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Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of the blues rock band Canned Heat. Before joining Canned Heat, he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was the younger brother of Mel Taylor, longtime drummer of The Ventures.
Taylor was born in New York City. His mother was Jewish and his father was a "WASP" from Tennessee. Taylor was the younger brother to Mel Taylor (1933-1996), drummer for The Ventures. As a boy, Taylor's family moved back and forth from Brooklyn and Tennessee. They also lived in Texas and California. While living in California, Taylor was sent by his mother back to Tennessee to join a mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps to punish him and teach him discipline as he was an "incorrigible" child.
In an interview, Taylor said he went to school for only a year before dropping out:
I did go to school for about a year and then I dropped out. I would just take my lunch money down to the local coffee shop and put it in the jukebox. They had the jukebox right on the counter. I would just plop down there, have a cup of coffee, put in a quarter and listen to ten songs. I would just soak up all the 50’s music which was going on at the time.
His first exposure to music was through brother Mel, who was a bluegrass guitarist at the time as opposed to the surf rock drummer he became known as. Like his brother, Larry originally played guitar. He switched to bass guitar after seeing local California musician Wesley Reynolds at the Sea Witch club. Taylor would later run away from home with Reynolds, and drove in his car to Oklahoma.
Taylor played bass guitar in The Gamblers, one of the first rock groups to play instrumental surf music. Its personnel also included Elliot Ingber, a future member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Fraternity of Man and Captain Beefheart's The Magic Band; Bruce Johnston, half of the Bruce and Terry duo with Terry Melcher from 1962–66 and longtime "sixth" member of The Beach Boys, for a time brother Mel Taylor, and guitarist-songwriter-bandleader Derry Weaver, who would record and perform in several capacities during the early 1960s. The Gamblers had a local hit in the Los Angeles area with "Moon Dawg" and Taylor played on the recording.
Taylor played bass for Jerry Lee Lewis in 1961:
Some girl came into the Sea Witch (club) and told me that Jerry Lee Lewis was playing down the street at Jimmy Maddin’s Sundown Club on Sunset. She knew Jerry Lee somehow and told me he was looking for a bass player. She set up the introduction. I had to put on a suit to look presentable which at the time meant you had to wear a suit. We met. He hired me and I ended up going on the road with Jerry Lee Lewis.
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Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of the blues rock band Canned Heat. Before joining Canned Heat, he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was the younger brother of Mel Taylor, longtime drummer of The Ventures.
Taylor was born in New York City. His mother was Jewish and his father was a "WASP" from Tennessee. Taylor was the younger brother to Mel Taylor (1933-1996), drummer for The Ventures. As a boy, Taylor's family moved back and forth from Brooklyn and Tennessee. They also lived in Texas and California. While living in California, Taylor was sent by his mother back to Tennessee to join a mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps to punish him and teach him discipline as he was an "incorrigible" child.
In an interview, Taylor said he went to school for only a year before dropping out:
I did go to school for about a year and then I dropped out. I would just take my lunch money down to the local coffee shop and put it in the jukebox. They had the jukebox right on the counter. I would just plop down there, have a cup of coffee, put in a quarter and listen to ten songs. I would just soak up all the 50’s music which was going on at the time.
His first exposure to music was through brother Mel, who was a bluegrass guitarist at the time as opposed to the surf rock drummer he became known as. Like his brother, Larry originally played guitar. He switched to bass guitar after seeing local California musician Wesley Reynolds at the Sea Witch club. Taylor would later run away from home with Reynolds, and drove in his car to Oklahoma.
Taylor played bass guitar in The Gamblers, one of the first rock groups to play instrumental surf music. Its personnel also included Elliot Ingber, a future member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Fraternity of Man and Captain Beefheart's The Magic Band; Bruce Johnston, half of the Bruce and Terry duo with Terry Melcher from 1962–66 and longtime "sixth" member of The Beach Boys, for a time brother Mel Taylor, and guitarist-songwriter-bandleader Derry Weaver, who would record and perform in several capacities during the early 1960s. The Gamblers had a local hit in the Los Angeles area with "Moon Dawg" and Taylor played on the recording.
Taylor played bass for Jerry Lee Lewis in 1961:
Some girl came into the Sea Witch (club) and told me that Jerry Lee Lewis was playing down the street at Jimmy Maddin’s Sundown Club on Sunset. She knew Jerry Lee somehow and told me he was looking for a bass player. She set up the introduction. I had to put on a suit to look presentable which at the time meant you had to wear a suit. We met. He hired me and I ended up going on the road with Jerry Lee Lewis.