Larry Tagg is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

musician, songwriter and producer; a retired high school English and

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

teacher; and also an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. He was co-leader of the band Bourgeois Tagg in the 1980s with

Brent Bourgeois Brent Thomas Bourgeois (born June 16, 1958) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and producer. He was co-leader of the band Bourgeois Tagg with Larry Tagg, and has released several solo albums. His later work has been classified in the gen ...

and has released two solo albums. After Bourgeois Tagg broke up, Tagg worked as a staff songwriter for

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. Tagg has also published a number of works on Civil War history. Tagg is the older brother of musician

Eric Tagg Eric Tagg (born January 9, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was previously a member of Dutch music groups Beehive and Rainbow Train. He is also notable for being the songwriter, bassist and vocalist in guitarist Lee Riteno ...

Early life and education

Born in

Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the U.S. that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became President of the United States, president; he practiced law there from 18 ...

, Tagg grew up in Illinois and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. As a high school senior in 1969 he attended a concert by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, walked backstage, and talked with drummer

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard (mag ...

.Backpage author bio in ''The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln'' (2009), unnumbered last page He graduated from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

with a degree in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and was awarded a teaching assistantship at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

but left after one semester.

Bourgeois Tagg

Tagg moved with

to California's

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

, and in the late 1970s they played in a

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

band called Uncle Rainbow, which included members from Texas and other parts of the South. In 1984, they moved to Sacramento and formed Bourgeois Tagg with guitarist

Lyle Workman Lyle Dean Workman is an American guitarist, composer, session and touring musician, and music producer. His music has been widely distributed since his debut on the eponymous '' Bourgeois Tagg'' album in 1986, and is known for his work as compos ...

, drummer

Michael Urbano Michael Urbano (born March 19, 1960) is an American musician, programmer, and record producer. Career One of Urbano's first gigs was as a member of Bourgeois Tagg, a 1980s band that was fronted by Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg and included L ...

, and keyboardist Scott Moon. Bourgeois played keyboards, Tagg played bass, and they both shared lead vocal duties. They released a self-titled debut album in 1986, which produced a hit single "Mutual Surrender (What a Wonderful World)." The following year, they released their second album, ''Yoyo'', which was produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

, and had another hit, "I Don't Mind at All," which reached the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart. During this period Bourgeois struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol. When fellow musician and drinking buddy

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

began going to church, Bourgeois followed and became a Christian. Latent conflicts became exacerbated by Bourgeois' trend toward Christian lyrics and the band split in 1989 while working on a third album. The band members appear on Rundgren's 1989 album ''

Nearly Human ''Nearly Human'' is a 1989 album by the rock musician Todd Rundgren, released by Warner Bros. Records. It was his first release in four years, although he had been active as a producer in the intervening years. Many of the album's songs deal with ...

'', and they toured as part of Rundgren's backing band. Tagg also played as part of

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and ba ...

touring band.

Staff songwriter

During the 1990s Tagg worked as a staff songwriter for

. Some songs he wrote were recorded by

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. A veteran writer of many of her own hits, as well as those for numerous other artists, she began her career in 1966 as ...

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Money ( Mahoney; March 21, 1949September 13, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Paradise", " Think I'm in Love", " Shakin' ...

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...

, Jenni Muldaur and others.

Solo recordings

Tagg released two solo albums: 1995's ''With a Skeleton Crew'' and 1997's ''Rover''. All five members of Bourgeois Tagg appeared on ''With a Skeleton Crew'', with all but Scott Moon playing on the track "1/2 Yes, 1/2 No." Tagg has said that the song was written for the third Bourgeois Tagg album that never materialized, so with Lyle Workman's help, he recorded the song himself.

High school teacher

By the mid-1990s Tagg had a family, and no longer wanted to remain on the road. He became an English and drama teacher, and lead teacher of the arts academy, at

Hiram W. Johnson High School Hiram W. Johnson High School is a secondary school in the Sacramento City Unified School District, in the Tahoe Park South area of Sacramento, California, United States. Notable alumni * Henry Andrade, hurdler * Bryan Barber, motion picture ...

in Sacramento. He began writing in his spare time and has written numerous books on

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. He taught English, literature, and creative writing at C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento, CA until retiring in 2017 to conduct more research on Lincoln.

Historian

Tagg has written a number of books on Civil War history: * ''The Generals of Gettysburg: The Leaders of America's Greatest Battle'', Savas Publishing 1998 (paperback

Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional offi ...

2004) **Described by a reviewer as "a thumbnail sketch biography of each of the infantry commanders who took part in the battle, from the brigade level up. ...should find a home on the bookshelves of those readers whose special interest is Gettysburg." * ''The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln: The Story of America's Most Reviled President'', Savas Beatie 2009 (paperback Savas Beatie 2012 under new title ''The Battles that Made Abraham Lincoln: How Lincoln Mastered his Enemies to Win the Civil War, Free the Slaves, and Preserve the Union'') ** This book argues

was widely disliked during his presidency, and only after being assassinated did more complimentary or even hagiographic information begin to circulate. * ''The Generals of Shiloh: Character In Leadership, April 6–7, 1862'', Savas Beatie 2017

The Green Grass Snakes

Tagg is a member of The Green Grass Snakes, a Sacramento-based band that covers songs by The Beatles and other groups from the 1950s to 1980s.

References

External links

Author Larry Tagg with Great Insight on Abraham Lincoln
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tagg, Larry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Record producers from Illinois American rock singers Historians of the United States Historians of the American Civil War 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers