Sam Taylor Jr Dark End Of The Street Sam Taylor Jr Next In Line
Sam Taylor Jr Hey Girl
I was recently reminded of Sam Taylor Jr's great album which needs to be made available on CD! His version of Hey Girl is one of the best ever. The album was recorded in LA in 1969 and features Sam with Bob Cardwell guitar, James Cooke guitar; Clarence McDonald organ; Miles Grayson piano; Ronald Brown bass; Paul Humphrey drums; arranged by Miles Grayson and produced by Mal Williams and Bob Cardwell.
Sam Taylor's MySpace blurb only scratches the surface of his career!:
It's not often that you come across a songwriter and musician that inspires you the way Sam Taylor can. He has a something you just can't put into words, something you just have to experience for yourself to even begin to understand. What you are seeing and hearing is not the normal blues experience one would expect. It's an experience that has lasted over 50 years through the good times and the bad. With that kind of legacy beside him as well as 11 albums of his own, Sam "Bluzman" Taylor has truly proven to be the voice of the blues. Although his main foundation is the Blues, he brings a unique blend of Soul, Gospel, Funk & even Country which shows that he refuses to be boxed in. This same musical rebellion can also be found in his grandson - the multi-talented L*A*W who has been also been making a huge name for himself here on My Space.
Sam Taylors experience as a musician is legendary. As well as performing his craft, his reach has grasped moments as a TV and movie actor who has had the pleasure of working among the best which include
Barbara Eden, Don Murray, Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, Gwen Gorg, Gary Crosby, Kay Medford, Lou Gossett. Jr., and most recently, Mario Van Peebles.
Sam Taylor has made his mark in towns like Tuscon and Long Island for over a decade and earned countless awards and recognition. In addition to past achievements,
Sam is best known as being one of the original members of Rock N Soul pioneers Joey Dee & The Starlighters whose mega hit "Peppermint Twist" broke color barriers and helped change society structure by bringing young & old together on the dance floor.
The group was also the first interracial band to include black & white members and helped gave birth to one of Rock music's famous groups, The Young Rascals. In the 70's, he played a very strong mentoring role as well as a writer & producer for acts like Norma Jenkins, Morning, Noon & Night & more famously, B.T Express. For the groups first three albums, Sam can be found playing, writing & arranging on hit songs like
"Do it to Your Satisfied", "Peace Pipe". "Still Good - Still Like It" , "Energy To Burn" ,"Everything That's Good To You" and "Scratch My Itch"
In recent years, Sam's music has found new audiences overseas as well as the United States thanks in part to constant touring/recording & Rap artists like DMX, MA$E, EPMD & a few others who have sampled Sam's composition "Everything That's Good To You" that he wrote for 70's Funk-R&B group B.T Express. "Get At Me Dog" and "Would They Die 4 You" were both huge rap hits containing this sample which has also been featured in movies like "The Inkwell" and TV shows like "The Parent Hood"
As a DJ and a writer, Mr. Taylor is a regular contributor to the Las Vegas, Long Island, and Tucson Blues Society publications and can be heard weekly on WUSB 90.1 every Friday morning 9am-11am with his popular show "Blues With a Feeling". He also can be seen performing with his red-hot band on Wednesdays and Thursdays at Paula Jeans on Long Island.
With the release of his 12th cd "Portrait: The Funky Side Of Sam", The Bluzman is aiming to continue his mission to keep the Blues alive by any means necessary. This collection features an array of styles ranging from the down home Blues of "Good Stuff Back", the Country swing of "Running To My Window" to the raw funk of "Freaks !!!" which is a historic duet with L*A*W showing that famous Taylor family root.
Lastly, Sam is also being inducted into the Long Island Music Hall Of Fame alongside Billy Joel, Vanilla Fudge, Mountain, Members of Kiss & many others on October 15 this year and also plans to release his tell-all autobiography "Caught In The Jaws Of The Blues" as well.
You can read an excellent feature on him in the UK magazine Juke Blues Issue 54 which is based on an interview with Sam and contains some vintage photos and label scans. You can read a discography on the Wangdangdula site
Here's a couple of great videos off YouTube of the man!
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