by Robert Wilkinson
Besides being the birthday of "the Greatest," January 17 was also the birthday of Mick Taylor and Grady Martin! Because we have such a great set, today and tonight we're dancing to the music of "the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band," the Rolling Stones, along with John Mayall and some serious electric blues!
Our first set celebrates the birthday of the legendary country and rockabilly session guitar slinger Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001). From Wikipedia, we find out just how good he was:
A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter" and Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through the Night". During a nearly 50-year career, Martin backed such names as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Johnny Burnette, Don Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Bing Crosby. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Here are 11 original studio versions of huge hits he played on!
Marty Robbins - “El Paso”
Patsy Cline – “Walkin’ After Midnight”
Loretta Lynn - “Coal Miner’s Daughter”
Sammi Smith – “Help Me Make it Through the Night”
Brenda Lee – “I’m Sorry”
Johnny Horton - “Battle of New Orleans” His rockabilly chops are front and center on “I’m Coming Home”
Roy Orbison - “Oh Pretty Woman” (What are the odds of two different guys born on the same birth day being famous for two different songs with the same name?)
We’ll close with one he played on with my old friend Willie Nelson, the iconic “On The Road Again”
So here's a big one for you, Grady! Anyone who played with Elvis, Buddy, Willie, the two Johnnys and Patsy is all right!
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Our main set features one of the truly great guitar slingers ever to come out of England! The amazing slide guitarist Mick Taylor (17 January 1949.) is one of the truly great electric blues guitarists in the world. This truly great talent has played on some of the most well-known recordings in history. Lead guitar for John Mayall after Peter Green left to form Fleetwood Mac, he gave us great leads then, followed by some extraordinary work with the Rolling Stones in the late 60s and early 70s. He did the amazing guitar work on 1969's Let It Bleed, 1970's Get Yer Ya Ya's Out, 1971's Sticky Fingers, and 1972's Exile on Main St. This was the era when they went from their “middle period” of Aftermath through Beggar’s Banquet where they peaked as an R&B band, and became “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.” These days he’s doing his thing with his own band, and I found more than a few gems for our dancing pleasure tonight!
From Pop Goes the 60s, here's a great live vocal set to a backing track by the Stones and Mick Taylor in 1969 of the harrowing "Gimmie shelter."
From The David Frost Show in 1969, a live performance by the Rolling Stones with Mick Taylor on lead doing "You Can't Always Get What You Want." (Mick Jagger's voice is shot!)
From the same year on Top of the Pops, a clearly lip-synched version of “Honky Tonk Women”
In 1969 the Stones did a concert in Hyde Park to honor Brian Jones, who had died. This is said to be Mick’s first appearance with the band. I tried to put them in order of the set list. We begin with the first song of their set, said to be Brian’s favorite song.
Tribute to Brian Jones / “I'm Yours and I'm Hers”
Their next song was a new one! “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Mercy Mercy” (with incomplete portions of the next songs in the set list, “Stray Cat Blues” and “No Expectations,” which you can find below.)
“Stray Cat Blues” and “No Expectations”
Here’s the audio-only performance of “Loving Cup”
Here’s the audio-only performance of “Street Fighting Man”
They closed the show with “Sympathy For the Devil”
If you don’t want to have to click through each of the above, here’s a link to 31 minutes of the concert, even though it mixes up the set list. ““Sympathy For the Devil,” “No Expectations,” “Stray Cat Blues,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Midnight Rambler,” and “Satisfaction.”
Live at the Marquee in 1971, a great video of “Dead Flowers”
Live at Montreux in 1972, here’s “Loving Cup”
The Rolling Stones toured Texas in 1972 and I saw them in both Houston and Ft. Worth! Here are some great performances from those Texas shows! This tour cemented their status as “the world's greatest rock and roll band," and these performances show why!
First, featuring Mick Taylor’s utterly smoking slide guitar and the Stones, here’s a fantastic live performance of “All Down the Line”
From the same gig:
That version of “Gimme Shelter” has disappeared, so here’s another one from 1972! “Gimme Shelter”
I saw them in this show, and the Houston show was a couple of days later. Here’s the awesome “Gimme Shelter”
This year an entire 15 video set of their Ft. Worth shows turned up! For your enjoyment, The Rolling Stones Live in Ft. Worth – June 24, 1972 (Set List: “Brown Sugar,” “Bitch,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Dead Flowers,” “Happy,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Sweet Virginia,” “All Down the Line,” “Bye Bye Johnny,” “Rip This Joint,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and “Street Fighting Man.”)
Last year I had both 1972 Ft. Worth shows back to back, but that 2 hour and 26 audio straight off the soundboard is gone. However, I found this hour and 14 audio of the second show, so enjoy Stones in their classic phase! The Rolling Stones Live in Ft. Worth – June 24, 1972
Also from a 1972 tour show, “Bye Bye Johnny”
From the DVD Ladies and Gentlemen
From 1973, here’s a great live performance by Mick and the Stones of “Street Fighting Man”
From 1973 in Newcastle on Tyne, here's "Star Star."
Going back in time during his stint as John Mayall’s lead guitarist, here’s a great audio-only live performance at the Fillmore in 1968 by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Mick cranking out a harrowing blues wail, “So Many Roads”
In 1975 Mick Taylor and Jack Bruce collaborated on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Last year I had the whole 54 minute show on one clip but this year it’s gone. However, these individual song clips from that show are still good, so enjoy!
We'll finish this concert with “Smiles and Grins”
We now find him with the Stones, but not entirely. In a live performance With Ron Wood, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman (in other words, the instrumental core of the Rolling Stones minus Keith), here's Mick doing their Tribute to Ian Stewart.
Last year I found a live duet of Mick Taylor and Ron Wood doing this classic, but it’s gone. Instead, I found this rocking alternative version by the Stones of "Stop Breakin' Down."
From his 1979 album, set to stills, here's the superb instrumental "Spanish/A Minor."
From 1981 in Italy, a live performance set to stills of Mick Taylor and Alvin Lee doing a smokin' version of Larry Williams’ classic “Slow Down”
From the same Italian tour, here’s “Pecan Pie” and “One of these Days,” which we’ll follow with “Double Dose” and close with the classic “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”
From 1982, a great live performance of John Mayall, Mick Taylor and John McVie doing “An Eye for an Eye”
From 1982, here’s a live performance video of Mick Taylor and Etta James in Concert
Live in 1983 set to stills, here's Mick and John Mayall doing "Have You Heard."
From 1986, the Mick Taylor Band in a live, utterly smoking performance of “Reelin’ and Rockin’” and from the same gig, here’s “Got My Mojo Working”
Live in 1989, here's Mick performing "Blues in the Morning." From the same gig, here’s “Giddy Up”
Live in Toronto in 1990, Mick live doing "Little Red Rooster."
From 1992, the Mick Taylor band live in Madrid doing "You got to Move”
From 1995, the entire 1 hour and 13 show! The Mick Taylor Band Live in Paris - 1995
Last year I had an amazing video of 4 hours and 23 of John Mayall’s 70th birthday party in 2003 with Mick, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers, and more! This year it’s disappeared.
Here are a few great clips of Mick Taylor’s playing in that show. Check it out, since this is some REAL electric blues playing, so enjoy! We’ll begin with Mick’s introductory number, with the rest in approximate order.
“Somebody’s Acting Like A Child”
“Oh Pretty Woman” (NOT the Roy Orbison monster hit! This was written by Albert King.)
From 2009, here's Mick live doing his version of "Love In Vain."
From 2012, here’s Mick reunited with the Rolling Stones in a great live performance of “Midnight Rambler”
For a finale, we'll close these performances with what the Master's up to now. Here's the Mick Taylor Band live in May 2012 at the Iridium Jazz Club in NYC doing an updated version of a Stones tune from back when Mick played with them. It's 9+ minutes of a great jazz rock performance!
From late October 2016, a live performance with Terry Reid of “White Room”
For the encore, here’s two clips of a long show Mick did as John Mayall’s guitarist in June 1982!
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - Set 1 - Capitol Theatre (1 hour 20)
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - Set 2 - Capitol Theatre (1 hour 31)
For our second encore, we'll close Mick's birthday tribute with a great 1 hour and 12 show from 1995!
The Mick Taylor Band – Live in Concert.
Last year I had a 2 part special featuring great pieces of guitar work by Mick titled Mick Taylor - An Extraordinary Musician but this year part 1 has disappeared.
Mick Taylor – an Extraordinary Musician part 2.
However, this year I found a 20 minute tv special mini-documentary split into two parts with interviews and performances. For your enjoyment,
On the Road with Mick Taylor - part 1.
On the Road with Mick Taylor - part 2.
Copyright © 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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