My understanding was that the guys in Genesis considered Clarke as an idea but he himself never auditioned. I think Nick Lowe sent it an audition tape but never made it to the level of an in-person audition.
Mary Timoney, later of Helium auditioned to be the bass player for what turned into The Juliana Hatfield Three, but supposedly Juliana turned her down because she didn't want her band being pigeonholed as "girl band"
And clearly a number of other contenders for the job were accomplished and great players; the "audition" process was also about seeing if a guy fit-in with the musical identity and personality of the band. But when Beck agreed to attend the Rotterdam session, Ian Stewart reportedly said the gig was Beck's if he wanted it. After jamming/recording with the band for a day or so, and realizing that the band assumed Beck had committed to The Rolling Stones, Beck left a note for Ian Stewart and returned to the UK because Beck knew it wasn't going to work long-term.
From what I understand, they went to check out Rod at a live gig before they took it any further, but they thought he was pretty bad so they ended it right there.
This is the first I've heard of Glen Campbell or John Denver auditioning for them, although it wouldn't surprise me. Campbell did wind up playing lead guitar on many of the cuts on their first two albums, most notably "Mary Mary." The two other notables who auditioned for the gig (both have talked about it) were Paul Williams and Danny Hutton. Williams has joked that the reason he wasn't hired was because they had already hired one member of the group who was about 5'2 and it would've looked weird if they had also hired a guy who is 5'0. A bit like having Eric Burdon and Van Morrison in the same group.
Not disagreeing, but Stu Cook had a stint in The Don Harrison band, which had at least one hit, and then was in a big country band called Southern Pacific from 1986-1993. They had 8 Top 20 Country hits.
I am not sure if that was the concern, or at least a primary concern. Keith was iconic, but hardly a bona fide lead guitarist in the vein of Mick Taylor. Mick Taylor's lead guitar work elevated the band's sound, and they all knew it, but his personality and musical needs never overshadowed or challenged Keith (or Mick for that matter), and that was the key. Still, people tend to forget that Woody was a pretty dynamic lead player back in '75, but within a few years of joining The Stones, his playing started echoing more of Keith's approach, and the band ultimately did lose that edge by the end of the decade. But like you said, Woody "fit" the band very well in a number of other ways.
You really think the stones would have wanted the best rock guitarist in the world etc in their band. He would have to take a back seat to jagger and Richard.
I suspect that Stu (who would have, in my estimation, been absolutely the WRONG choice for the Stones) may have gotten his chance to try out through the auspices of Elliott Easton, who knows Mick, having played on his first solo album, and who is close to Stu, having played alongside him in Creedence Clearwater Revisited. That's purely speculation on my part, but it seems like a strong possibility. Stu is mentioned in the account of someone else who auditioned for the Stones job. Another famous bassist that auditioned to replace Bill Wyman was Timothy B. Schmit. In the December 2020 issue of Bassplayer magazine, Schmit says: "Bill Wyman had quit the Rolling Stones... I wrote them a letter, and found out through my management the right people to get it to... they called me back -- they were having auditions in New York... I wasn't supposed to tell anybody... I went to New York... they... asked me what kind of amplifiers I wanted, but you had to bring your own bass. I don't know how many people were going for it -- it could have been 10 to 20 people. When I got off the plane... I saw Stu Cook... looked at each other and laughed. So we had dinner. So I went in, and when it was my turn, I spent well over an hour playing Rolling Stones songs with them. And it... was me, a sound guy and the Rolling Stones. And... I didn't do bad -- I didn't go away... like, 'Oh man, I blew it.' I went like, 'You know what, I feel good about this.' But I didn't expect to get it and... to keep my mind off it, I booked some... time... in Nashville instead of going right home. So I could keep busy and not obsess. But, in the event, I didn't get it."
Being mentioned by the press as possible replacements for Mick Taylor, and ACTUALLY auditioning are 2 completely different things! Guarantee you that Lofgren and Spedding did NOT audition. Rory Gallagher did, after a fashion (accounts differ as to whether Rory thought he was just having a play [a jam session] or actually seriously trying out for the job). Again, you misunderstand the topic of the thread. Terry Reid never auditioned for Led Zeppelin.
Never mentioned in the press by either party as far as I know, but almost 30 years ago, Harvey Mandel auditioned for Red Hot Chili Peppers. I think that was the time that Arik Marshall wound up getting the job as guitarist (but he didn't stay long). Word that I heard (from those who were close to Mandel) was that Harvey wasn't really interested in Peppers music, but figured it'd be a good paycheck. He was willing to appear wearing only a sock, if required (there's confidence for ya!). Apparently the Peppers thought Harvey was too "outside", and I might remember hearing they thought he used too many stompboxes.
Well, Jeff Beck was arguably the best rock guitarist in the world in 1974/1975, and The Stones wanted him and presumed he had agreed to join. I don't think anyone joining, regardless of their status, would have thought they were going to be in the front seat with Mick and Keith. Once Beck passed on the gig, it really seemed to be about finding the best fit for the personality of the band. Wayne Perkins was awesome, but he wasn't a better fit than Ronnie Wood.
I misunderstand? LOL Oh please. Pot-kettle? Wow a real semantic hard-liner eh? "Asked to join? ....Come and jam, and lets see? We need a guitarist, are you available?" Who cares? Were YOU THERE, to accurately define the interaction between 2 three or five egotistical musicians from 40-50 years ago? As to Spedding...I am citing a Chris Spedding interview from a UK music magazine a year or two ago, look it up if you care. Spedding himself made the claim. I'm just repeating what I read him recount. Not some random printed rumor, as you seem to assert. THE MAN WHO TURNED DOWN THE STONES (but said yes to The Wombles) - Record Collector Magazine Good day, sir.
Aynsley Dunbar auditioned for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and they flipped a coin between him and Mitch
Some of the many reported auditionees for Frank Zappa's band: Bruce Hampton Carla Bley Steve Lukather John Frusciante (claims he considered auditioning for the '88 tour before joining RHCP)
Nigel Olsson said once that Mick Graham (his former bandmate in the band Plastic Penny) auditioned for Elton John, before joining Procol Harum.
I remember Peter Hook saying he was on the list for replacing Bill Wyman. Think this tops the list for me To be fair though I wouldn’t put it past Jagger to have entertained this idea for 5 minutes in 1993
