Creativity Quote by Mick Taylor

There’s a studied modesty in Mick Taylor’s phrasing: “not rubbish,” “a bit peeved.” It’s the language of someone trying to sound reasonable while admitting to a grievance that clearly mattered. In a band economy where songwriting credit is both money and legacy, “a couple of songs” isn’t small-bore nitpicking; it’s a claim about authorship, visibility, and being treated as more than a hired set of hands. Taylor’s restraint reads like self-protection: if you name the injury too loudly, you get cast as bitter.

Then he pivots: “but that wasn’t the whole reason.” That line is doing heavy lifting. It signals the classic dynamic inside huge rock institutions like the Rolling Stones in the early ’70s: even when the music is incandescent, the internal hierarchy is rigid. Taylor, the virtuoso younger guitarist, could elevate the band’s sound and still remain structurally peripheral. “I just felt like I had enough” is burnout talk, but also a quiet refusal of a role: the brilliant contributor who doesn’t get to sign the canvas.

The final sentence lands as both escape plan and self-reclamation. “I decided to leave and start a group with Jack Bruce” isn’t just career logistics; it’s an attempt to move from supporting character to co-lead, from brand behemoth to a project built around musicianship and shared stake. It’s also tinged with rock-era realism: leaving the biggest band in the world to seek respect is noble, and a little tragic, because the world doesn’t reward principle as reliably as it rewards proximity to power.