bobby taylor interview

[tamla617]

i got this from grapevine.download link below.
i havent listened to it yet,its part of a radio show so you get some soul with it.its just over an hour long mp3.


https://files.me.com/mjanich/4k7wau.mp3

[theboyfromxtown]

Knock me down with a feather.........the second song is my favourite Temps track of all time.

Is this a regular show.....I like this guy's choice of music

[theboyfromxtown]

Wow.....bl**dy hell

He certainly doesn't like Diana Ross. The interviewer cuts the interview at about 33 minutes and sticks in "You Keep Me Hanging On" when Bobby goes off on one.

[tamla617]

theboy..
grape said it was a dj mate of his based in hong kong.nice work!i googled him, it seems he's part of the caister mafia djs

[theboyfromxtown]

Grape gets everywhere! LOL

Have you listened to it all. Bobby is certainly not backward at coming forward!

[marv2]

theboy..
grape said it was a dj mate of his based in hong kong.nice work!i googled him, it seems he's part of the caister mafia djs

Thank you for this Tamla617! I will give a listen.


Marv

[tamla617]

the boy..
no i havent had chance,i watched the last few hours of the le mans 24 hour race,then i've been watchin the canadian fi race which due to the rain got red flagged at 24 laps that was about 3 hours ago still waiting for the restart!

[tamla617]

i can imagine him not liking dross.he and gladys? "discover" "tell berry about" the j5 and dross gets the plaudits "diana ross presents the j5"

[marv2]

Tamla......that was GREAT! Bobby was very candid and did not go light on the details! He would have a very interesting story to tell if he were to ever write a book! Thanks again.

Marv

[marv2]

i can imagine him not liking dross.he and gladys? "discover" "tell berry about" the j5 and dross gets the plaudits "diana ross presents the j5"



He called Diane a SCRUB!!!!! LOL!!! I haven't heard that term since High School. hehehehehe!

[marv2]

the boy..
no i havent had chance,i watched the last few hours of the le mans 24 hour race,then i've been watchin the canadian fi race which due to the rain got red flagged at 24 laps that was about 3 hours ago still waiting for the restart!

That's in Montreal this weekend right? A buddy use to bring me back a T-Shirt every year.

[tamla617]

yeah marv
it lashed it down the track got flooded in places.i watched 3 hours of chat while waiting for the rain to stop,thinking i hope this is gonna be worth it.then the race re started,everyone had to dive for the pits to change tyres.then 2/3 laps safety car.jenson button was 21st with about 30 laps to go.6 laps to go 4th,last lap took the lead.go jenson whaat a race what a drive,i was drained watching the last few laps.
oh and was worth it!

[marv2]

yeah marv
it lashed it down the track got flooded in places.i watched 3 hours of chat while waiting for the rain to stop,thinking i hope this is gonna be worth it.then the race re started,everyone had to dive for the pits to change tyres.then 2/3 laps safety car.jenson button was 21st with about 30 laps to go.6 laps to go 4th,last lap took the lead.go jenson whaat a race what a drive,i was drained watching the last few laps.
oh and was worth it!

Russ, so you are in Montreal now right? If it keeps raining you can go to one of the biggest, best Sports Bars in town up on Ste Cat's. I will try to find the name. I met the owner a while back and they have big crowd all the time there.

[tamla617]

i wish!i was trying to steer my sofa thru' the chicanes slopping tea on my lap.all this from the comfort of my lounge!

if i've got a spare 800 quid i'll pop over for a pint!

nice thought tho' marv!cheers!prost,salute!

[Ramone Verona]

I enjoy listening to Bobby's stories and how he tells them
Got the anthology done a few years back and was amazed at how much I enjoyed most all the songs.
The first time I saw him was on a Joan Rivers interview show on TV where she had Mary Wilson and some other Motown stars.
He kind of scared me because he had real vitriol in his words about Berry Gordy and just "who" discovered Michael Jackson.
Bobby would imitate Berry and it got real scary.
I don't remember him trashing Diana but then again Mary was there.
His voice here sounds so young for 77.
I just can't picture this guy living in the Orient for some reason.

[uptight]

His voice [[speaking and singing) does sound much younger than he is. And his memory for names seems pretty sharp, too.

[marv2]

Bobby does sound like a much younger guy. He really has a great memory for details. I noticed that what he shared regarding taking the Jackson Five to Motown in Detroit and having the car break down on the road, is the same story that Bobby Smith of the Spinners shared the other night on the Unsung program. Bobby mentioned that he was the one that had to go out on the highway and pick them up in a station wagon and bring them back to Detroit.

[soulwally]

Just listening to it now. Fascinating stuff - he's like the Forrest Gump of soul music! I knew he was an opinionated guy - and he's not disappointing me. And he does sound much younger than 77 [[or 75, according to some biographies).

[soulwally]

...and he met the Queen? I don't recall him ever being on a Royal Command performance. And did he really write Ben? I think not.

[marv2]

Just listening to it now. Fascinating stuff - he's like the Forrest Gump of soul music! I knew he was an opinionated guy - and he's not disappointing me. And he does sound much younger than 77 [[or 75, according to some biographies).

That is a good way to describe him. The man has been around!

[uptight]

Soulwally, I met him in Detroit around the time the The Jacksons TV movie was being developed in the 1990s. He was a consultant on the film. He told me then that he wrote "Ben" about a childhood friend. It left me scratching my head, because his name has not been on the writing credits. But in light of a recent SFD thread about Curtis Mayfield and the song "Amen," the writers of a song aren't necessarily the copyright owners and won't always be listed.

I wonder what the name of the song was before it was attached to a feature film named Ben. I'm just sayin'. LOL

[soulwally]

Good info, Uptight. Listening to the programme prompted me to dig out Bobby's Motown Anthology. I wanted to hear more of the voice that produced those off-the-cuff song clips during the show. He had, and still has, what I think is commonly described as a 'keaning' style.


Incidentally a postcript to the liner notes says Bobby, Chris Clark and Tommy Good appeared in the UK at the Post House Hotel, Northampton, in March 2006. Bobby mentioned performing for the Queen in Northampton, hardly the most fashionable UK town. Perhaps he thought Chris was The Queen!

[roger]

Incidentally a postcript to the liner notes says Bobby, Chris Clark and Tommy Good appeared in the UK at the Post House Hotel, Northampton, in March 2006. Bobby mentioned performing for the Queen in Northampton, hardly the most fashionable UK town. Perhaps he thought Chris was The Queen!

Well .. Princess Diana was brought up at Althorp House, which is just outside Northampton, and her brother still lives there. Maybe The Queen was up there one day swapping anecdotes about Prince Charles and called in at The Post House on the way home .. :)

Roger

[MIKEW-UK]

Soulwally, are you sure Bobby didn't actually say "performed IN the Queen in Northampton" rather than "performed FOR the Queen in Northampton"? Take a look, and groove to the music... http://www.queenadelaide.com The Queen Adelaide [[Queen for short) is a very nice pub...

This makes a lot of sense, as Queen Elizabeth herself was actually in Sydney Australia in at that time, March 2006, so she would not have been able to make the gig, even though I happen to know she is a great Bobby Taylor fan and has an original vinyl Taylor Made album that she got at a to-die- for price off Ebay

[soulwally]

When the Queen's having a cosy chat with her old mate Earl Spencer in the Queen Adelaide, do they go in the back room or the snug?

I can just hear her now: What's one having, Spenner? Shall one put Oh I've Been Blessed on the old Dukebox?

Incidentally, back to the interview, Does Your Mama Know About Me wasn't discussed. I'd like to have know more about the session, with Berry at the helm. Still one of my favourite-ever Motown tunes.

[RossHolloway]

Just listened to the interview and while it was interesting, I thought it focused too much on Michael Jackson and not enough on Bobby Taylor. And let's be honest, if you were Berry Gordy or any other record company, who would you use to launch a new group? Diana Ross or Bobby Taylor? IT was done for PROMOTION! He just needs to get over it, it's been over 40 years. And his attacks on Diana Ross were an asshole move. I mean, what was the point really? He came across as mean, shallow and just jealous of her fame and fortune. And while he boast of his friendship with Michael Jackson, something tells me he never trashed Diana Ross in front of Michael Jackson. Don't remember Bobby Taylor being named God-parent to his three children.

Also a point of clarification, it's minor, but I just chalked it up to his age, but Chicago is more that 1h45m from Detroit. It's really more like a 4.5-5 hour trip by car between the two cities. Perhaps he mispoke [[between name dropping) and meant to say that he was an 1h45minutes away from Detroit when their van broke down.

I would have like to have heard more about his time and music while at Motown. BT and the Vancouvers, if they were brought to the attention of Berry Gordy by Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, it must have been the early part of 1967, and their first release didn't happen until the spring of '68 [[?). I would have loved to have heard more details about their time there in Detroit and why the Vancouvers left after the first album. What he thought of the Anthology release. When and why he eventually left Motown. Does he still get royalty checks from the J5 songs he wrote and for the song Ben [[lol). How much material is still in the vaults. What did he do after he left Motown. Did he continue to record music? I really thought it was a missed opportunity to know more about Bobby Taylor, way too much time was spent on him name dropping and talking about Michael Jackson.

[roger]

Rossholloway ..

BOBBY TAYLOR did some recordings at Philadelphia International with THOM BELL after leaving Motown, under the name of B.T. and T.B.

http://www.discogs.com/BT-And-TB-I-Cant-Quit-Your-Love-Queen-Of-The-Ghetto/release/1381953

"I Can't Quit Your Love" got released in Britain under his own name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G6H9yfmSpI

There was another single called "There Are Roses" which I think came later ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1dFPBrFEuE

Roger

[RossHolloway]

Rossholloway ..

BOBBY TAYLOR did some recordings at Philadelphia International with THOM BELL after leaving Motown, under the name of B.T. and T.B.

http://www.discogs.com/BT-And-TB-I-Cant-Quit-Your-Love-Queen-Of-The-Ghetto/release/1381953

"I Can't Quit Your Love" got released in Britain under his own name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G6H9yfmSpI

There was another single called "There Are Roses" which I think came later ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1dFPBrFEuE

Roger

Thanks for that info Roger. See this is what I would have like to have heard during this interview. The interview was over an hour long and I think the dude played only ONE BT song...

[MIKEW-UK]

If you want some even more recent Bobby Taylor [[2005), get this album "Soulful Tale of Two Cities" It features Bobby Taylor on four tracks; especially amazing is his performance of "Sunshine" In addition to Bobby Taylor, it features a host of talent, Lamont Dozier, Russell Thompkins Jr, Carolyn Crawford, Bunny Sigler, Barbara Mason, Ali Ollie Woodson, the list goes on and on. I can vouch for just how good it is, I was coincidentally playing it this morning! AND IT'S ONLY£6.99 DOWNLOAD FROM AMAZON FOR 30 TRACKS!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soulful-Tale-Two-Cities/dp/B002IWKI78/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk?ie=UTF8&qid=1308844223&sr=1-1

And for the US, $8.99 from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Soulful-Tale-Two-Cities/dp/B001BRSX6E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308845028&sr=8-1

Oh and please do ignore one of the Amazon UK reviewers who states " Few recognisable voices even to soul afficianados "!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

[theboyfromxtown]

And if you don't mind me saying, it has a superb version of the old Spinners Hit "[[One Of A Kind) Love Affair" from the Velvelettes which is definitely single release quality.

[MIKEW-UK]

I agree, and there isn't a duff track on the entire 30 song album.....I am sure the story behind this production has already been covered in the past on the forum, but for newbies like me, this is an interesting background on the producers Phil Hurtt, Clay McMurray, Bobby Eli, Lamont D and Bunny....

http://www.soulmusic.com/sotaoftwocif.html

[marv2]

*Bump* for those who missed this Bobby Taylor interview like R. Mark Desjardins.

[marv2]

bumped for Mark

[thomas96]

Does anyone have an updated link for this interview?