• From: Waukesha, WI U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2007-09-18
  • Posts: 892

Topic: Mick Taylor Broke

From Classic Rock Magazine site:

Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor is virtually destitute.


Now living in a small, rundown house in Suffolk, apparently with mounting unpaid bills, the 61-year-old told the Mail On Sunday:

“In 1982 they stopped paying me [royalties]. They’d signed to a different record company and had new contracts and were advised they didn’t need to pay me any more.

“I should have got a lawyer. But instead I called them rude words and asked how they could just stop paying me. They all know it’s not right. In fact it is outrageous. They get all the money and I get the plaudits and praise, even from Mick. I’ve tried to talk to Mick a couple of times, but I realise that hiring a lawyer is probably the only way they’ll take me seriously. But they figure I’m not going to do anything about it.”

Yet, despite his financial problems Taylor – who replaced Brian Jones as the Stones guitarist in 1969 – has no regrets about quitting the band in 1974:

“People are always asking me whether I regret leaving The Rolling Stones. I make no bones about it – had I remained with the band, I would probably be dead. I was having difficulties with drug addiction and couldn’t have lasted. But I’m clean now and have been for years.

“My life is so much better now than being a drug-ravaged member of the Stones. So no, I don’t regret leaving. But people who really know me ask another question – whether I regret joining the Stones. To me, that’s far more astute.”

When I was a child I spoke as a child, But all I heard was how I should get ahead,
Now growing up it ain't anything but all This indecision with these debts and doubts
And worries hanging over my head. When I was a child I spoke as a child,
I wish I could remember what I said.

ReverendPaul's Website

  • From: Oxfordshire, England
  • Registered: 2008-11-10
  • Posts: 835

Re: Mick Taylor Broke

Mick Taylor was supposed to be  headlining the Leamington Spa blues day but I see he isn't any longer (it's the Yardbirds instead). If he's broke why back out? Or maybe he was dropped which would be a big shame considering his circumstances.

  • Registered: 2008-02-14
  • Posts: 2,578

Re: Mick Taylor Broke

Hi Paul

I've just found this news article, which denies some of the reports from the Mail.

Mick Taylor denies he is to sue Rolling StonesGuitarist's management tell NME.COM newspaper reports are incorrect
September 15, 2009 | Guitarist Mick Taylor's management have told NME.COM that a report suggesting that he is planning to sue The Rolling Stones for unpaid royalties is incorrect.

Manager Jeff Allen said Taylor had been "horrified" to read the article in Sunday's (September 13) Daily Mail, adding that Taylor – who played for The Rolling Stones between 1969 and 1974 – "doesn't feel any need to sue" the band, whom he still remains close to.

"He [Mick Taylor] certainly didn't say that he was going to sue the Stones. Mick's got a very good relationship with the Stones," Allen explained.

He added: "In fact, the last time we met up with them, him and Keith [Richards, guitarist] were like long-lost lovers – hugging each other and happy to see each other. When Mick was ill either six or eight weeks ago with some kind of chest complaint, Mick Jagger had his office phone up to see what was going on, and then he phoned up the hospital just to check on Mick because they were worried about him. So there's absolutely no animosity between Mick and the Stones."

Allen went on to strongly deny other aspects of the Daily Mail's article.

"You can imagine the shock, horror and disbelief when that article came out in the Daily Mail. The emphasis of the article was that Mick was some kind of run-down, down-and-out tramp living in Suffolk. The reality is Mick's having the house done up," he said. "Mick is living in Holland at the moment with his girlfriend."

He went on to confirm that Taylor's forthcoming tour dates in Germany and France are still set to go ahead as planned, and urged fans to check Micktaylor.net for more information.

"The recently formed Edinburgh Blues Club has identified an appetite for the personal communication between musicians and audience that the blues long ago perfected." The Herald Newspaper (Scotland)
http://www.edinburgh-blues.uk
  • From: Oxfordshire, England
  • Registered: 2008-11-10
  • Posts: 835

Re: Mick Taylor Broke

Thanks Duncan, that puts a different light on things. But do you know why he's not now headlining Leamington? I don't particularly mind (I reckon it will be a big day whatever and I'm looking forward to it) but I am am curious now.

  • Registered: 2008-02-14
  • Posts: 2,578

Re: Mick Taylor Broke

currymandavid wrote:

Thanks Duncan, that puts a different light on things. But do you know why he's not now headlining Leamington? I don't particularly mind (I reckon it will be a big day whatever and I'm looking forward to it) but I am am curious now.

Hi David, I don't know. It's a bit of a strange one.  I'd quite like to have seen him, if nothing else to add to my number of other ex Blues Breaker guitarists that I've seen! smile (Clapton, Green, Trout, Whittington... )

"The recently formed Edinburgh Blues Club has identified an appetite for the personal communication between musicians and audience that the blues long ago perfected." The Herald Newspaper (Scotland)
http://www.edinburgh-blues.uk