Elmore James - Eddie Taylor - Street Talkin'

Elmore James - Eddie Taylor - Street Talkin'
Muse 5087, 1975 (recorded 1957 James, and 1955-56 Taylor)

 A1     Elmore James –     Coming Home     2:28   
A2     Elmore James –     Take Me Where You Go     2:28   
A3     Elmore James –     Cry For Me Baby     2:47   
A4     Elmore James –     Elmore's Contribution To Jazz     2:19   
A5     Elmore James –     Knocking At Your Door     2:39   
A6     Elmore James –     It Hurts Me Too     3:12   
A7     Elmore James –     The 12 Year Old Boy     3:06   
B1     Eddie Taylor (2) –     You'll Always Have A Home     2:47   
B2     Eddie Taylor (2) –     Do You Want Me To Cry?     2:52   
B3     Eddie Taylor (2) –     Big Town Playboy     3:08   
B4     Eddie Taylor (2) –     Ride Em On Down     2:58   
B5     Eddie Taylor (2) –     Bad Boy     3:04   
B6     Eddie Taylor (2) –     I'm Sitting Here     2:52   
B7     Eddie Taylor (2) –     Don't Knock On My Door     2:52    

Drums Earl Phillips (tracks: B1 & B7), Ray Scott (track: B5), Vernell Fournier (tracks: B3 & B4) (Vernell!?! Really?! prior to Jamal obviously.), Al Duncan (tracks: B2 & B6),
Guitar Eddie Taylor (tracks: B1-B7), Jimmy Lee Robinson* (tracks: B1 & B7)
Harmonica George Maywether* (tracks: B1 & B7)
Harmonica, Guitar Jimmy Reed (tracks: B2 to B6)
Vocals Eddie Taylor (tracks: B1 to B7)
Piano Johnny Jones* (A1-A7)
Tenor Saxophone J.T. Brown* (tracks: A1 to A7)
Bass Homesick James  (A1-A7), Drums Odie Payne  (A1-A7)
Vocals, Guitar Elmore James (tracks: A1 to A7)
Guitar Eddie Taylor, Syl Johnson or Wayne Bennett (A1-A7)
**A1-A7 originally released on VeeJay, B1-B7 released on Chief**

Eddie Taylor, a well-respected guitarist and singer, should rightfully share feature billing with bottleneck guitar nonpareil James on this amplified Chicago blues collection. Taylor and a truculent outfit are heard on his signature song "Big Town Playboy" and on six more good tracks from 1955 to 1956. Jimmy Reed plays wobbly harmonica on five songs; George Mayweather takes over for him on two. On the other half of the program James and his Broomdusters (including Taylor) wrestle emotion from every blue note of "It Hurts Me Too," the instrumental "Elmore's Contribution to Jazz," and five more 1957 tracks, making them musical hand grenades that could explode at any instant -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Hmmm, I can't say I have ever heard a band labeled "truculent" before. I was initially afraid that this overlapped our earlier Elmore post but it does not appear to be the case.

  Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to play guitar. With a guitar style deeply rooted in the Mississippi Delta tradition, in 1949 Taylor moved to Chicago, Illinois.

While Taylor never achieved the stardom of some of his compatriots in the Chicago blues scene, he nevertheless was an integral part of that era. He is especially noted as a main accompanist for Jimmy Reed, as well as working with John Lee Hooker, Big Walter Horton, Sam Lay and others. Taylor's own records "Big Town Playboy" and "Bad Boy" on Vee Jay Records became local hits in the 1950s.

Taylor's son Eddie Taylor Jr. is a blues guitarist in Chicago, his stepson Larry Taylor is a blues drummer and vocalist, and his daughter Demetria is a blues vocalist in Chicago. Taylor's wife Vera was the niece of bluesmen Eddie "Guitar" Burns and Jimmy Burns.

Taylor died on Christmas Day in 1985 in Chicago, at age 62, and was interred in an unmarked grave in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1987.
 

A James bio will appear later. This is the only solo Eddie Taylor I have.