Dick Taylor: The Rolling Stones' Original Bassist Who Walked Away for Art School

Dick Taylor was the founding bassist of the Rolling Stones, playing with Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards in the very early days of 1962. He was the one who actually owned the band’s first rehearsal space – a rented room above a pub in Soho – and his connections at Sidcup Art College helped get the nascent group off the ground.

Taylor left in late 1962, just before the Stones became the Stones. His reason? He preferred art school to rock stardom. He later said he didn’t see the band going anywhere serious and wanted to focus on painting and sculpture. So he handed his bass over to Bill Wyman and vanished from the story.

After his exit, Taylor co-founded The Pretty Things, a band that matched the Stones in rawness but never got the same commercial lift. He played bass on their early hits and later became a successful record producer, working with acts like Primal Scream and Medicine Head. He stayed in the music world – just not the Rolling Stones world.