“My music is a deep pool that seeps out of my soul. Both of my projects reflect my sense of humor and my love affair with nostalgia and melancholy.”

Singer-songwriter Charlie Taylor was born in Abilene, TX in 1943, raised a southern boy in Mayfield, KY then moved to Westport, CT, where he discovered jazz, bebop and Greenwich Village in his teens. Charlie’s parents bought him a Hallicrafters S-38 short wave radio with headphones when he was 5, and he began to seek radio stations on the skip at night—tuning into WWOL in New Orleans, WHBQ in Memphis, WLS in Chicago and WLAC in Nashville getting the Grand Ole Opry live in 1947.  Charlie got a strong dose of R&B and blues from Chicago and the Deep South, and his mother Mary Ann also steeped him in the big band era sounds—especially the Nat King Cole trio, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. 

 “Absorbing country music of the late 40's and early 50's from Nashville and the Blues from Memphis had a lasting impact on my writing,” Taylor said.  “The blues are a sensibility and a passion.  They permeate my soul and are a feeling that comes out in everything I do.”

 In Westport, Charlie met rocker Barry Tashian (Remains), a young Michael Douglas (yes, that Michael Douglas) and fell in with the Downshifters hot rod club and the hot-rodding culture of the late 1950’s.  Then, during his college years at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY, Charlie sang with Little Hilton and the Artesians and played varsity baseball, picking up pointers from the legendary Little Enis and the Table Toppers and other full-on bar bands in the area. The Artesians performed on live radio and played sock hops.

 After college, Charlie did a stint in Greenwich Village in 1966, then moved to Washington, DC in 1967 and then San Angelo, TX in 1968, where he met Buddy Holly’s manager Hi Pockets Duncan. Hi encouraged Charlie to hone his songwriting skills by moving to LAwhich he did in 1970, marrying Susan Hanley on the beach in Malibu at Bill and Judy Cleary’sMalibu Road home. Bill was John Phillips’ (Mamas and Papas) manager.

 Bill Cleary opened doors for Charlie, who wound up hanging out with, working with, writing with or performing with the likes of Gram Parsons, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Kevin Kelly (Byrds), Johnny Weider and Barry Jenkins (the Animals), Billy Preston, future Rock N Roll hall of famers Hilton Valentine (the Animals), Andy Summers (the Police, Animals). He worked at the Troubadour, the Sundance Saloon in Calabasas, CA and other venues learning the craft of songwriting.

 “My 7 years in LA were a defining experience,” said Taylor.  “It validated me as a songwriter—it is where I honed my craft as a songwriter. It gave me the ability to be able to write on demand for any kind of artist; I became a journeyman songwriter.”

 After a UCLA course with songwriter Al Kasha (2-time Academy Award winner) Charlie decided to head back East to raise his family which now included daughter Simone Noel, soon to be joined by brother Trevor. 

 After stops in Tampa and Atlanta, Charlie moved to Nashville, which began a 20-year stint writing with Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Kent M. Robbins and George Ducas among others.

 Charlie’s first CD Once Upon a Time, released in 2003 on Gullwing Records, was included on the short list in the 2003 Grammy Awards guide. Produced by the legendary Dan Penn (The Box Tops) and Geoff Gillette (Sergio Mendes, the Yellowjackets) the blues-tinged project was bolstered by performances by Bread co-founder James Griffin, bassist Mike Leech, piano and organist Spooner Oldham (Neil Young, Bob Dylan), Rock N Roll hall of famer Scotty Moore (Elvis), Dan Penn, guitarist Mike Durham, drummer Ian Wallace (King Crimson, Jackson Browne, Don Henley), Rick Vito (Fleetwood Mac, Bonnie Raitt), great R&B organist and keyboard man Carson Whitsett.

 “I have been privileged to have known and worked with some fabulous songwriters and musicians over 40 years,” Taylor said.  “Learning from these great artists and being in a situation where they were helping me record my music was a humbling experience, since I looked up to them for a long time.”

 In October 2007, Dan Penn and Geoff Gillette again teamed up to produce Charlie’s second CD For All I Am—this time gathering the Memphis Boys’ Bobby Emmons on organ, strings and piano, arranger Mike Leech on bass. They were joined by drummer Jim Brock (Joe Cocker), Mike Severs and Mike Durham (Dave Matthews) on guitars, as well as Dan Penn and Geoff Gillette on vocals. After 12 songs in Nashville at Penn’s Dandy Studios, the project headed to LA and recorded one jazz side with the Mid Century Jazz Quartet, featuring drummer Gus Duffy. Sax player extraordinaire Andy Suzuki added the icing to the session.

 “Dan has equipment that originally belonged to Motown and equipment he has saved over 40 plus years recording in Muscle Shoals and Memphis,” Taylor said.  “From the get-go Geoff Gillette and Dan applied their combined skills to get a sound circa 1965. It is BIG warm and a mile wide. You can't get that sound with digital recording equipment as good as it is. We took the time and got it right.”

The mixing and mastering began at Visual Rhythm Studio with Carlos Y Del Rosario at the mix. Geoff and Carlos rendered a great record. As they say “and now the listening pleasure is all yours.”

 In a parallel career path, Charlie has produced special events and telethons as an executive producer featuring acts Brooks and Dunn, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Bill Cosby, Frankie Avalon, Marion Ross, Jim Brown, Cornell Wilde, Jean Tierney, Lloyd Bridges, James Brown, Gladys Knight, Rick Nelson, Kansas, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Brenda Lee and others.