“Ronnie was a really nice guy – but let’s face it: he ain’t no Mick Taylor, and he’s no Harvey Mandel. He’s what I call a C-plus guitar player”: Harvey Mandel nearly became a Rolling Stone – here’s why he thinks he would have been a better fit

Left-Guitarist Harvey "The Snake" Mandel is shown performing on stage during a live concert appearance with Canned Heat on July 1, 2018; Right-Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones performs during the final night of the Hackney Diamonds '24 Tour at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena on July 21, 2024 in Ridgedale, Missouri.

Aside from being one of the pioneers of the two-handed tapping technique that gained steam in the post-Van Halen era, Harvey Mandel made his mark on rock ‘n’ roll history as a member of the Woodstock-era Canned Heat, as well as playing side-by-side with John Mayall. And oh, he was also almost a Rolling Stone...

“I was living in LA at the time. In the middle of the night, suddenly, I got a call, and it’s Mick Jagger,” he tells Guitar World. “I thought it was somebody goofing around at first, but after I talked with him on the phone for a few minutes, I realized this was Mick Jagger.