LARRY TAYLOR BLUES AND SOUL BAND: They Were in This House

Larry Taylor Blues and Soul Band

They Were in This House

© 2004 Larry Taylor Hill (899746000012)

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Larry sings the blues of his Chicago forefathers and soul with a West Side edge

notes

CONTACT Larry larrytaylor@larrytaylorbluesnsoul.com 773-266-9993 or 773-209-4712

There was music in the house at 1131 S. Mozart during the heyday of Chicago blues. Guitarist Eddie Taylor lived there with his wife, Vera Hill, a singer from a musically gifted family, and it was there they raised Larry, Vera's firstborn from an earlier marriage. Eventually they would move to a succession of West Side Chicago residences and bring up eight children.

The house on Mozart where Larry spent his early years was a gathering place for now-legendary musicians of Chicago blues. Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, and Elmore James were among the frequent houseguests who came to eat Vera's soul food cooking and make music with Eddie Taylor, who had come to Chicago from Mississippi and had become a respected bandleader and accompanist to Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker and others. Larry Hill Taylor, born December 13, 1955 in Chicago, literally grew up at the feet of such legends of the blues.

As a little boy Larry beat on boxes and pots and pans and took up the drums when his birth father, Frank Burton, gave him a child's set. His earliest mentors included drummers Willie "Winehead" Williams, Chicken House Shorty, S.P. Leary and Cassell Burrow, who would leave his drums at the house after rehearsals. Young Larry was once caught setting up and playing them, but Burrow interceded with his stepfather to make sure he wasn't punished for it.

As a youngster Larry saw his stepfather, Eddie Taylor, play on Maxwell Street with John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Floyd Jones, Johnnie Mae Dunson and others, and also attended at least one Vee-Jay recording session on which his stepfather accompanied Jimmy Reed. For a time the family lived above the Blue Flame on West Madison where Larry would watch performances by Howlin' Wolf, Smokey Smothers, Sunnyland Slim and others through a hole in the roof.

Larry himself played on Maxwell Street with Pat Rushing, Willie James and others, and guitarist Magic Sam, who'd come to the house for Eddie Taylor's help, was one of the first to let Larry sit in while still underage. He kept his eyes and ears open to the blues and all the other musical influences coming at him, keeping in mind that blues was the ticket.

"I can recall a time," says Larry, "if you couldn't play the blues, there wasn't no need of you tryin to go around the legendarys."

"S.P. Leary...he knew me from a kid. And [Fred] Below. And Odie [Payne]...all of 'em knew me. These guys were blues masters. You want to be a master, you got to watch a master. So that's what I did."

His first big break came at the age of 21 in 1977 when he toured Europe with other young blues musicians as "The Next Generation of Chicago Blues."

He spent thirty years behind the kit, contributing his impeccable timekeeping and bludgeoning backbeat behind some of the greatest blues, soul and jazz artists of all time. Larry Taylor has now chosen to step out from the shadows of the stage to take the microphone and enter a new phase of his musical career, fronting a band that plays genuine, homegrown blues and soul.

Produced by Taylor, Barrelhouse Bonni and Delmark/Riverside engineer Steve Wagner, They Were in This House presents a set of unusual, yet satisfying traditional and original compositions. Taylor's choices of less well-known numbers, such as Howlin' Wolf's "I Didn't Mean to Hurt Your Feelings" and Jimmy Reed's "Signals of Love," reminds the listener of how deep the wellspring of blues is. And his take on some are pleasantly surprising: on Elmore James' "Knocking at Your Door," Larry chooses to downplay the guitar and focus on the vocals, singing it as if it were a Bobby Bland ballad.

Original compositions include "Green Line Blues" (co-written with Barrelhouse Bonni), which refers to the CTA's West Side elevated line, "Blues, Hard Luck and Trouble," and "Tell Me," the latter two written in the style of Howlin' Wolf, and performed with the indefatigable groove associated with Wolf's historic band.

Larry also pays tribute to the soul artists who have inspired him. In his hands Z.Z. Hill's "Don't Make Me Pay for His Mistake," sounds like an autobiographical tale from the neighborhood. And he's chosen two from Johnnie Taylor: "Jody Got Your Girl and Gone," for which he jacks up the beat at the core of this one-time military cadence call, and "Last $2" from which Larry wrests the last ounce of emotion in a beautiful ensemble performance.

Pleading for understanding, Larry Taylor digs deep on these tracks, always reaching for more. He feeds off guitarist Willie Davis and the rest of the band for ever greater emotional depth. In performance he jerks his head and arms on the beat at all the points of emphasis, marking time with the heart of the song like a cubist artist's rendering of a deeply soulful singer.

The guests on this disc include Osee Anderson on the bass, Ronnie G on sax and Roosevelt "Mad Hatter" Purifoy who handles keyboards and arrangements. Rounding out the band are regular bandmembers West Side Wes on drums (James Carter also drums on gigs), Michael "Sleepy" Riley on bass, Lawrence Fields on saxophone (absent on CD), Barrelhouse Bonni on piano and vocals, and of course sizzlin' Willie Davis, who spent many years playing guitar with Willie Kent and the Gents. Davis is an unsung master of West Side blues guitar who knows how to toss in edgy fills and lay a solid rhythmic foundation, knows when to lay back and hold the groove and when to leap in with tempo-slashing bursts of anguished notes. Never does Davis make himself the center of attention and yet he is constantly a restless and propulsive force in the music.

Backed by this tight ensemble, Taylor's choice selections and original material emphasize the rhythm and the groove in the blues and soul. This is culturally-rooted music that will get you up on your feet. There'll be some serious dancing in any house that spins this disc.


- Excerpts From Liner Notes by Justin O'Brien, contributor to Living Blues magazine

reviews

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  • Thanks !!!
    author: marc claes

    Great Chicago Blues and Soul on this fine Cd , I'll be back for the next album !!

  • Smooth transaction, speedy shipment , will do business again!!
    author: David

    Good Chicago Blues as if it came from that special house. Look forward to hearing future recordings. Thanks So Much!!

  • Blunt, ferocious blues and soul that brings tradition home to the streets
    author: Chicago Reader, Critics Choice

    Taylor's own "Blues, Hard Luck & Trouble" has a Wolfish lope that showcases his rhythmic sense and quivering down-home vibrato, but he's most interesting on modern fare. While many soul and blues singers today smooth the edges off their songs, Taylor revels in the aggression and unbridled sensuality that infuses classic R& B and soul.

  • Every track works...A ton of good performances on this disk
    author: Southwest Blues Magazine

    Taylor takes his own spin on these cover tunes and makes them unique and fun to listen to. Espeically tops on my list would be his appproach two the two--count them-- two Johnnie Taylor tunes "Jody Got your Girl and Gone" and "Last $2."... It all comes back to the vocal performances of Taylor who does a fine job of holding everything together. Check him out on the original composition "Tell Me Baby" parts one and two. He moans and groans in sync with the guitar. It's a wonderful little exchange that just rides this amazing groove and keeps on going. A great CD from the Windy City.-- Bill Fountain

  • Spirit and personality are 100% for real
    author: Big City Blues, Oct./Nov. 2004. by George Seedorf

    This fine record gives us 12 exclusive excursions into the world of authentic early Chicago blues with a dash of soul and mighty Mississippi attitude. Just when you think the last of this breed may have left us or is nearing retirement, a fella like Larry comes along to give us all a priceless gift...Expect really great songs, fine arrangements, some tasty horns, genuine West Side Chicago electric guitar licks and perfect vocal execution.

  • This is what the real Chicago blues sounds like
    author: Blues Matters Oct./Nov. 2004, Billy Hutchinson

    We have all heard copycat bands throughout the UK attempting Chicago Blues - this is what it is meant to sound like. It's a sound your soul can't shake…and why the hell should it? ---Billy Hutchinson, Blues Matters, Brigend, England Issue #22, Oct.-Nov. 2004

  • One of the best-sounding blues albums of the year
    author: Jeff Johnson, Chicago Sun-Times May 30 2004

    Like so many younger blues artists, Chicagoan Larry Taylor grew up immersed in the music. The stepson of the late Eddie Taylor Sr., Jimmy Reed's guitarist during his most productive years, Larry took up drums as a youth. He recently moved out from behind the kit to display his vocal chops, which lend themselves perfectly to the soul-blues material on this debut CD. Co-produced by Taylor, keyboardist Barrelhouse Bonni and Steve Wagner of Delmark Records, "They Were in This House" is one of the best-sounding blues albums of the year. And the material is well-chosen, particularly "Jody Got Your Girl and Gone," a funked-up military cadence, and "Last $2", both by Johnnie Taylor (no relation). Taylor covers Howlin' Wolf as well, and his no-nonsense original tunes sound like they, too, could be taken from the Wolf's songbook.

  • Larry Taylor is a strong vocalist who covers Howlin' Wolf as well as soul
    author: Ron Weinstock

    Larry Taylor is a strong vocalist who is at home covering Johnnie Taylor's "Jody Got Your Girl and Gone" as he is reviving Howlin' Wolf. Taylor's originals, "Blues, Hard Luck & Trouble" and "Green Line Blues" (inspired by Chicago's mass transit), are solid songs and like the rest of the album, nicely played. He sings with plenty of soul which is matched by his backing band. This is well worth checking out and giving a listen to.

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