In one of their books I remember Richards mentioning a lack of camaraderie between him and Taylor. But AFAIK Taylor got on better with the others.
It's true Taylor wasn't a particularly dynamic stage presence, but then again Wood's clowning around was sometimes to the detriment of the playing. But in their late 60s/early 70s concerts, the whole tone of the group was more serious- the only 'showman' was Jagger.
I suppose that depends on you mean by "best guitarist". I mean, Keith was the one who came up with the intros to (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Woman, You Can't Always Get What You Want (well, not the choir, you know, when the acoustic guitar comes in), and Gimme Shelter. I'll take any and all of that over Taylor's extended guitar heroics.Originally Posted by Adm.Kirk
If you have Mick Jagger you don't need much else for stage moves. Richards does move but not to the degree of some of his contemporaries like Townshend or Page. When Taylor got comfortable on stage it resulted in blazing leads, not working the room.
Taylor didn't do much for songwriting and when he did, he rarely got credit. There's a few songs that Jagger composed with him that ended up as Jagger/Richards in the credits. But he was nowhere near the riff factory that was Keith before the heroin bottomed out his muse.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Taylor has complained about the credits on some songs but even he admitted it wasn't very many- I think they were album tracks rather than any of the hits.
Richards and Wood are also great players in their own right. I think of them as more 'riff'-type players and Taylor more as a melodic soloist. That's why the Richards/Taylor dynamic worked so well- I think they brought out the best in each other and complemented each other's styles.
See, that's the thing: other than Sympathy For The Devil, The Rolling Stones aren't really a "blazing leads" kind of band. At least, not to me, they're not.
Which was my point. If I had a choice of one or the other, I'd choose the "riff factory" over "blazing leads". When you're talking rock n roll, the important thing is the bits that you can sing, not even necessarily the lyrics, but the instrumental bits you can sing. Like say you don't know the words to a song, but you know the riff or the intro, and you can sing it to someone, and they'll know you're talking about (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, or Street Fighting Man or Honky Tonk Women or whatever.Taylor didn't do much for songwriting and when he did, he rarely got credit. There's a few songs that Jagger composed with him that ended up as Jagger/Richards in the credits. But he was nowhere near the riff factory that was Keith before the heroin bottomed out his muse.
Edit: In this band, I'll take "the riff factory" over "blazing solos", I should say. There's other places where I'm fine with blazing solos, e.g. Rory Gallagher, Roy Buchanan, etc. Ideally, you would have both, as per Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Thin Lizzy, or Deep Purple.
Last edited by GuitarGeek; 01-04-2019 at 02:47 PM.
Incidentally I was thinking recently that due to the 'business' there has, to the best of my knowledge, not been one studio outtake of their Decca period released since the 70s Metamorphosis. And the latter is not very good; half of it is not even The Rolling Stones at all! They are demos/backing tracks for other artists with Jagger singing. The other half is decent and bona fide, but why on earth didn't anyone just put out- say- the rest of the Chess sessions from 1964 instead of those demos? There's some good stuff there- 'Down In The Bottom' is particularly strong.
Didn't "Cocksucker Blues" get a legit release on a German compilation?
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
^It was very briefly released but shouldn't have been. This is the one:
https://www.discogs.com/The-Rolling-.../master/368430
I guess that and the equally colourful 'Andrew's Blues' will forever remain in the vaults!
In the two recent concert films I've seen, Wood is carrying Keef.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
There's just an insane amount of unreleased outtakes, BBC performances, etc from both the Decca years and beyond. Check the usual suspect sites, it's all out there. There was the Rarities disc from 2005 but it was slight on true rarities. BUT, the bonus disc on the 2011 reissue of Some Girls is exceptional.
The one thing Mick has been good about is issuing live material. Or at least, he has given others the power to release live material.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
^Most (though not all) of the BBC recordings have now been officially released on that On Air 2cd. That would have sold well if it had come out 20 years ago. Instead hardly anyone noticed when it came out in 2017.
Outside of the BBC sessions, the best live recordings of them with Brian Jones that I've heard- which isn't that many- are ones broadcast on French radio; 1965 and 1967 shows at the Paris Olympia. I would recommend the 1967 one in particular as it's a high energy show, with rarities like 'Yesterday's Papers' and 'Goin' Home' in the set. The other show which gets talked about, Hawaii 1966, I find an extremely sloppy performance!
Last edited by JJ88; 01-05-2019 at 11:29 AM.
I think what I mean is the best at fitting with Keith's love for weaving. Wood seems to fit that bill better. With Taylor he was the lead player and Keith the rhythm player. The line was blurred when Wood joined and I think that works better with the Stones. It was the same way with Jones. The line was blurred. Having said that, I do love Mick Taylor. Great player and he certainly brought a style than neither Jones, Wood or Richards can really get close to.
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
Please tell me Goin' Home doesn't go on for 11 minutes like the studio version!
Yesterday's Papers is one of my favorites from Between The Buttons, I didn't know they ever played it live.
I couldn't agree more! Taylor and frankly Brian Jones were technically better players than Keith and Ron in my opinion but Richards has come up with some of the most memorable riffs in rock history, brilliant from that standpoint.
'Goin' Home' is only a few minutes and segues into 'Satisfaction'.Please tell me Goin' Home doesn't go on for 11 minutes like the studio version!
Yesterday's Papers is one of my favorites from Between The Buttons, I didn't know they ever played it live.
'Yesterday's Papers' is played in a medley with 'Get Off Of My Cloud'.
There's a screw-up in '19th Nervous Breakdown' where Jagger is way ahead of the band in one verse. 'Lady Jane' and 'Goin' Home' are in inferior quality because all that circulates are what sound like off-air recordings from an AM source. But it's the best live recording of them with Jones for me...it helps that I'm a big fan of Aftermath (UK version) and the 'Ruby Tuesday'/'Let's Spend The Night Together' single.
I think Brian's main talents weren't so much "great guitar work", but his apparent ability to pick up almost any musical instrument, and get something useful out of it. That was one of the distinguishing marks of those mid 60's Stones records, of course, e.g. the marimba on Under My Thumb, vibes on Yesterday's Papers, the sitar on Paint It Black, recorder on Ruby Tuesday, etc.
That and the fact that he was the one who actually formed the band, picked the name, and even hustled their early gigs before they hooked up with Andrew Loog Oldham.
This another reason why I prefer Wood to Taylor. Wood has contributed drums, sax, bass, piano, slide and pedal steel to the band. Taylor was strictly guitar with very occasional bass work.
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
Credits Mick Taylor on It's Only Rock 'n Roll: Guitar, Vocals, Synthesizer, Congas, Bass
Well, to be honest it's the only Stones-album I have. The reason for this choise lies in the guitar-melody (and some great synthesizer-stuff) in Time Waits For No One, which was echoed some years later in a track on Mick's first solo-album.
^I only like about half of that album, including that track which is excellent (the paranoid funk of 'Fingerprint File' is another favourite). The rest is the sound of a very tired band, IMHO. I do think that line-up had ultimately run its course.
When he became a full-time member, Ron Wood gave them a shot in the arm for the 1978-81 period which was one of their most popular.
I suppose it beats having Satanic Majesties as the only Stones record you own. I can't believe there's peopel who think that's the best record they ever made.
There's rumours of a deluxe edition of Goats Head Soup. Not everyone's favourite, but I like it. They should put out the original Brussels Affair bootleg as a 2nd disc, which was a mix of Brussels and Wembley. My favourite live rock album by anyone.
Incidentally I was listening to some 90s live stuff recently- they were playing really well then. This is certainly one of the best live versions of this track I've heard. The deliberately slower tempo works.
I'd buy it if it included Brussels. A dream would be if they included both shows but that's not gonna happen.
I've seen it mentioned on IORR and Hoffman that guitar wise, the No Security tour was the one where Woody and Keith were at their sharpest, really focused on creating the proper weaves. 2002 gets big thumbs ups as well.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Four Flicks- covering that 2002/3 period- has its moments. The MSG show on there has things like 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking' in the set. That's kind of the line in the sand for me though. The set-lists seemed to get really conservative after that.
New tour dates announced today: https://www.pollstar.com/article/the...to-2020-143513
I'm going to try to catch the Minneapolis show. Who knows, this could be the last time...
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
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