The great guitarists who almost joined The Rolling Stones
“It was a little ballroom in Twickenham, and there were 12 people there,” said Rod Stewart, recalling the first time he ever saw The Rolling Stones perform. “Mick’s girlfriend was a girl called Chrissie Shrimpton, who was the sister of the great model Jean Shrimpton. My girlfriend and his girlfriend were friends, and she said, ‘Come and see my boyfriend, he’s a singer too’… There was literally no one there; they were all sitting on stools playing.”
It’s fun to hear stories of The Rolling Stones’ pre-fame, knowing how big they would become. Unquestionably one of the most prominent bands in the UK, The Rolling Stones completely took the world by storm, providing a more up-tempo and flamboyant version of the blues to give the public something exciting and new.
The band started thanks to Muddy Waters. Regardless of who you think the most important member is or what influences they might have had, if not for Muddy Waters, the Rolling Stones simply wouldn’t exist. When Waters came to the UK in 1958, he brought a new style of playing the blues with him, and many people left his shows feeling inspired.
Two people who left the show inspired were Alexis Korner and Cyril Davis, who went on to make the first-ever UK blues band. Other members of that band included Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, and Jack Bruce. The band didn’t last long, and members went their separate ways. While Jack Bruce went on to help start the band Cream, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts began putting together what would eventually become the Rolling Stones.
Because of how much of an influence Muddy Waters had on the band, it was always going to be the case that Rolling Stones had an excellent guitarist. They found that in Keith Richards, who has been responsible for some of the most iconic and exciting riffs and guitar solos in the past century. The band also had Brian Jones, who left in the late ‘60s.
When Jones left, there were a number of potential guitarists who could have joined the band. Some of them were already legendary and would have made excellent additions to the band in their own right.
For instance, Eric Clapton came close to filling Jones’s place. After careful consideration and given he had already played in several bands that had broken up, Clapton opted to turn the opportunity down. “The pros and cons of being in a band like that were massively extreme,” he said.
Other guitarists who came close to joining the Rolling Stones included the likes of Ry Cooder, Jeff Beck, Shuggie Otis, Rory Gallagher, and others. Regardless, the band weren’t short on suggestions; however, they found what they were looking for in Mick Taylor, who ended up joining the band in 1969 and proved himself a valuable asset to the Rolling Stones.
The guitarists who nearly joined The Rolling Stones
- Eric Clapton
- Ry Cooder
- Jeff Beck
- Shuggie Otis
- Rory Gallagher
- Steve Marriott
- Roy Buchanan
- Harvey Mandel
- Peter Frampton
- Nils Lofgren
- Wayne Perkins
- Andy Summers
