years, it was very much a race to the top of the tree. Then, after tensions had frayed and he could see that his talents would be put to better use elsewhere, he let go. It was that simple. If only all band break-ups were the same.
That obviously represents a highly streamlined version of the story, but in essence, Taylor’s tenure as a guitarist kingpin was one that blazed bright but not for long. In a roundabout way, that also mirrors the path of the man’s hero, as someone who instantly rocketed into stratospheric orbit from the second they stepped on to the scene, but ultimately flew too close to the sun.
Naturally, it’s worth remembering that Taylor himself didn’t just bolt out of the blue and instantly leap to the top rung of The Rolling Stones, even though it may have seemed that way. Prior to his 1970s stint, he was a pivotal member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, which makes it more than clear which genre was his real bread and butter when learning the ropes of rock and roll.
Like many wannabe stars, Taylor would listen to “Anything and everything I could possibly buy” when he was growing up. He recalled in a 1993 interview: “I mean, I used to listen to jazz guitar players, Wes Montgomery. I used to listen to Charlie Christian, but mostly blues guitar players. BB King especially. Freddie King, Albert King. But I would say that my favorite guitar player was Jimi Hendrix.”
After a long list of worthy guitarists, all as significant as the next, Hendrix had to be the nub of Taylor’s whole horizons. Of course, that comes as no major surprise – at his peak, he was the envy of most people in the world, let alone musicians. Yet as luck would have it and as the stars aligned, the trajectory of Hendrix’s own path, along with Taylor’s original blues proclivities, led them straight into each other’s orbit.
Hendrix’s travels over the pond in the mid-60s saw him land at the Bag O’Nails nightclub in London for one of his first performances in November 1966, coincidentally with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones watching on from the crowd. From that moment forward, he was the new kid on the block who everyone wanted to share the stage with – and, with Taylor being part of the Bluesbreakers at the same time, he was the perfect candidate.
The guitarist obviously had to say that this was no accident, but instead an act of fate. “Yeah, he had to go to London,” he said. “He was too freaky for American audiences. I played with him quite a few times. In fact, John Mayall, who I played with at the time, used to have a tape of me and him playing together, but it got lost.”
In this sense, it truly was a hero’s welcome for Hendrix when he came to London, but there were also masses of benefits for the people he swept up in his path along the way. Taylor was just one example of that, knowing that with the king’s approval, the skies of the guitar world really were the limit.
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