Gary Taylor (musician)

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For the other musician of the same name, see, see Gary Taylor (singer/songwriter).
Gary Taylor
Taylor in 1968
Taylor in 1968
Background information
Birth nameGraham John Taylor
Born (1947-11-28) 28 November 1947 (age 76)
Walton-on-Thames, England, UK
Genres
  • Freakbeat
  • psychedelic rock
  • psychedelic pop
  • pop
  • rock
  • country
Occupation(s)musician
Instrument(s)
  • Bass
  • guitar
  • vocals
Years active1965–present
Formerly of

Gary Taylor (born Graham John Taylor,[1] 28 November 1947) is an English bass guitarist and vocalist. His career was at its peak in the 1960s/1970s as a member of The Herd, Fox, Yellow Dog, and The Hank Wangford Band.

Career[edit]

1965–1969: The Herd[edit]

Taylor formed the pop group The Herd in South London in 1965 with Terry Clark (vocals and rhythm guitar), Louis Cennamo (bass guitar), and Tony Chapman (drums). They signed on with Parlophone records and released three singles during 1965–66; all singles were unsuccessful. After the three singles, Clark, Cennamo, and Chapman all left the group.[2] Stepping in for the previous personnel were Mick Underwood (briefly) on drums (who was later replaced by Andrew Steele),[2] Andy Bown on keyboard, and a sixteen year old Peter Frampton on guitar and vocals. Taylor was originally the guitarist for the band, but he switched to bass when they were unable to find a new bassist.

Taylor (top middle) with The Herd in 1968

Between 1967 and 1968, the Herd had a number of hit songs around the world. Their break-through song was "From the Underworld" in August 1967; the song went to number six in the United Kingdom.[3] The song was based on the legend of Orpheus, and managed to get as far as it did due to copious amounts of play time on Pirate radio. The song also went to number two in the Netherlands.[4] Their next single, "Paradise Lost", was released four months after From The Underworld, and despite charting in lesser countries than F.T.U., managed to chart in New Zealand. Their last major song "I Don't Want Our Loving to Die", released on 29 March 1968, was the highest-charting song of theirs in the UK, Netherlands, and Ireland, placing in the top 5 in all three regional charts.[3][4][5] Taylor plays the flute solo on the song.

By the end of the year, Steele and Frampton left the band, the latter leaving to form Humble Pie. For the next year, Taylor and Bown carried on with new member Henry Spinetti, and also as a trio. When the Herd disbanded in 1969, Bown and Spinetti formed prog rock band Judas Jump. In 1971, Taylor and Steele reunited as "The Herd" to record a one-off single, titled "You've Got Me Hangin' from Your Lovin' Tree", which flopped.[6]

1970–1981: Fox and Yellow Dog[edit]

Taylor in an Indonesian magazine (1970)

In the early 1970s, Taylor worked as a session musician, and with Andrew Steele (formerly of the Herd), recorded with Scottish band Stealers Wheel.[1] As a session musician, he is also said to have worked on records by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, Demis Roussos, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie goes to Hollywood, and The Proclaimers.[7] He also worked in the band "Kid Gloves" with Steele. Around this time, Taylor took up a job working as a disc jockey at BBC Radio 1.[8] He soon left the radio station to join the band Fox. Led by American songwriter Kenny Young and fronted by Australian singer Noosha Fox, they had three top 20 hits on the UK Singles Chart - "Only You Can" and "Imagine Me, Imagine You" in 1975 and "S-S-S-Single Bed" in 1976, the latter song topping the Austrian charts, entering number five in the UK, and later being covered by duo Bananarama.[9]

In the mid-1970s (c. 1977), Taylor, with Fox members Kenny Young and Herbie Armstrong formed the group Yellow Dog.[9] The band is considered a One-hit wonder, as their only commercial song was "Just One More Night". It ends on a humorous note with a telephone call in which the protagonist (a woman) continues to beg to be allowed to stay "just one more night" after being told emphatically "No!", and for this reason is considered something of a novelty song. Overall, Yellow Dog released three studio albums, only one of which charted (at number 50 in Australia), and included many famous musical figures, such as Gerry Conway of Fairport Convention, session guitarist Phil Palmer, and multi-instrumentalist and public speaker Mo Foster. Yellow Dog faded out of obscurity, and quietly disbanded around 1981.

1981 onwards: recent years[edit]

In the 1980s, Taylor moved away from pop and rock music, to play folk and country; he toured with Hank Wangford's backing band. He recorded with the band in the 1980s, including Hank's album "Hank Wangford – Cowboys Stay On Longer" in 1980. They performed at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 1982, and were nominated for a Edinburgh Comedy Award for "Best Comedy Show" in 1984.[10] After moving to Australia in the late 1980s, he started working as a jingle writer and a voice over artist for companies in both Australia and Singapore.[7]

While in Australia, he met Hank Marvin, who also migrated to the country a few years before Taylor. He asked Taylor to play guitar and bass on his album "Hank plays Cliff", released on compact disc in 1995.[11][12] Taylor still performs today, in Australia. He is currently a member of Marvin's group "The Hank Marvin Gypsy Quartet".[12][7] He is also a freelance music teacher, teaching people how to play guitar and bass.[7] Taylor co-owns "Sh-boom" studios in Perth with Trevor Spencer, who in the 1970s was one half of the Tarney/Spencer Band with Alan Tarney.

Personal life[edit]

Graham Taylor was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey in 1947. Taylor moved to Perth, Western Australia in the 1980s, and used to be Hank Marvin's neighbour.[1] He still lives in Australia.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Havers, Richard (2014-06-23). "What Do You Mean You've Never Heard of The Herd?". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  2. ^ a b "The Official Mick Underwood website - biography of the UK rock drummer". web.archive.org. 2019-12-22. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  3. ^ a b "HERD". Official Charts. 1967-09-19. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  4. ^ a b "SIXTIES - 1967". web.archive.org. 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  5. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  6. ^ "Los Angeles Review of Books, 2019–2021", More Real Life Rock, Yale University Press, pp. 227–308, 2022-05-03, ISBN 978-0-300-26543-9, retrieved 2024-04-21
  7. ^ a b c d SteveH. "Meet The Band". Hank Marvin Gypsy Jazz. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  8. ^ "Radio Rewind - BBC Radio 1 Shows - Radio 1 Club". www.radiorewind.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  9. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 905. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  10. ^ Premier. "1984 Nominee - Hank Wangford Band - Best Comedy Show". Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  11. ^ Hank Plays Cliff - Hank Marvin | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2024-04-21
  12. ^ a b Gary Taylor Interview. Retrieved 2024-04-21 – via www.youtube.com.
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