Today (June 21st) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the release of Mick Taylor, the self-titled solo debut album from the former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The 1979 release spent five weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 119.
Taylor played guitar, piano, bass and synthesizer on the record as well as provided vocals. Joining him were Lowell George (slide guitar), Jean Roussell (piano), Kuma Harada (bass), Alan Spenner (bass), Mike Driscoll (drums), Pierre Moerlen (drums) and Richard Bailey (drums).
Side one opens with "Leather Jacket", a light rocker that shifts its rhythm like neophyte driver learning how to work a standard transmission vehicle. Taylor makes it actually work though.
"Alabama" opens with a lovely acoustic guitar. The stripped down sound works well, giving this song about heading home a blues vibe.
"Slow Blues" is an instrumental track that is exactly what the title describes. It is very chill and relaxed.
"Baby I Want You" seems very familiar to me; I suspect I heard it on the radio back in the day. If not, it certainly sounds a lot like much of the soft rock music from the late 70's. If Eric Clapton and James Taylor did a song together back then, it would have sounded just like this one.
The music of "Broken Hands" reminds me a little bit of Jackson Browne. The song tells about a traveling musician, something with which Taylor was quite familiar.
Side two begins with "Giddy-Up", a funky instrumental number with a good guitar groove.
"S.W.5" is next. The guy in the song finds himself spending time at Southwest Park where he thinks about the woman he loves.
The epic twelve minute instrumental suite "Spanish/A Minor" closes the album.
This was my first exposure to Mick Taylor, and I found that I liked the album a good bit upon the first listen. I found it to be very relaxing overall. This is one that definitely is going on my list for a future purchase. If you have never heard it before, you might want to hop over to Spotify and give it a listen.
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