Former Rolling Stones’ guitarist Mick Taylor joined Peter Karp and the Roadshow (www.peterkarp-roadshow.com) at Bennett Studios in Englewood, NJ, recently to guest on a few tracks for Karp’s soon-to-be-released blues CD, "The Turning Point" (BackBender Records, Fall 2003).

Taylor, seen here with Peter, and Producer engineer Dae Bennett, Mick first learned of Karp’s distinctive music through WNTI-FM deejay Greg Lewis, a fan of Karp’s music. Lewis interviewed Taylor on the air, and afterwards told Karp of the interview. Karp suggested Lewis contact Taylor again and tell him that Karp had a song Taylor would love to play on.

A flurry of e-mails ensued between Karp and Taylor’s wife, Valerie, who was very protective and would not commit to anything until after Taylor listened to the music. Karp sent Taylor not one, but five songs for Taylor to listen to. When he did, Taylor "wanted to play on all of them." He described Karp’s work as "… really great stuff…top shelf…I knew it the instant I heard them." "Money was not the motivating factor, I knew from Mick’s track record that he has high standards - he likes to involve himself in good work,"

In New York City recently to perform, Taylor made good on his promise and extended his stay to join Karp for a daylong recording session at Bennett Studios with award-winning producer Dae Bennett (Tony Bennett/KD Lang/Mike Viola/The Flying Nutrinos), also the son of Tony Bennett.

During the session, Taylor played electric slide dobro on "Her and My Blues," a transcendental electric folk blues song; a Les Paul on "I'm Not Giving Up," an inspirational soul/blues tune a la Otis Redding; and a Fender Stratacaster on "The Turning Point," a dramatic number about someone at the crossroads of life.

After the session, Taylor told deejay Lewis that he hopes to cover a few of Karp’s tunes on his next release. Also, Taylor and Karp are planning to work together again in the future.

Taylor played with the Stones from 1969-74, a period widely regarded as the Stones’ strongest. It was during this era that the Stones released the albums "Let It Bleed," "Sticky Fingers," and "Exile on Main Street."

After the recording session, Karp described Taylor as "disarming, funny, enigmatic and even though he's probably lived a life that would make any good man jaded and cynical, he is still an innocent. Seeing him hunched over his guitar, head down, feeling his way through a tune, I could swear that for a moment, I saw an earnest 13-year-old boy sitting in his place.

"Now I am not a guitar god worshiper...never have been," Karp added. "I am first and foremost a singer-songwriter, but I don't need to spank a plank to know that Mick Taylor is one of the great ones, an uncompromising original with creative integrity. I know this because he recognizes it in my work and I have heard it first-hand in his. This business glorifies the mediocre and transforms the brilliant into self-parodying posers, but at the end of the day it's the work that defines who you are and what you do - not the industry. Mick understands this. All great artists do...and Mick is one of the great ones."