Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Montana Taylor

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Birth name
  
Arthur Taylor

Labels
  
Vocalion

Record label
  
Vocalion Records

Years active
  
1923-1929, 1946

Died
  
1954


Instruments
  
Piano, vocal

Role
  
Pianist

Occupation(s)
  
Pianist, singer

Name
  
Montana Taylor

Albums
  
Low Down Piano

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Genres
  
Boogie-woogie, Piano blues

People also search for
  
Cripple Clarence Lofton, Bertha Hill, Speckled Red

Montana taylor detroit rocks


Arthur "Montana" Taylor (1903 – c.1958) was an American boogie-woogie and piano blues pianist, best known for his recordings in the 1940s, and regarded as the leading exponent of the "barrelhouse" style of playing.

Contents

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Life and career

Taylor was born in Butte, Montana, where his father owned a club. The family moved to Chicago and then, around 1910, to Indianapolis, where Taylor learned piano. Later he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. By 1929 he was back in Chicago, where he recorded a few tracks for Vocalion Records, including "Indiana Avenue Stomp" and "Detroit Rocks".

He then disappeared from the public record for some years, during which he may have given up playing piano. However, in 1946 he was rediscovered by jazz fan Rudi Blesh, and was recorded both solo and as the accompanist to Bertha "Chippie" Hill. The later recordings proved he had lost none of his instrumental abilities, and had developed as a singer.

Taylor's final recordings were from a 1946 radio broadcast and after that he was reported working as a chauffeur.

Montana Taylor died soon after 1957, when he was last recorded as living in Cleveland.

In 1977, Taylor's complete recordings were compiled by Martin van Olderen for the Oldie Blues label. Included were two then recently discovered radio performances from 1946. In 2002 Document Records released the complete recordings on CD.

Singles

  • 1929 - "Whoop and Holler Stomp" b/w "Hayride Stomp" (Vocalion) - 78 rpm
  • 1929 - "Indiana Avenue Stomp" b/w "Detroit Rocks" (Vocalion) - 78 rpm
  • Albums

  • 1977 - Montana's Blues (Oldie Blues) - compilation LP with Montana Taylor's complete recordings
  • 2002 - Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order 1929-1946 (Document Records) - compilation CD with Montana Taylor's complete recordings
  • References

    Montana Taylor Wikipedia