Melvin Taylor - Career

Career

Born in Mississippi, Taylor relocated to Chicago in 1962.

In his adolescence, Taylor joined The Transistors, a band managed by his future father-in-law, playing popular music of the 1970s at talent shows and nightclubs. After the Transistors broke up in the early 1980s, Taylor devoted his attention to playing blues in the Chicago's West Side clubs.

During the 1980s he joined Pinetop Perkins and The Legendary Blues Band in a year long European tour, and since the late 1980s he has been making regular tours of Europe with his own group, where they have opened for B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Santana.

Taylor's recordings include two songs he first recorded for a French record label: Blues on the Run, originally recorded in 1982, and 1984's Plays the Blues for You. Back in the US, Taylor signed to Evidence Music and entered the studio with John Snyder to record Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band, which showcased his original songwriting. He returned in late 1996 to record his second US album, Dirty Pool. Taylor's debut remains the Evidence label's best-selling release.

Though his singing is relaxed, even sometimes conversational, his guitar improvisations have much of Jimi Hendrix's tightly curled strength.

He used to play regularly at Rosa's Lounge in Chicago. Taylor's most recent album, Beyond the Burning Guitar, was recorded in Misty Creek Studios in Fairfax, Virginia. He also recorded a cover of the Eminem song, "Love The Way You Lie" with the rapper, Matt Christian, at Misty Creek Studios.