Former The Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor celebrates his 70th birthday today. The accomplished British musician best-known for stints in The Stones and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers has achieved many other notable credits throughout his distinguished career while working alongside many fellow top performers.
Taylor’s time with The Bluesbreakers began in the mid-1960s when he replaced Peter Green, who was leaving to form Fleetwood Mac (Green had replaced Eric Clapton who himself had left Mayall’s group to form Cream). He was tapped to join The Rolling Stones after co-founding member Brian Jones was forced out of the band in June 1969. Taylor remained a member of The Stones until 1974, contributing to the band’s standout albums Let It Bleed, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main St. and Goats Head Soup.
Taylor was just 20-year-old when he took the stage with The Stones for the first time. The concert was held before a massive crowd assembled in London’s Hyde Park on July 5, 1969. The show went on despite Brian Jones’ tragic death just two days prior. The band, now made up of frontman Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, drummer Charlie Watts, bassist Bill Wyman and Taylor, dedicated the emotional concert to their late former band mate.
Also on the bill that day was King Crimson, Roy Harper and Alexis Korner and the crowd was estimated at over 250,000. The Stones’s set began with Jagger reading a tribute to Jones, followed by a cover of Jones’ favorite song, Johnny Winter’s “I’m Yours and I’m Hers. That and other highlights from Mick Taylor’s first concert with The Rolling Stones can be viewed below:
