In 1975 the Rolling Stones were the biggest band in the world. Millions of albums sold, selling out world tours and names constantly in the tabloids you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing of the band’s exploits. So, when at the end of 1974 Mick Taylor decided to quit the band the biggest job in music became available. It piqued the interest of plenty of guitarists around the world. Today The Beat Marches On to 14th April 1975 when the Rolling Stones officially announced their new member of the band.
It’s not the first time the second guitarist in the Rolling Stones has been replaced. Mick Taylor was brought into the band in 1969 after original guitarist Brian Jones was fired due to drug problems. A previous member of the countless times mentioned John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers Taylor was suggested to lead singer Mick Jagger by Mayall himself.
Although the band kept their dirty rock and roll sound many consider the Mick Taylor period of the Stones as their best. On stage, it looked like Taylor was uncomfortable. He was being thrust from playing in front of a club of hundreds to playing arenas packed full of thousands. The guitarist’s first gig with the band was at a free show in Hyde Park attended by over 250,000 people.
There hasn’t been an official reason for why Taylor left the Rolling Stones. The man himself blamed exhaustion and needed a break. Keith Richards according to his autobiography “Life” leans towards Taylor’s wife talking him out of the band. Other stories have said he left to form a band with former Cream bassist and singer Jack Bruce. The truth is we will never know the official reason why.
Now Taylor has left the Rolling Stones the search was on to find a replacement. Quite a few names were considered for the job. One of the first names was Eric Clapton but he was considered too clean-cut to be a member of the Stones. Another name lobbied by bass player Bill Wyman was Peter Frampton who had recently gone solo after playing with Humble Pie but was deemed too pretty for the band. Others included Badfinger’s Joey Molland, Michael Schenker of UFO and a young session guitarist named Andy Summers who would eventually find fame with the Police.
Those names mentioned above are just the ones under consideration. The Stones did audition six others officially, maybe more but there isn’t any proof of the fact. The band even used recording sessions for the next album “Black and Blue” as part of the audition. The contenders involved were a who’s who of talented guitarists and were honoured just to be involved with the world’s most famous band at the time. Below we will have a look at the six who attended an audition.
1.) Jeff Beck
Often overlooked by other former Yardbirds guitarists Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck often beats to the tune of his own drum (or should that be guitar) Which is why the fact of Beck auditioning for the Rolling Stones was a bit off-key for the guitarist. He was fired from the Yardbirds because of an explosive temperament and being against the commercialism of the music they were recording. He formed the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart and another contender Ronnie Wood. That iteration only lasted a couple of albums before Beck changed the line-up and released a few more albums. He also worked in a trio with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice called Beck, Bogert and Appice.
The reason why Jeff Beck went to audition to replace Mick Taylor is that he didn’t know it was an audition. The band invited him to play with them, but he thought he was just guesting on the album they were recording. He didn’t even consider the visit as an audition.
In the end, it wasn’t much of an audition for Beck as he visited them in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and stuck around for two days with no one showing up to see him. When the band did show up they had one instrumental jam and Beck had to leave. He had his recording session with George Martin for a forthcoming solo album “Blow by Blow”.
Jeff Beck doesn’t regret not joining the Stones at this time. Even if he had joined the band, he thinks that he wouldn’t have lasted long because of being restricted within the band. He even did however get to perform on stage with the band on their 50th-anniversary tour in 2013.
2.) Rory Gallagher
One of the best guitarists to come out of Ireland, Rory Gallagher was one of the more serious contenders to replace Mick Taylor. The guitarist made his name with the blues band Taste in the late sixties and was once rumoured to be one of Jimi Hendrix’s favourite players. He was one of the main influences of Brian May of Queen. Taste was often compared to Cream as they had similar styles and even opened for them at the supergroup’s farewell gigs at the Royal Albert Hall
After Taste disbanded in 1970, Gallagher started a solo career and was successful throughout the early part of the 1970s. As one of the premier guitarists around it’s only logical that the rolling stones would come knocking. Bill Wyman was most vocal about Gallagher joining the band.
The Stones flew out Rory to the audition, again in Amsterdam, and from all accounts the jam sessions were good. He stayed for a few days with them and when Keith Richards asked him to come up to his room to discuss joining the band Richards was asleep and couldn’t be awakened. By the morning Gallagher had to leave for a Japanese tour and didn’t want to disappoint the fans.
3.) Wayne Perkins
You can easily make an argument for Wayne Perkins as a nearly man of rock. He was almost a Wailer after performing on their international debut “Catch a Fire”. He played on the demos of Lynyrd Skynyrd and was considered to join the band and he almost became a Rolling Stone. He was a session musician at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama who worked with Joni Mitchell, Joe Cocker and Albert King.
Keith Richards was a big fan of Perkins’s work and wanted to play with him in the band. They invited him to audition for the open slot in the band and he accepted. It started weirdly as the members of the band posed as if for a photo shoot to see if Perkins would fit in then they started playing together.
The sessions were a great success. So much so that the Stones included some of Perkins’s recordings on “Black and Blue” The tracks “Hand of Fate”, “Fool to Cry” and “Memory Motel” all have the guitarist’s playing on them. Even the next release had another one of his songs recorded in the previous session “Worried About You” Unfortunately he didn’t join the band due to being from the wrong Birmingham. If he had been born in Birmingham, England rather than Alabama he probably would have been a Rolling Stone.
4.) Harvey Mandel
As they did before, the Rolling Stones went looking to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers for a guitarist. They didn’t take the current one like last time, but they did look at a previous one. Harvey Mandel was in the Bluesbreakers in the early 1970s when Canned Heat disbanded. He played at the legendary Woodstock festival as a part of Canned Heat which was hailed as one of the best performances at the festival and had been a part of Charlie Musselwhite’s band.
Like Wayne Perkins, Mandel also had tracks from his audition appear on “Black and Blue”. The tracks “Hot Stuff” and aforementioned “Memory Lane”. Mick Jagger recommended Mandell to the band because of the similar stage presence of Mick Taylor (probably as Jagger wanted to focus on him jumping around on stage) It is argued that Mandel in the band would have been more creative as a unit than the option they went with.
Mandel could have been a perfect fit for the band with his influences. A fan of his native Chicago blues sounds much like the Stones were. The closest he got to playing with the Rolling Stones on stage was to play with the tribute band The Unauthorized Rolling Stones.
5.) Steve Marriott
Already a part of two successful bands the Small Faces and Humble Pie, Steve Marriott seemed to be a weird choice for the Rolling Stones. Apparently, Marriott was the top choice for Keith to join the band after Taylor left. When he heard that the Stones were interested in him, he disbanded his current band Humble Pie for the chance to audition.
Marriott had an advantage over most of the other auditionees as he was on the London music scene at the same time as the Stones. Being from London gave the guitarist an advantage as some members wanted to keep the band English.
The reason that the choice is weird for Marriott is that you don’t get just a guitarist. You get a frontman with a powerful voice too. This is exactly what happened in the audition. Although a better all-around frontman the soulful voice of Marriott upstaged Mick Jagger which didn’t go down well. He went back to England and decided to join former bandmate Ronnie Lane on tour.
6.) Ronnie Wood
Ronnie Wood’s connection with the Rolling Stones goes back a long way. Always on the scene in the London clubs that the Stones started playing in, Wood bonded with most members of the band, especially Keith Richards. He plays a similar style to the guitarist and contributed to some earlier work for the Rolling Stones.
Wood played on most of the tracks on “Black and Blue” and did get offered the job. The band felt that Wood was a good fit for them even though he wasn’t as talented as the others who auditioned. Like Ringo Starr in the Beatles, he fit the band’s mould rather than be the best person for the job. Wood joined on a part-time basis because the Faces hadn’t officially split up at the time although they were on the brink. When Rod Stewart announced the Faces split, he joined the Rolling Stones full-time.
It wasn’t the first time Wood was considered when Brian Jones was dismissed, the band did call Wood to come and audition but the wrong Ronnie answered. Ronnie Lane who was the bass player in the Faces picked up the phone and said that the guitarist wouldn’t be interested. He didn’t know until years after that Lane had said that.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
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Websites used for research are:
Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and me: Alabama guitarist’s epic life – al.com
My extraordinary brother, Rory . . . – Independent.ie
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