Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor (born 17 January 1949 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1966–69) and The Rolling Stones (1969–74). Since resigning from the Rolling Stones in December 1974 Taylor began working with numerous other artists and has released solo albums. Taylor was listed in Rolling Stone magazine's 2012 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, ranked at 37th place
In 1965 at age 16, Taylor went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers performance at "The Hop" Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City. A former drummer with the Juniors, Danny Bacon, remembers: "On the night in question, I had gone to The Hop with some guys from our band, former schoolmates and Ex-Juniors Mick Taylor and Alan Shacklock. It was after John Mayall had finished his first set without a guitarist that it became clear that for some reason Eric Clapton was not going to show up. A group of local musicians, which included myself, Robert 'Jab' Als, Herbie Sparks, and others, along with three local guitarists—Alan Shacklock, Mick Casey (formerly of the Trekkas) and Mick Taylor—were in attendance."[citation needed] Taylor himself has said after seeing that Clapton hadn't appeared, but that his guitar had already been set up on the stage, had approached John Mayall during the interval, asking if he could play with them, mentioning that he'd heard their albums and knew some of the songs. After a moment of deliberation, Mayall agreed. Taylor amended, "I wasn't thinking that this was a great opportunity.. I just really wanted to get up on stage and play the guitar."
Taylor played the second set with Mayall's band, and afterwards, they exchanged phone numbers, which proved to be pivotal in his career a few years later. Taylor had won Mayall's respect, and when he was 17, Mayall was looking for another guitarist to fill the vacancy left after Peter Green's resignation. Mayall contacted Taylor, and invited him to take Green's place. Taylor made his debut with the Bluesbreakers at the Manor House, an old blues club in North London. For those in the music scene the night was an event... "Let's go and see this 17-year-old kid try and replace Eric". Before he turned 18, Taylor toured and recorded the album Crusade with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969, Taylor developed a guitar style that is blues-based with Latin and jazz influences. Later on in his career, he further developed his skills as a slide guitarist.
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