Stones ... what if?

[Aardvark]

So, if Clapton, Buchanan, or Cooder had joined the Stones in the '70's, and actually stuck with the gig, how do you think they would they have impacted the music?

 

[spectreman]

They wouldn't have survived long enough to know!

If they would have survived, we could only dream!

 

[The Last Rebel]

Clapton and Cooder probably wouldn't have fit in too well. They were more traditional blues guys, The Stones were more British R&B/country/blues. I can't really speak for Buchanan.

 

[Joe Robinson]

Count me as a "glad it didn't" kind of guy. I just love the Mick Taylor era too much. Gut yourself a the boot called the Brussels Affair. It's a pleasure to listen to Mick Taylor strech.

Eric and the Stones can be heard on Little Red Rooster on Flashpoint, the live album from the 1989 tour.

 

[Aardvark]

I should add that I love Mick Taylor's Stones work, my favorite Stones era. I also really like Ronnie Wood's work, especially with the Faces. I mentioned the other three names, as they were all considered for the lead guitar spot with the Stones during the '70's.

 

[arthur rotfeld]

Ronnie is cool, but I never felt like he lead them in any new directions. Any of those other guys would have pushed them into different territory.

How about Wayne Perkins?
Love that "Worried About You" solo!

 

[daddyo]

The real what if is . . . what if The Glimmer Twins had treated Taylor with respect and he had stayed in the band. The Stones would have been the pre-eminent band easily dwarfing even Zep. Taylor's effect on the band was that good. One just has to listen to Exile on Mainstreet. I'm convinced the tension of Richards having to play alongside of a talent like Taylor had to have pushed him creatively. Taylor set the bar pretty darn high. After Taylor ws gone, they got everyone's goodtime mate - essentially a tea boy. Time to coast. A few decent albums, Black and Blue, Some Girls, Tattoo You, but the Stones were toast creatively.

 

[shane8]

Ron is the right choice doodz

 

[re-animator]

Clapton would change the stones too much I think.


What i think would have been coolest was if Jeff Beck joined. He tried out, but apparently they never called him back!

 

[RocksOff]

Steve Marriott was actually Keith's choice, but rumor has it that Jagger put the immediate squelch on that.

 

[bluesjunior]

The real what if is . . . what if The Glimmer Twins had treated Taylor with respect and he had stayed in the band. The Stones would have been the pre-eminent band easily dwarfing even Zep. Taylor's effect on the band was that good. One just has to listen to Exile on Mainstreet. I'm convinced the tension of Richards having to play alongside of a talent like Taylor had to have pushed him creatively. Taylor set the bar pretty darn high. After Taylor ws gone, they got everyone's goodtime mate - essentially a tea boy. Time to coast. A few decent albums, Black and Blue, Some Girls, Tattoo You, but the Stones were toast creatively.

If Taylor was so good how come he disappeared into the Hasbeen Ocean?. I saw him a few years back at the Stanley Blues festival here in England and he was nothing memorable and didn't even have any particularly good tone. Stan Webbs Chickenshack and Sherman Robertson were also there and both of them were amazing, in fact just what you expect from headliners.

 

[mikeyrsmith]

Ronnie Wood is a Stone in a way that Mick Taylor never was and never could be. Taylor was a great player, no doubt, in the Clapton/Peter Green/Bloomfield mode, but in many ways too polished for the Stones, where the rough edges were a big part of the magic.

And let's not forget the element of menace in some of the Stones late '60s work. Take a look at their performance in "Rock and Roll Circus" -- Brian Jones can barely stand up straight, but the music eventually reaches some extremely brutal and sinister heights -- just plain mean. I doubt Mick Taylor could have added very much to what was already there.

These days, Woodie and Keef may be a bit too loose at times (and not just musically!), but at their best there's still an unmistakable synergy in their playing that transcends the usual "lead player/rhythm player" dichotomy. And Ron Wood would never have unleashed a non-Rocking abomination on the world like the coda to "Can't Ya Hear me Knocking."

 

[andrekp]

If the Stones ever got any real guitarists to stay in the band long enough to have any effect, the world would have realized what a used up junkie Richhards had become by the early 70's and either he would have been tossed out on his arse, or the Stones would have self-destructed.

I don't get all the Stones love around here. They were great up to MAYBE 1972 or so, then they just put it on coast while Richards was filled with things other than musical ideas. Now they are an utter joke. And I am a fan. I can only imagine what they might have done without the junkie.

 

[Aardvark]

If the Stones ever got any real guitarists to stay in the band long enough to have any effect, the world would have realized what a used up junkie Richhards had become by the early 70's and either he would have been tossed out on his arse, or the Stones would have self-destructed.

I don't get all the Stones love around here. They were great up to MAYBE 1972 or so, then they just put it on coast while Richards was filled with things other than musical ideas. Now they are an utter joke. And I am a fan. I can only imagine what they might have done without the junkie.

Keith's contribution may have been much more as a songwriter than as a guitarist. I have heard it said more than once that he is the musical soul of the Stones (as a writer). I also think that some of their post-Exile albums weren't bad at all (Goat's Head Soup, Some Girls, Tattoo You) compared to the pretty lame stuff churned out by many bands of that period.

 

[Cussion]

Mick Ronson in the Stones would've been cool, I think.

Roy Buchanan in the Stones would've looked kinda strange, I think.

 

[wichita]

Jeff Beck was up for the gig but when he found out others were too he backed out.
Now THAT would have been interesting.

 

[rwe333]

If the Stones ever got any real guitarists to stay in the band long enough to have any effect, the world would have realized what a used up junkie Richhards had become by the early 70's and either he would have been tossed out on his arse, or the Stones would have self-destructed.

I don't get all the Stones love around here. They were great up to MAYBE 1972 or so, then they just put it on coast while Richards was filled with things other than musical ideas. Now they are an utter joke. And I am a fan. I can only imagine what they might have done without the junkie.

Please... Keef's best work may well be his X-pensive Winos solo releases (1987-1993)...

I do prefer Keef contrasted w/ a more dedicated lead player, like Mick Taylor or Waddy Wachtel.

 

[lawrencedesigns]

I think the big question is what if Brian would have survived? Had he not fallen a victim to substance abuse I think he would have been a huge influence. However, I think his desire to stay with the R&B roots would have led him down a different path than the Stones took.
But it might have been brilliant....




Keeth Lawrence
Lake Arrowhead, CA

 

[tommyg]

Mick Ronson in the Stones would've been cool, I think.

Roy Buchanan in the Stones would've looked kinda strange, I think.

Roy never would have worked out. He's his own man and no band would have been able to tame him. Keith and the band were about songs and Roy was into "flash". This is certainly not a rip at all on Roy (he's one of my all-time favs) but his approach to a song is totally different (self indulgent perhaps?)...

It would be like sticking Yngwie in in a later-years Rainbow to replace Blackmore. Rainbow at that point was all about the song and not Ritchie's fingers...

 

[daddyo]

If Taylor was so good how come he disappeared into the Hasbeen Ocean?. I saw him a few years back at the Stanley Blues festival here in England and he was nothing memorable and didn't even have any particularly good tone. Stan Webbs Chickenshack and Sherman Robertson were also there and both of them were amazing, in fact just what you expect from headliners.

Just listen to him with the Stones. I'm not saying he was the god of all guitarists, I'm saying when Taylor was with the Stones, both Taylor and the Stones were at their very best. The chemistry clicked. Music is filled with artists who on their own are ordinary but combined with their bandmates make magic.