Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor reunited with the legendary band for their fall series of “50 & Counting” shows.
Taylor originally joined the Stones in 1969 as a replacement for Brian Jones. His onstage debut as a Stone, at the age of 20, was the free Hyde Park concert on July 5, 1969. An estimated quarter of a million people attended for a show that turned into a tribute to Jones, who had died three days before the concert. Mick played on some of the most popular Stones albums during his tenure with the group, which he left in 1974.
Now, Taylor is speaking about the 2012 experience.
"It's been really amazing, thrilling and exciting," the guitarist tells Billboard. "It's been great to play with the band again. I still get the same feeling that I used to get when we played on stage before. I'm a lot more outgoing and not quite as shy as I used to be, so in that respect it's different. I feel re-energized by the experience, too."
Taylor joined the group for "Midnight Rambler" on the shows he's played so far, recalling that "it was always one of the highlights of the shows during my tenure with the Stones in the 70s."
And he's enjoying its current incarnation with three guitarists - himself, Keith Richards and Ron Wood.
"We didn't even think about it; in a strange way all three guitars kind of blend seamlessly into each other, especially if the sound is really good on stage," Taylor says. "It's one of the longest songs we play at the moment, and it gives Mick (Jagger) the opportunity to play some blues harmonica, which he's very good at."
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