Why Mick Taylor Only Released Two Studio Albums Despite Being a Legendary Guitarist

The short answer: he didn’t want the spotlight. While Keith Richards has put out six solo albums and Ron Wood five (plus three with the New Barbarians), Mick Taylor’s studio output is just two solo records—and they’re twenty-one years apart. Taylor has always seemed more comfortable lending his fluid, lyrical guitar to other people’s sessions than carrying an entire album himself.

There’s no single scandal or feud that stopped him. He simply preferred being a sideman. After leaving the Stones in 1974, Taylor spent years playing with John Mayall, Bob Dylan, Jack Bruce, and countless others—never really pushing his own name. His 1979 debut came together slowly, and he basically walked away from music in the 1980s due to personal issues and waning confidence. A Stone’s Throw only happened because he happened to be in