Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers
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Bobby Taylor (born February 18, 1934 in North Carolina, USA) & the Vancouvers were a Canadian soul band, signed to the Motown label during the late 1960s. As their name attests to, the band originates from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Although the group was only signed to Motown for a brief amount of time, their sole hit single "Does Your Mama Know About Me" was a Top 30 hit.
As a producer and solo artist, Taylor contributed to several other soul recordings, both inside and outside of Motown. Taylor is most notable today for having discovered and mentoring successful Motown act The Jackson 5.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Beginnings
Bobby Taylor was born in North Carolina and raised in the Washington, DC. As a young man, he moved to New York City, and sung in doo-wop groups with members who later joined successful acts such as Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and Little Anthony & the Imperials. He began his musical career as a member of a group known as The Four Pharaohs in 1958, who recorded a few locally-selling sides in the Vancouver area. In the early 1960s, Taylor met a group called The Calgary Shades, made up of vocalist Tommy Melton, guitarist Tommy Chong, bassist Wes Henderson, and drummer Floyd Sneed. The word Shades referenced the fact that the band was interracial. Chong (later famous as one-half of comedy duo Cheech and Chong) was Chinese and Scotch-Irish. The other members were Black Canadian, white, and Aboriginal. Taylor was of African-American, Puerto Rican, and Native American heritage.
When Taylor joined the group as lead vocalist and producer, it became Little Daddy & The Bachelors, trading Melton and Sneed for keyboardist Robbie King and drummer Ted Lewis (aka Duris Maxwell). Although Little Daddy & The Bachelors moved to San Francisco, California and built up a small following, whatever success it built up dissipated when the band — at Tommy Chong's suggestion — renamed itself Four Niggers and a Chink. Returning to Vancouver, the group began regularly changing its name to some variation of the same idea (e.g. Four N's and a C) before taking on the Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers moniker. The band briefly featured future star guitarist Jimi Hendrix, whose father and grandparents were from Vancouver.
[edit] Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers join Motown
In 1965, Supremes members Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard heard the band, whose repertoire consisted primarily of Motown covers, at the Elegant Parlor in Vancouver, and alerted them to the attention of Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr. Gordy brought the Vancouvers to Motown Records in Detroit, Michigan, and signed them to his Gordy Records imprint. The group recorded its debut album, an eponymous release, and their debut single, the Tommy Chong co-composition "Does Your Mama Know About Me", peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.
For a July 1968 engagement at Chicago's Regal Theater, Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers had a local-area family band, The Jackson 5, as their opening act. Impressed with the children, Taylor personally brought them to Detroit and the Motown offices, arranging an audition for them with Motown executive Suzanne de Passe. de Passe and Berry Gordy were impressed with the Jacksons, and the group was signed to the label within a year.
However, Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers' own success did not extend beyond "Does Your Mama Know About Me", and ended performing in support of Motown artist Chris Clark. Tommy Chong and Wes Henderson were fired by Clark and Motown producer Johnny Bristol for missing a gig to apply for Green Cards. The group broke up shortly afterwards, when Chong attempted to have the Vancouvers' contract halved, so that he, Taylor, and Henderson would constitute the group, while Robbie King and Ted Lewis would simply be regarded as sidemen and session artists. Taylor auditioned for the then-vacant lead singer position in The Temptations (following David Ruffin's expulsion from the group), but was turned down.[1]
[edit] Taylor on his own
Upon the Jackson 5's signing to Motown in March 1969, Taylor would become the group's first producer, recording them on a number of soul covers, including their famous rendition of The Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You". Berry Gordy would later move the group to California and take personal control of their sound; although Taylor would briefly join the Jacksons in California, he did not receive credit for working on the group's early singles such as "I Want You Back" and "ABC".
As a solo artist, Taylor was shifted to Motown's V.I.P. label and continued as a solo artist. Although his "Oh, I've Been Blessed" later attained a cult status, it and Taylor's other solo singles failed to sell well. By 1971, Taylor had departed Motown, and recorded sporadically into the mid-1970s. Taylor later successfully sued Motown for a substantial amount of money.
[edit] Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers discography
All items issued on Gordy Records
[edit] Singles
- 1968: "Does Your Mama Know About Me" (US #29)
- 1968: "I Am Your Man" (US #85)
- 1968: "Malinda" (US #48)
[edit] Album
- 1968: Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers
[edit] Bobby Taylor solo discography
- 1969: "Oh, I've Been Bless'd" (V.I.P. Records)
- 1969: "Blackmail" (V.I.P. Records, promo-only)
- 1969: "My Girl Has Gone" (Gordy Records)
- 1971: "Hey Lordy" (Mowest Records)
- 1972: "There Are Roses Somewhere In The World" (Sunflower Records)
- 1973 "I Can't Quit Your Love" (Tommy Zs7 Records)
- 1973: "Why Play Games" (Playboy Records)
- 1973: "I Can't Quit Your Love" (Philadelphia International, by "BT & TB" -- Bobby Taylor and Thom Bell).
[edit] Album
- 1969: Taylor-Made Soul
[edit] Notes
- ^ Rimmer, David. "Bobby Taylor". Retrieved from http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/btaylor.htm on November 6, 2006.
[edit] References
- Hamilton, Andrew. "Bobby Taylor". All Music Guide. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:n9eq97bjkrat~T10 on November 6, 2006.
