Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985)
was an American
electric blues
Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...
guitarist and singer.
Biography
Born Edward Taylor in
Benoit, Mississippi
Benoit is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 365.
History
The 1956 movie '' Baby Doll'' was shot on location at the Burrus House in Benoit; many local residents played in minor roles ...
, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around
Leland, Mississippi
Leland is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. It is located within the Mississippi Delta, on the banks of Deer Creek. The population was 4,481 at the 2010 census. It was once a railway town and had long been a center of co ...
, where he taught his friend
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...
to play the guitar.
With a guitar style deeply rooted in the
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
tradition, Taylor moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1948.
While Taylor never achieved the stardom of some of his contemporaries in the post-World War II
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
scene, he was nevertheless an integral part of that era. He is especially noted as a main
accompanist
Accompaniment is the part (music), musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmony (music), harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in di ...
for Jimmy Reed; he also worked for
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
,
Big Walter Horton
Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...
,
Sam Lay
Samuel Julian Lay (March 20, 1935January 29, 2022) was an American drummer and vocalist who performed from the late 1950s as a blues and R&B musician alongside Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Butterfield, and many others. He was inducted int ...
,
and others.
Earwig Music Company
Earwig Music Company is an American blues and jazz independent record label, founded by Michael Frank in October 1978 in Chicago.
From 1975 until 1977 Frank was employed by the Jazz Record Mart, like Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records and Jim O ...
recorded him with
Kansas City Red
Arthur Lee Stevenson (May 7, 1926 – May 7, 1991), known as Kansas City Red, was an American blues drummer and singer who played a major role in the development of urban blues. He performed and recorded with many notable blues artists, such as D ...
and
Big John Wrencher for the album ''Original Chicago Blues''.
He later teamed up with
Earring George Mayweather, and they jointly recorded several tracks, including "You'll Always Have a Home" and "Don't Knock at My Door". Several of these were released as singles, of which "Big Town Playboy" and "Bad Boy", issued by
Vee Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
, were local
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...
in the 1950s, but Taylor's singles generally were not commercially successful.
In the 1970s, Taylor participated in the American Blues Legends '74 tour of Europe organised by
Big Bear Records
Big Bear Records is the oldest independent British record label set up in 1968 by Jim Simpson in Birmingham, England. It specialises in blues and jazz recordings.
History
Big Bear Records was founded by promoter and band manager Jim Simpson ...
, appearing on the album of the same name as well as solo long-player, ''Ready For Eddie''.
Later, in "semi-retirement", Taylor was the regular lead guitarist with Peter Dames and the Chicago River Blues Band, later known as Peter Dames and the Rhythm Flames.
Taylor played lead guitar on several songs (including the title track) on the album ''Be Careful How You Vote'' by
Sunnyland Slim, and played live with Sunnyland Slim on some tour dates in the 1980s.
Taylor's wife, Vera, was a singer and songwriter,
and was the niece of the bluesmen
Eddie "Guitar" Burns and
Jimmy Burns. Taylor's late son
Eddie Taylor Jr. was a blues guitarist in Chicago, his stepson Larry Taylor is a blues drummer and vocalist, and his daughter
Demetria is a blues vocalist in Chicago.
Taylor died on Christmas Day in 1985 in Chicago,
at the age of 62, and was
interred
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...
in
Restvale Cemetery
Restvale Cemetery is in Alsip, Illinois, United States, a suburb southwest of the city of Chicago. A number of Chicago blues musicians, educators, and notable people are buried there.
Restvale and Burr Oak were the last two historically black ce ...
in
Alsip, Illinois. He was posthumously inducted into the
Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...
in 1987.
Discography
Albums recorded as leader
Studio albums
Live album
Collaboration albums
Albums recorded as sideman
*1958: ''
I'm Jimmy Reed'' –
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...
(
Vee-Jay
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
)
*1959: ''
I'm John Lee Hooker'' –
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
(Vee-Jay)
*1967: ''
Soulin''' – Jimmy Reed (
BluesWay)
*1968: ''
Big Boss Man
Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name (The) Big Boss Man, a ...
'' – Jimmy Reed (BluesWay)
*1969: ''
Carey Bell's Blues Harp'' –
Carey Bell (
Delmark)
*1969: ''
Down in Virginia'' – Jimmy Reed (BluesWay)
*1972: ''
Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell'' − Big Walter Horton and Carey Bel' (
Alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
)
*1973: ''
Last Night'' – Carey Bell (BluesWay)
*1975: ''Street Talkin (
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
5087), compilation of Vee Jay recordings with seven tracks by
Elmore James
Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...
tracks and seven by Taylor
*1981: ''Big Town Playboy'' (
Charly
Charly may refer to:
People
* Charly (name)
Places
* Charly-sur-Marne, in the Aisne department
* Charly, Cher, in the Cher department
* Charly, Rhône, in the Rhône department
* Charly-Oradour, in the Moselle department
Other
* Operation ...
1015), compilation of Vee Jay recordings under Taylor's name, except "Good Hearted"
References
External links
*
Eddie Taylor: Biography Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Eddie
1923 births
1985 deaths
People from Benoit, Mississippi
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues singers
American street performers
African-American guitarists
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Vee-Jay Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
Guitarists from Mississippi
People from Leland, Mississippi
JSP Records artists
P-Vine Records artists
20th-century African-American male singers
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers