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duke richardson

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DandelionPowderman

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FP
I do think the Stones only really let Taylor cut loose on a few occasions such as Sway and Can't You Hear Me Knocking. I think it is interesting that some of Taylor's freest playing is on Goat's Head Soup where Keith seemed to be hardly present due to his drug problems.Having said that, while it is great to hear lengthy solos on Winter and 100 Years Ago there is a lack of tension due to the virtual absence of signature Keith riffs and guitar meshing. I think it is true that Keith restrained Taylor's presence on some tracks but not because he was jealous but because he wanted the song to shine first and foremost rather than any specific band member. I think this tension created the magic. When that balance was upset on GHS I think they ended up with quite a boring album. I don't think it is a coincidence that Keith isn't even present songs such as Sway, Moonlight Mile, Shine a Light and Winter which maybe explains the more prominent soloing from Taylor which Jagger indulged.

Keith is on Sway. Mighty fine analysis

ok DP I believe you,
but I always thought he had said he wasn't.

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kleermaker

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duke richardson

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DandelionPowderman

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FP
I do think the Stones only really let Taylor cut loose on a few occasions such as Sway and Can't You Hear Me Knocking. I think it is interesting that some of Taylor's freest playing is on Goat's Head Soup where Keith seemed to be hardly present due to his drug problems.Having said that, while it is great to hear lengthy solos on Winter and 100 Years Ago there is a lack of tension due to the virtual absence of signature Keith riffs and guitar meshing. I think it is true that Keith restrained Taylor's presence on some tracks but not because he was jealous but because he wanted the song to shine first and foremost rather than any specific band member. I think this tension created the magic. When that balance was upset on GHS I think they ended up with quite a boring album. I don't think it is a coincidence that Keith isn't even present songs such as Sway, Moonlight Mile, Shine a Light and Winter which maybe explains the more prominent soloing from Taylor which Jagger indulged.

Keith is on Sway. Mighty fine analysis

ok DP I believe you,
but I always thought he had said he wasn't.

His voice is, not his guitar.

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TheGreek
to the naysayers about keith richards . keith is the stones along with his glimmer twin mick jagger .i love mick taylor but the stones were not his BAND .i could listen to mick taylor's solo all day and all night long .to bad things did not work out . thank god we got to enjoy taylor in a command encore performance on the 50 and counting tour .as far as exile on main street goes this is a MASTERPIECE . who are we to argue with the glimmers .i dont think you can improve a true MASTERPIECE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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kleermaker

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TheGreek
to the naysayers about keith richards . keith is the stones along with his glimmer twin mick jagger .i love mick taylor but the stones were not his BAND .i could listen to mick taylor's solo all day and all night long .to bad things did not work out . thank god we got to enjoy taylor in a command encore performance on the 50 and counting tour .as far as exile on main street goes this is a MASTERPIECE . who are we to argue with the glimmers .i dont think you can improve a true MASTERPIECE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course you can. We can. We even did.

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kleermaker

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FP
I do think the Stones only really let Taylor cut loose on a few occasions such as Sway and Can't You Hear Me Knocking. I think it is interesting that some of Taylor's freest playing is on Goat's Head Soup where Keith seemed to be hardly present due to his drug problems.Having said that, while it is great to hear lengthy solos on Winter and 100 Years Ago there is a lack of tension due to the virtual absence of signature Keith riffs and guitar meshing. I think it is true that Keith restrained Taylor's presence on some tracks but not because he was jealous but because he wanted the song to shine first and foremost rather than any specific band member. I think this tension created the magic. When that balance was upset on GHS I think they ended up with quite a boring album. I don't think it is a coincidence that Keith isn't even present songs such as Sway, Moonlight Mile, Shine a Light and Winter which maybe explains the more prominent soloing from Taylor which Jagger indulged.

You're of course entitled to judge Sway, Moonlight Mile, Shine A Light, Winter, 100 Years Ago as boring. But those songs don't have "lengthy solos" (except maybe Sway), albeit great lead guitar. My criticism concerning Exile is not that there are too few Taylor solos, but that there's too few Taylor and too much Keith, as for the guitars. Exile is much cut and paste work, but somehow it doesn't work very well, the exit solo on Rocks Off being a good example of a missing guitar that suddenly appears in the fade out. On Ventilator Blues it's just one half Keith and the other half Taylor. Listening to VB on the Dallas rehearsal recording 1972 we get an impression of how it had to be.

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TheGreek

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kleermaker

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TheGreek
to the naysayers about keith richards . keith is the stones along with his glimmer twin mick jagger .i love mick taylor but the stones were not his BAND .i could listen to mick taylor's solo all day and all night long .to bad things did not work out . thank god we got to enjoy taylor in a command encore performance on the 50 and counting tour .as far as exile on main street goes this is a MASTERPIECE . who are we to argue with the glimmers .i dont think you can improve a true MASTERPIECE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course you can. We can. We even did.

hubris

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FP

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kleermaker

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FP
I do think the Stones only really let Taylor cut loose on a few occasions such as Sway and Can't You Hear Me Knocking. I think it is interesting that some of Taylor's freest playing is on Goat's Head Soup where Keith seemed to be hardly present due to his drug problems.Having said that, while it is great to hear lengthy solos on Winter and 100 Years Ago there is a lack of tension due to the virtual absence of signature Keith riffs and guitar meshing. I think it is true that Keith restrained Taylor's presence on some tracks but not because he was jealous but because he wanted the song to shine first and foremost rather than any specific band member. I think this tension created the magic. When that balance was upset on GHS I think they ended up with quite a boring album. I don't think it is a coincidence that Keith isn't even present songs such as Sway, Moonlight Mile, Shine a Light and Winter which maybe explains the more prominent soloing from Taylor which Jagger indulged.

You're of course entitled to judge Sway, Moonlight Mile, Shine A Light, Winter, 100 Years Ago as boring. But those songs don't have "lengthy solos" (except maybe Sway), albeit great lead guitar. My criticism concerning Exile is not that there are too few Taylor solos, but that there's too few Taylor and too much Keith, as for the guitars. Exile is much cut and paste work, but somehow it doesn't work very well, the exit solo on Rocks Off being a good example of a missing guitar that suddenly appears in the fade out. On Ventilator Blues it's just one half Keith and the other half Taylor. Listening to VB on the Dallas rehearsal recording 1972 we get an impression of how it had to be.

I don't think any of those songs are boring, far from it. I was referring more to GHS as an overall album. It has some great songs but it just does not have a glue holding it together. It seems that the clavinet and organ play the role that Keith's guitar should have done. I agree they are not straight up 10 minute jams but they apart from Moonlight Mile they all have more conventional "lead" guitar, particularly Sway (one of my fav Stones songs BTW)

Out of interest I always assumed Taylor got a writing credit on VB for the main riff? If that is Keith's do you think Taylor provided the chorus chords? Or is the riff Taylor's but played by keith?

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DandelionPowderman

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FP
I was always a big fan of Taylor's stunning melodic solos on Sticky Fingers and Goats Head Soup, 2 albums where there is a clear division between the lead and rhythm guitars of Taylor and Richards. When I first heard Exile I was a bit disappointed; I loved the songs but missed the solos. It was always a more dense and difficult album to define who played what, being a rhythm based album with piano, horns and other percussion fighting for space with the guitars. It took me a while to unpick all the layers of playing and now it is my favourite Stones album. Despite being a huge Taylor fan I do feel this is Keith's album through and through and in many ways the mix seems to marginalize Taylor's talents aside from the flashes of inspired slide guitar. He is relegated to bass on many tracks or missing completely. For no particular reason I decided to listen to the whole album and assess Taylor's contributions on each track. Most of this is guess work or based on things I have read in other places but I want to leave it open for debate!

Rocks off

Richard on left opening riff followed by another Keith rhythm part on right and a melodic harmony riff in centre from Taylor. Then main rhythm riffs by Richards take over for the bulk of the song as Taylor is mixed very low to provide a few melodic parts which sound almost like an electric piano. At .50 into the tune Taylor brings in a slide guitar part that sounds like a ghostly backing vocal. The rhythm guitars keep up the same feel then Taylor plays an elegant run at about 1.05. Taylor is mostly inaudible until after the bridge when some slide comes in at 2.50 followed by a run at about 3.00. At 4.00 Taylor plays the same fill as at 1.05 followed by a brief solo at 4.15, the only time he comes up in the mix before a sudden fade. I always wanted the end solo to go on further and it feels more like a warm up than an actual solo. Live Taylor played some nice country fills on this tune but as on Tumbling Dice this song never seemed to work with any lead guitar and Taylor seems to over play live rather than meshing with Keith. I always assumed it was all Keith playing rhythm parts but if anyone knows better let me know.

Rip This Joint

The rhythm guitars on this song again both sound like Richards. Taylor comes in a 0.23 with a slide fill. Taylor returns with a melodic fill at 0.46. At 1.16 he again plays a slide fill. His playing is again quite low in a dense mix but cuts through better than Rocks Off.

Shake your Hips

Another song which could be all Keith, but as it is such a dense tangle of guitars it feels like a live take and I think this is Keith on the left and Taylor on the right. The solo like fills are Keith I think as he plays them in rehearsal videos I have seen. If it is Taylor this is a very nice example of how he could mesh with Keith when required but it is a rare example of this type of playing which was more prevalent in the Ron Wood Years.

Casino Boogie
Keith on riff on left and Taylor right, a nice mesh like the previous tune unless all rhythm parts are Keith? Sounds like Taylor on the bass as well as the part is very melodic. Taylor (?) plays some nice slide riffs 0.26. Subtle rhythm playing with occasional slide embellishments through first verses on right. Nice slide fills through out sax solo from 1.20. A great bluesy riff from 2.10 comes in on the left, sounds like Keith but then develops into a solo that is surely Taylor? Bounces off the slide riffs on the right to great effect as it pans around. Quite low mix though sadly.

Tumbling Dice
Taylor on bass for this one. Keith plays the intro riff before being joined by a slide riff at 0.09 which I presume is Taylor? A second rhythm part on right could be Taylor or Richards. The slide is very concise which makes me think it could be Richards? Through out the slide adds a melodic element without being a solo. The main break is at 1.49 where the slide plays a rhythmic device before playing a delicate harmony on the bridge chords. At 2.30 a descending melodic riff comes in on both left and right with some slide textures, could both be Keith layering.

Sweet Virginia
Richards opens with chords on left followed by mandolin link trills from Taylor. Taylor plays melodic acoustic accompaniment throughout the tune plus backing vocals.

Torn & Frayed
Keith plays all the guitar with Taylor on bass and steel guitar by Al Perkins.

Sweet Black Angel
Sounds like just Keith on acoustic and does not feature Taylor? Possibly Taylor plays the high acoustic outro.

Loving Cup
Keith comes in at 0.25 with beautiful acoustic strumming. Another heavier electric riff comes in at 0.55 but this sounds like Keith so I am not sure Taylor is on this tune although he plays the heavy riff part live.

Happy
Richards plays the signature riff and it feels like he plays all the guitars on this. Either way both slide guitars play variations on the same riff in the Keith style. Most likely the guitar on the right is Taylor if he is on it at all. The slide solo at 1.12 sound like Richards as it is very cool but quite easy.

Turd on the Run
All Keith until about 1.00 when a great riff comes in from Taylor. Sounds like horns but is a syncopated guitar part. This comes in again at 1.50. Great unique sound particularly the shuffling guitars at the end.

Ventilator Blues
Cool riff from Taylor starts the song. Richards plays some acoustic rhythm from about 0.30. Most of the guitar sounds like Taylor, playing some acoustic slide in the middle. A similar solo under the coda as Casino Boogie but much tighter and higher in the mix from Taylor.

I Just Want to See His Face
Taylor on electric bass and Richards on electric piano?

Let it Loose
Leslie speaker arpeggio guitar, sounds like it is all Richards unless Taylor is just playing the same part doubled? Or maybe Keith's idea but played by just Taylor?

All Down the Line
Most conventional rhythm and lead split on the album, Keith plays charging riff and Taylor plays searing slide through out plus a great but brief solo at 2.05.

Stop Breaking Down
Similar to the above accept Jagger plays rhythm guitar and Taylor great spooky slide though out . Could be a follow up to previous Jagger/Taylor duet Sway but this is a cover of course.

Shine a Light
No Richards on this. Mainly piano and organ based until Taylor’s solo fills come in at 1.00. He plays epic guitar until the main solo at 2.40. The best mixed solo on record but again rather abruptly cut off in mid flow by a bridge of strange Leslie effect vocals. Brief coda solo before sudden ending. Taylor and Wyman claim the bass line.

Soul Survivor
Sounds like this could be all Richards. Left channel riff is Richards with a slide part also coming in on left at 0.05 with some delicate extra rhythm on right. Not sure if slide is Taylor but most likely contribution particularly the parts from 3.34 as it has his thick rich tone.

No Taylor on Rocks Off, until the ending.

No Taylor at all on Let It Loose, Sweet Black Angel, Turd On The Run, Loving Cup or Happy.

Taylor is only heard toward the ending on Ventilator Blues.

No Taylor guitar on Torn & Frayed, I Just Wanna See His Face, Tumbling Dice

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kleermaker

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TheGreek

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kleermaker

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TheGreek
to the naysayers about keith richards . keith is the stones along with his glimmer twin mick jagger .i love mick taylor but the stones were not his BAND .i could listen to mick taylor's solo all day and all night long .to bad things did not work out . thank god we got to enjoy taylor in a command encore performance on the 50 and counting tour .as far as exile on main street goes this is a MASTERPIECE . who are we to argue with the glimmers .i dont think you can improve a true MASTERPIECE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course you can. We can. We even did.

hubris

Great word for someone called The Greek.

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TheGreek

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kleermaker

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TheGreek

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kleermaker

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TheGreek
to the naysayers about keith richards . keith is the stones along with his glimmer twin mick jagger .i love mick taylor but the stones were not his BAND .i could listen to mick taylor's solo all day and all night long .to bad things did not work out . thank god we got to enjoy taylor in a command encore performance on the 50 and counting tour .as far as exile on main street goes this is a MASTERPIECE . who are we to argue with the glimmers .i dont think you can improve a true MASTERPIECE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course you can. We can. We even did.

hubris

Great word for someone called The Greek.

you are gonna chuckle but i did not even think of the greek background of the word !

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kleermaker
Exile coulda been so much stronger when Taylor had been used more, and not per se solos or lead guitar, but bits and fills too.

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smokeydusky

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kleermaker
Exile coulda been so much stronger when Taylor had been used more, and not per se solos or lead guitar, but bits and fills too.

The "Nicky Hopkins" outtakes have Taylor's unedited parts for Rocks Off and Rip This Joint.

For those two songs, I prefer some of the versions on the '72 American and '73 European tours.

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duke richardson
one of the finest solos on Exile isn't by any of the Stones. the steel on Torn And Frayed..Al Perkins..

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JakeA
TD

There is at least four guitars. Jagger plays rhythm guitar, MT plays slide
and second part of solo. Keith plays all the rest.

Exile is Keith`s great album which MT makes even better. Best Stones album, you never get bored with it.

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DandelionPowderman

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JakeA
TD

There is at least four guitars. Jagger plays rhythm guitar, MT plays slide
and second part of solo. Keith plays all the rest.

Exile is Keith`s great album which MT makes even better. Best Stones album, you never get bored with it.

Mick Taylor only plays bass on TD.

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liddas

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DandelionPowderman

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JakeA
TD

There is at least four guitars. Jagger plays rhythm guitar, MT plays slide
and second part of solo. Keith plays all the rest.

Exile is Keith`s great album which MT makes even better. Best Stones album, you never get bored with it.

Mick Taylor only plays bass on TD.

I am quite sure that there is some MT pasted in the solo. If you listen carefully, around minute 2.01, the ending of the solo is a different guitar, and, to me, sounds just like Taylor.

C

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DandelionPowderman

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liddas

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DandelionPowderman

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JakeA
TD

There is at least four guitars. Jagger plays rhythm guitar, MT plays slide
and second part of solo. Keith plays all the rest.

Exile is Keith`s great album which MT makes even better. Best Stones album, you never get bored with it.

Mick Taylor only plays bass on TD.

I am quite sure that there is some MT pasted in the solo. If you listen carefully, around minute 2.01, the ending of the solo is a different guitar, and, to me, sounds just like Taylor.

C

It's Keith.

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FP
@ kleermaker
I don't think any of those songs are boring, far from it. I was referring more to GHS as an overall album. It has some great songs but it just does not have a glue holding it together. It seems that the clavinet and organ play the role that Keith's guitar should have done. I agree they are not straight up 10 minute jams but they apart from Moonlight Mile they all have more conventional "lead" guitar, particularly Sway (one of my fav Stones songs BTW).

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liddas

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DandelionPowderman

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JakeA
TD

There is at least four guitars. Jagger plays rhythm guitar, MT plays slide
and second part of solo. Keith plays all the rest.

Exile is Keith`s great album which MT makes even better. Best Stones album, you never get bored with it.

Mick Taylor only plays bass on TD.

I am quite sure that there is some MT pasted in the solo. If you listen carefully, around minute 2.01, the ending of the solo is a different guitar, and, to me, sounds just like Taylor.

C

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Bellajane

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StonesCat

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Thrylan

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Thrylan
Typo........damn auto correct!

I favor the restrained playing on Exile, but that one is Keith's...... MT didn't hold up to the marathon sessions required of being a Stone. I think he loved to play, and not really think about it.

About a million Keith quotes. Even MJ has stated that MT wanted to do stuff in a couple of takes......not the Stones way. Jimmy Miller alluded to this too. It's also why Ronnie was a perfect fit.

Here we go.......getting a five year period in a 50 year old band twisted....

From everything I've read, aside from Keith, MT was around the house in one fashion or another more than any of the other core members. I think Keith being involved MORE is what might lead to a little less MT on Exile, not any kind of exclusion.

I agree. Plus I have to stress that one of MT's greatest sources of frustation with the band was the lengthy recording sessions..especially at Nellcote. Even when he first met them, he wasn't very impressed, at least, with the band in the studio. Bill Wyman expressed this same frustration about Exile in Crossfire Hurricane, saying (in so many words) when a track should have taken a couple of hours to record, it took two f***ing weeks. Also, after leaving Nellcote, the band flew to LA to finish recording. How much input did MT have during that time...it appears very little from what I've read. It also appears that his drug consumption escalated during that period. Personally, I think the experience at Nellcote, essentially being forced to move there, and recording Exile,was the beginning of MT's disenchantment with the Stones. Having said that, I think Exile is an awesome album!

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Bellajane
Also, after leaving Nellcote, the band flew to LA to finish recording. How much input did MT have during that time...it appears very little from what I've read.

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DandelionPowderman
A thing that rarely is mentioned about the recording of Exile is that several tracks were recorded (partly) at Mick's place