The Rolling Stones song that came about by chance

Before welcoming Taylor into the band, Richards and Mick Jagger held a short audition. With Mayall’s recommendation, they had little doubt, but were still overwhelmed by the young man’s talent. “He just delivered one beautiful line after another. What a player, man,” Richards recalled in an interview with Guitar WorldAt this early stage, Taylor contributed some guitar overdubs to the Let it bleed The tracks “Country Honk” and “Live with Me” were released before he went on his first tour with the Stones.

Taylor’s first significant contributions appeared on the 1971 album Sticky fingersIf it were not for the more extensive follow-up measure, Exile on the main streetthe album would be a clear favorite in the group’s album rankings. From the Andy Warhol-designed cover to the dark psychedelia of “Sister Morphine,” the album is one of the best examples of classic rock and roll in music history.

In Sticky fingersAll five members of the Rolling Stones seemed to be at their best. Yet it is difficult not to praise Mick Taylor’s influence as well. He and Richards harmonized in fruitful harmony, developing powerful sequences of melodic rhythm work. The pair’s interplay reached a notable climax on the epic first side, “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.”

The song begins with an intro riff devised by Richards in his preferred open G tuning, after which he and Taylor alternate rhythm and lead duties. The main song sequence, featuring Jagger’s lyrics, lasts less than three minutes before an extended guitar jam follows. “‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’ is one of my favorites,” Taylor recalled in 1979. “(The extended jam) just happened by accident; it was never planned.”

The Stones consider the song a happy accident, as it was spontaneous and the outro was completely improvised. “Towards the end of the song, I just wanted to keep playing,” Taylor added. “Everyone put their instruments down, but the tape was still running and it sounded good, so everyone quickly picked up their instruments again and kept playing. It just happened and was a one-take thing. A lot of people seem to really like that part.” When the Rolling Stones were compiling the music for mastering, they wanted to cut the song off after three minutes, but after playing it, they liked the jam.

Taylor’s penchant for improvised jamming continued to shape the band’s songwriting during their most successful period in the early 1970s. “Mick came along and that was kind of the icing on the cake,” engineer Andy Johns once recalled. “They went in that direction because they could start jamming again. They hadn’t jammed for a long time.”

Whether or not there was friendly competition between Richards and Taylor, the latter sparked something in the former and led to the most successful guitar pairing in rock history. “I could sit all night and listen to Mick Taylor,” Johns added. “He never made a mistake and every record was different. And he made you cry. It was really good… I loved listening to him play night after night. It wasn’t boring.”

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