Watch rare footage of Mick Taylor playing with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1968
Without John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, rock music simply wouldn’t be the same. The group served as an incubator for countless British and American rock musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Aynsley Dunbar. Here, you can see rare footage of the band playing in 1968 during the tenure of future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who played with the Bluesbreakers from 1966 to 1969, replacing Eric Clapton.
Taylor was introduced to John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers at the age of 16. In 1965, he went to see the band perform at The Hop in Welwyn Garden City. For whatever reason, Eric Clapton didn’t show up that night. Thankfully, the crowd was littered with ambitious young guitarists. During the interval, the most confident of them, Mick Taylor, approached John Mayall and asked if he could fill in, noting that he was familiar with the band’s repertoire. Mayall hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed.
After wowing the audience and winning the respect of Mayall, Taylor came off stage and left the venue before Mayall had the chance to speak to him. A year later, Mayall was looking for a guitarist to replace Peter Green and posted an advert in Melody maker. Taylor wrote in and was quickly hired. He made his debut that same year, taking to the stage of the Manor House in North London, later bringing his Latin-blues infusions to albums such as Diary Of A Band, Bare Wires and Blues from Laurel Canyon.
This footage was taken the year before The Rolling Stones hired Taylor. Following the departure of Brian Jones in 1969, John Mayall recommended Taylor to frontman Mick Jagger. At first, Taylor thought he was being called upon to serve as a session guitarist. However, Jagger and Keith Richards were so impressed that they invited him back the next day to rehearse and record with the band. Still only 20 years old, Taylor made his debut with The Stones at the free concert in London’s Hyde Park on July 5th, 1969, where a quarter of a million people turned out to pay tribute to Brian Jones, who had been found dead two days earlier.
