Almost a companion piece to the newly released Stones in Exile DVD, 1969-1974 The Mick Taylor Years takes a look at the most creative period in the history of the 'Worlds Greatest Rock and Roll Band'. With the release of Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones dismissed founding member Brian Jones and brought in 20 year old guitar prodigy Mick Taylor, fresh from his stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From there the band went on to record some of the strongest rock albums in the history of the genre; Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main St., as well as the underrated Goat's Head Soup and It's Only Rock and Roll, all featuring the superior blues, jazz, and rock licks of Taylor, who added a virtuoso flavor alongside the gritty guitar work of Keith Richards.
The DVD takes an in-depth look at Taylor's introduction to the band at the famous free concert at London's Hyde Park, all the way through each album release and up to the guitarist leaving the band in late 1974. For those who worship these albums, this DVD will be a real treat, as they look pretty closely at each one and talk about what went on during the recording of them, the songs, and the climate within the band, especially between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. A good chunk of time is spent on Exile On Main St., which is no surprise given that the CD has just been reissued, but in all honesty there's so much 'rock and roll folklore' surrounding that album that you could really spend hours talking about it. For a great look at the 'Exile' album, be sure to check out the already mentioned Stones in Exile DVD.
Plenty of commentary with rock journalists and musicians, including Mick Taylor himself, John Mayall, Robert Greenfield, Robert Christgau, Al Perkins, Barney Hoskyns, Bill Plummer and others, make for some fascinating viewing as they offer plenty of insight into this era of the band. Throw in quite a bit of live snippets of the band performing songs from this period (though sadly, no complete songs here), and you have a very enjoyable 90+ minutes for all fans of the Stones early 70's output.
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