Richard Clifford Taylor (born 28 January 1943) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and founder of the

Pretty Things Pretty Things were an English Rock music, rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, i ...

. Taylor was also a founding member of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, playing guitar and bass guitar, but left the band to resume his studies at Sidcup Art College. While there he formed the Pretty Things in September 1963 which he played with until the band's retirement in 2018. As of 2024, he plays lead guitar for the band the Hillmans.

Career

Taylor was born in Livingstone Hospital,

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, and attended

Dartford Grammar School Dartford Grammar School is a secondary foundation school for boys (ages 11–18) in Dartford, Kent, England, which admits girls to its sixth form (ages 16–18). All of the students joining the school are considered to be from the top 25% of t ...

. In July 1962, while he was at Sidcup Art College,

was formed when Taylor,

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

' three-piece group Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys joined

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

and Ian Stewart's Rollin' Stones. Initially, Taylor played lead guitar in the band, but switched to bass to accommodate Jones. That November, Taylor left to return to art college. Taylor never recorded with the Rolling Stones, whose debut single was issued in June 1963. In 1963, Taylor formed the

with vocalist Phil May, and once again played his preferred guitar position. He left the Pretty Things in 1969, after the release of their concept album ''

S.F. Sorrow ''S. F. Sorrow'' is the fourth album by the English rock band Pretty Things. Released in 1968, it is known as one of the first rock operas ever released. Background The Pretty Things' April 1967 album ''Emotions'' was their last made under the ...

''. The band released a few more albums without Taylor and disbanded in 1976, but regrouped with Taylor in 1979 to release '' Cross Talk''. Taylor remained with the Pretty Things until they broke up in 2018. In addition to his work with the Pretty Things, Taylor co-produced

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

's debut album, on which he also played

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, as well as

Cochise Cochise ( ; Apache: or , ; later or , ; June 8, 1874) was the leader of the Chiricahui local group of the Chokonen and principal nantan of the Chokonen band of a Chiricahua Apache. A key war leader during the Apache Wars, he led an upri ...

's first album and

Skin Alley Skin Alley were a British progressive rock band founded by Thomas Crimble (musician), Thomas Crimble and Giles 'Alvin' Pope in the autumn of 1968. The original lineup consisted of Crimble on bass guitar and vocals, Pope on drums, Max Taylor on ...

's first album. His contribution to

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

was a

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

by Auntie Pus. During the second half of the 1980s, Taylor played guitar with the English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

the Mekons The Mekons are a British Post-punk band formed in 1976 as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of co ...

. He recorded with Andre Williams in Chicago for

George Paulus George Paulus (April 23, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois, United States – November 15, 2014 in Downers Grove, Illinois) was an American record producer, plus the founder and owner of Barrelhouse Records Barrelhouse Records was an American blues and r ...

' St. George Records. As of 2024, he plays lead guitar with a band called the Hillmans (the lead singer of the Hillmans is Tony Minx, and the 'Hillmans' is a reference to the

Hillman Minx The Hillman Minx was a mid-sized family car that British car maker Hillman produced from 1931 to 1970. There were many versions of the Minx over that period, as well as badge engineered variants sold by Humber, Singer, and Sunbeam. From the ...

Personal life

Taylor married his wife Melissa in Fulham on 14 June 1969. As of 2017 he lived on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, England.

References

External links

* 1943 births Living people 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians People educated at Dartford Grammar School English rock guitarists English record producers English male songwriters English rock musicians British rhythm and blues boom musicians English lead guitarists British slide guitarists Entertainers from Dartford Musicians from Kent The Rolling Stones members The Mekons members Pretty Things members {{UK-guitarist-stub