Mick Taylor

If it wasn't for Mick, the group would've fallen apart a long time ago.

The Stones don't really need to do it for money, so they must get some kind of pleasure out of it. They're not like a group that's disbanded and gone away and made a comeback. They've always been there.

The Blues scene now is international. In the '50s it was purely something that you would hear in black clubs, played by black musicians, especially in America. But from the '60s onwards it changed.

Maybe if I go far enough back into my ancestry, I have African roots or something. I've got no idea.

If you've been playing for a few years, especially in a group context, you'll see if you have the ability or the passion to want to carry on. It's something that you have to be dedicated to and you've got to love, no matter what happens.

The most important thing is to follow your instinct and get involved with some friends who have similar tastes and aspirations and like music as much as you do.

I certainly want to get back to the U.S. to play. It's such a big country. I've always liked playing there, and enjoyed living there. I lived in New York, LA, and Florida.

Blues music is becoming more and more popular than it ever was. I'm always meeting people on the road that are really young, and are guitar players. male and female.

I have a really good band, and just returned from a short tour in California. It hasn't always gone that well.

It's frustrating actually, the time involved in getting something released these days. My new CD has actually been finished for a year. It's only now that it's being released.

I'm sure if we had made an album that was more traditional would have been released immediately. When we actually play this music on stage and people become familiar with it, it will become more popular.

I was very influenced by Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, both of whom I had the pleasure of playing with and becoming friends with.

What I've always lacked is a really strong band to back me up.

I didn't think of myself as a lead player, especially when we did live shows, because me and Keith used to switch around all the time. He'd take a lead, I'd play rhythm. Sometimes even within one song. It wasn't strict and regimented.

I do remember actually learning chords to Beatles songs. I thought they were great songwriters.

I play the piano a lot at home. I write songs on the piano and guitar. I would like to actually play piano on stage. I don't think I'll get the chance for a while.

It's sometimes impossible to fit in all the music we want to fit in, in an hour and 45 minute show.

These days there's so much technology and ways you can learn. There are videos and CD roms.

I've never stopped learning.

I've written lots of songs on the piano. My mother had a piano and it was the first instrument I played.