Dick Taylor Talks Rolling Stones To Pretty Things - Noise11.com
The Pretty Things

The Pretty Things

Dick Taylor Talks Rolling Stones To Pretty Things

by Paul Cashmere on September 29, 2012

in Live,News

Dick Taylor was a founding member of the Rolling Stones and went on to form another legendary UK band, The Pretty Things.

The Pretty Things

The Pretty Things

Dick will soon be heading to Australia with The Pretty Things for the very first time. In a pre-tour interview he told Noise11.com about the origins of The Stones and The Pretty Things.

Dick counts the beginning of The Stones from April, 1962 but says he and Mick Jagger go back way before that.

“It just seems surreal that it was 50 years ago. In some ways it does seem like it’s in the dim distant past but in other ways a lot of my memories are quite fresh still,” he recounts to Noise11.com.

“I was in the very first band that Mick Jagger was ever in,” he says. “Even through we never played any gigs we rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed around my house mostly. I was involved with him and we were bringing records into school and a group of our friends would be playing the latest Chuck Berry record, or whatever. I was involved with Mick from a very early age. Then when I went to Art School I met Keith Richards. There I was at art school at the age of 16 and still rehearsing with Mick . Keith was playing guitar. He was fascinated by Scotty Moore. He was too shy to suggest he come around to rehearse with us until one day he and Mick caught up with each other. They had known each other when they were really young. At that point we decided to get him round. Then we had Mick, myself and Keith playing together for quite a while. Then we met Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones came together”.

However, Dick can’t remember who named the band. “I am really not sure,” he says. “I know we were in the Bricklayers Arms, a pub we used to rehearse in in Soho. We stood around trying to think of a name. We had been playing ‘Rollin Stone Blues’ by Muddy Waters prior to discussing the name. Then it came up. I am really not sure which of us actually suggested it. I’d love to say it was me but I really can’t remember”.

Dick also confirmed that the original name of the band was The Rollin’ Stones (without the g). “Yeah because ‘Rollin Stone Blues’ was how it was spelt on the Muddy Waters record,” he said. “I noticed in the very first gig we ever did it was billed as ‘Mick Jagger and the Rollin Stones. I am quite sure Brian would have been miffed about that”.

Dick Taylor only had a short stint with the Stones. By December 1962 he left and was replaced by Bill Wyman. “I was playing bass and also trying to get into the Royal College of Art. In the end I went to the Central School of Art. I wanted to play guitar rather than bass. At the art school I was at was Phil May. We actually hired the Rollin Stones for an art school dance. We had to pay them 25 quid. We thought we could be making that kind of money if we started another band”.

The Pretty Things will perform in Australia on:

Tuesday 4th – The Corner Hotel, Richmond
Wednesday 5th – Lizotte’s, Dee Why
Friday 7th – The Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Saturday 8th – Good God Small Club, Sydney
Thursday 13th – Caravan Club, Oakleigh
Friday 14th – Caravan Club, Oakleigh

Related Posts

The Pretty Things Sessions at Noise11
The Rolling Stones Played Their First Show SIXTY Year Ago on 12 July 1962

The Rolling Stones, or as they were known on the Marquee that night … the Rollin’ Stones, played their very first show at the Marquee Club in London on 12 July 1962.

July 13, 2022
The Pretty Things, Phil May: Photo Ros O'Gorman
The Pretty Things Were Name Checked By Bob Dylan and Inspired David Bowie

The Pretty Things have influenced many artists and had an impact of both Bob Dylan and David Bowie.

September 19, 2018
The Pretty Things Sessions at Noise11
Dick Taylor Was In The Rolling Stones Before The Pretty Things And Tells How The Name Came About

Before he started The Pretty Things, Dick Taylor was a member of The Rolling Stones, even before they were called The Rolling Stones.

September 14, 2018
Pretty Things SF Sorrow
Fact: The Pretty Things ‘SF Sorrow’ Was The First Rock Opera, Tommy Was Second

Pretty Things rock opera ‘SF Sorrow’ album predates The Who’s ‘Tommy’ by six months but to this day Pete Townshend has not cited The Pretty Things classic as an inspiration.

September 12, 2018
The Pretty Things, Phil May: Photo Ros O'Gorman
The Pretty Things Secret Gig At The Old Bar Tonight

Noise11 hears that The Pretty Things will perform one more time and one last time for Australia at The Old Bar in Melbourne tonight. The show will be a benefit for Norton Records.

December 15, 2012
Hugh Lloyd-Langton of Hawkwind
Hawkwind Guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton Dies At 61

Huw Lloyd-Langton, guitarist for Hawkwind, has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 61.

December 8, 2012
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones To Play With Bill Wyman And Mick Taylor

Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor will join The Rolling Stones at their first London O2 concerts next week.

November 23, 2012