Richard Clifford Taylor (born 28 January 1943) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and founder of the Pretty Things. Taylor was also a founding member of the Rolling Stones, 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.
Early life
Richard Clifford Taylor was born in Livingstone Hospital, Dartford, and attended Dartford Grammar School. While at grammar school, he met Mick Jagger. Taylor attended Sidcup Art College, and started playing the guitar when his classmate, Robert Beckwith, bought a ukulele. Taylor was into rhythm and blues music, and his influences while at college included Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry. joined Brian Jones and Ian Stewart's Rollin' Stones. Taylor last met up with members of the band was when they were at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2007. With the Pretty Things, Taylor once again played his preferred guitar position.
He left the Pretty Things in June 1969, after the release of their concept album S.F. Sorrow, often cited as one of the first rock operas and featuring cover art photography by Dick. Taylor cited wanting to try out different experiences as one of the reasons for initially leaving, saying: "I'd been doing it for a long time. Maybe, almost, having done that, that's kind of a rich thing, the end of that little phase, "now we've done that"--well, let's see what else I could do. And also, since I'd left art school, I hadn't done anything else apart from being in the Pretty Things".
Other work
In addition to his work with the Pretty Things, Taylor co-produced Hawkwind's 1970 debut album, on which he also played guitar, as well as Cochise's first album and Skin Alley's first album. His contribution to punk rock was a recording by Auntie Pus.
During the second half of the 1980s, Taylor played guitar with the English post-punk band the Mekons. Years later, Taylor reunited with Mekons members Jon Langford and Susie Honeyman and performed as The Mini Mekons throughout the 2010s.
In the 1970s, Taylor worked in graphics, including painting murals, and for a time worked for a jeans company.