I was reading how one person felt Mick Taylor was a "p*ssy" for quitting the Stones...
I was wondering if you think he was right to quit? Not from the perspective of a Stones fan (being a fan of the era), but if you were in his shoes?
See, I think Mick never did feel he fit in with Mick and Keith. He fit in with Charlie and Bill, but it seems like Keith never really liked him, and Mick sort of took him for granted. Notice how the guy that replaced him was given at least SOME credit for songs he helped come up with? They didn't want to make that mistake again.

Now, I don't support a band member quitting in every case--For example, I think Slash (of Guns N' Roses) was to stupid to quit in 1996, and after being told by Slash about his brutally honest inner feelings about the situation with Axl, even Keith advised Slash to stay; I imagine the situation couldn't have been as bad as Slash paints it nowadays if Keith said, "you never quit." Slash writes in his book how being in the band by 1996 made him feel literally suicidal and to me that's just over the top, a real weakling.

I get the impression that Taylor will give an honest explanation on why he quit the Stones in his upcoming book.
We've heard about the drugs & lifestyle & lack of credits he (presumably) could not deal with, but I'm thinking it was more than just that.

At the time that Taylor quit the Stones were obviously popular, but were not yet the mega-money-making machine they were to become, and it was unsure how much longer the Stones would survive as a band.

I'm thinking Taylor took the complete scenario into consideration, perhaps thought the band may not be around much longer, and didn't think it was worth it for him to stick around and put up with a situation that he had virtually no control over.

I would respect a decision like this, even though it probably prevented him from enjoying the fruits of major success that were to take place years later.

Edith Grove wrote on Mar 12^th, 2011 at 5:17am:

I get the impression that Taylor will give an honest explanation on why he quit the Stones in his upcoming book. We've heard about the drugs & lifestyle & lack of credits he (presumably) could not deal with, but I'm thinking it was more than just that. At the time that Taylor quit the Stones were obviously popular, but were not yet the mega-money-making machine they were to become, and it was unsure how much longer the Stones would survive as a band. I'm thinking Taylor took the complete scenario into consideration, perhaps thought the band may not be around much longer, and didn't think it was worth it for him to stick around and put up with a situation that he had virtually no control over. I would respect a decision like this, even though it probably prevented him from enjoying the fruits of major success that were to take place years later.

...agree