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Clapton No Show Launched Rolling Stone Career

08/20/2010
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You can call it synchronicity. Eric Clapton fails to show up for a gig and the bandleader gives a teen guitarist a shot that would launch a career which would include a gig with one of the biggest bands in rock and roll. Gibson caught up with Mick Taylor who tells the tale of John Mayall giving him his first shot. Taylor would go on to join the Rolling Stones before launching a solo career.

Here is what Mick told Gibson about how Clapton inadvertently paved the way for him. Mick Taylor: So you were 16 or so, and Clapton hadn't shown up for a [John Mayall's Bluesbreakers ]gig�I think I'd just turned 16. Yeah, he didn't show up for a gig, but his guitar was there, which was a Les Paul. So I just went backstage and asked John Mayall if I could do the second part of the show with him.

And he said, "Yeah, if you think you can handle it." I said, "Well, I know all the songs on your 'Beano' album, so I'm sure it will sound better with a guitar player than without one." And he said, "OK, well, Eric's guitar is here. So sit in with us." So I plugged into a little 50-watt Marshall combo amp, used Eric's Les Paul � which sounded great � and I remember doing "Steppin' Out" and "All Your Love" and all the songs that Eric Clapton and John Mayall were associated with at that time. That's exactly how it happened. I went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers show with Eric Clapton and, when Eric Clapton didn't show up, I sat in for him. - The story continues here

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