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The new CD, "Colour to the Moon", is finished and is available from T Records, P.O. Box MT37 8UY for 14.00 Pounds sterling (cheques, with cheque card number on the reverse should be made payable to Allan Taylor), which includes p+p for orders within Great Britain.
Please note that for orders outside of Britain Eurocheques are no longer accepted by British banks. T Records is trying to find a solution to this problem and suggests that for other countries buyers should deposit the relevant amount in the bank accounts listed on the Orders page and send the receipt to T Records. They will then send the CD by return post.
See Orders for details.
Denmark - Skagen Festival, concert with Tom Paxton and Ralph McTell: 28 June to 1 July
Autumn 2001: Tours of the following countries are now being arranged:
Austria - September 28 to October 10 (some concerts with Peter Ratzenbeck)
Germany - October 11 to November 8
Belgium - November 9 to 18 (touring with Eric Andersen)
Holland - November 19 to November 30
Allan performed with Chris Jones on guitar and Grischka Zepf on bass for WDR Live Radio in Altenbecken, Germany during Allan's recent tour.
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Arrangements are being made for a tour of Belgium in November of 2001 with the American singer-songwriter Eric Andersen. Check for future updates here and at http://www.ericandersen.com.
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On the last day of the Austrian tour Allan played two concerts: the mid-day concert was with Peter Ratzenbeck (www.peter-ratzenbeck.at) at the Hopfhaus in Vienna, the evening concert was solo at AERA in Vienna, which along with Cafe Merlin in Stuttgart is Allan's favourite venue in Europe. During the afternoon he recorded "Banjo Man" with Donovan for the "Derroll Adams Tribute CD". The project is moving along, with contributions so far from Hans Theessink, Arlo Guthrie and Donovan. Yet to be recorded is Rambling Jack Elliot, and two suprise guests whose identities must remain a secret for awhile.
Donovan and Allan Taylor at studio in Vienna to record "Banjo Man."
On the way back from the Austrian tour, Allan stopped off at Stockfisch Records in Northeim, Germany to check on the final stages of his new CD. The final mix has been completed, and there will be two versions released: 1. A single CD with 12 songs, lyrics and photos, to be released at the beginning of November to coincide with the German tour. 2. A special signed and numbered edition of 333 double CD pack, in a specially designed solid wooden box. The first CD will be as above, the second will include "out-takes" and stories. The accompanying book will include lyrics, photos and stories. This will be available only from Stockfisch direct, and will be priced at 330 dm (approximately £110.00). Orders should be addressed to:
Stockfisch Records
St. Blasien-Herrenhaus
D 37154 Northeim
Germany
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Allan has entered into an agreement for exclusive representation in the U.K. with Stoneyport Agency.:
http://www.stoneyport.demon.co.uk/index.html
Contact John Barrow at the agency for any enquiries regarding booking Allan. Details on Tours page.
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Ethnoambient Festival - Set in the Roman amphitheatre of Solin near Split, Croatia.August 1, 2000
Allan and Emmylou Harris met backstage at the Tonder Festival.
Allan and the German songwriter Helmut Debus have decided to tour together again. The whole of May 2001 will be devoted to the tour.
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Allan has just returned from the Skagen Festival in Denmark. On the Sunday night of the festival he played a special "Prize-Winners' Concert", a concert with the Norwegian songwriter Lillebjorn Nilsen who won the Danish Radio and Skagen Festival "Folkmusikpris" in 1995 (Allan won it in 1997) and the Danish songwriter Allan Olsen who won the prize this year. It was a sell-out concert and a great success. A.T.'s song, "It's Good to See You" is the festival theme song, so it is sung at least twice during the weekend.
Allan has decided to make a "Back to the Roots British Folk Club Tour" next February/March and the first week of April. So far, twenty gigs are in the book and more are coming in. As for May 2001, Allan will be touring Germany for the whole month with the German songwriter Helmut Debus. They made a tour together in 1997 and in 1999, both of which were so successful they decided to make it a regular thing, every two years.
The working title for Allan's new CD is, "It's a Beautiful Dream - with a Sad Refrain" which is a line from one of the songs on the CD, "Kerouac's Dream". He is in the process of finishing off the recordings and deciding on the artwork for the cover. Hopefully it will be released in September of this year.
"Beat Goes On", the record company which recently re-released Allan's first two albums ("Sometimes" and "The Lady") on CD have now re-released the third and fourth albums, "The American Album" and "Cajun Moon" on a CD, catalogue number BGOCD488. Allan will not be selling this CD via the web-site or on gigs, but both CDs on BGO Records are available in Virgin and HMV record shops.
During the last few years Allan has occasionally performed with his son, Barnaby. These concerts are special in that the musical empathy between father and son on stage produces a unique artistry. Barnaby has grown up with his father's songs - he was there when his father composed many of them, practised them and performed them, and because of this he knows instinctively what the song needs musically.
Barnaby, now twenty-eight years old is a graduate in Zoology, although he has been playing music for as long as he can remember. His first instrument is the piano, but he also plays the bass and the guitar. He has appeared on three of Allan's CDs, "So Long", "Faded Light" and "The Alex Campbell Tribute Concert" double CD and is currently working on Allan's new CD, to be released in the Autumn of 2000.
Barnaby now works as a full-time composer. He specialises in composing music for vision, and has worked on numerous films and documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic and various independent television companies. Because of their various commitments the concerts they are able to make together are few. So far they have made three live concert recordings for WDR - German national radio (1994, 1995 and 1997), a BBC live broadcast of their concert at the Glasgow festival (1995), two concert performances at the prestigious Tonder festival in Denmark (1996), concerts at the Skagen Festival in Denmark (1995 and 1997), and a short concert tour of Germany in 1995 and 1997. In July '98 they played at the Folkest Festival in northern Italy, a "father and son" concert with David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills and Nash) and his son. Again in 1999 they played for WDR. The only concert they will play together in the year 2000 will be at "De Woeker" in Oudenaarde (Belgium), but a tour of Britain is being planned for the year 2001.
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At the beginning of May Allan travelled to Germany to play
on Helmut Debus's new CD, recorded at Tonstudio in Bremen. Allan played on six
tracks of Helmut's songs - the CD will be released within a few months. Allan
and Helmut will play a concert together at the Badentreffen festival in Nurnburg
on Sunday 30th July. Their next concert will be during Allan's tour of Germany
in October (see date sheet). Due to the success of the last two tours they made
together (1997 and 1999) they have decided to tour again in May 2001. Watch the
"Tours" page for details.
Allan and Helmut in Tonstudion, BremenAt the end of May Allan travelled to
Austria for two concerts and a recording with Hans Theessink. As mentioned in
earlier news flashes, Hans is arranging a Derroll Adams Tribute CD, and Allan
will be playing three tracks: "Trouble in Mind", "The Sky" (both songs of
Derroll's) and Allan's classic "Banjo Man". During that weekend Hans and Allan
recorded a new version of "Banjo Man" and Derroll's song "Freight Train Blues".
Donovan and Arlo Guthrie will also record some songs with a few weeks. More news
on this project as and when it comes in.
Allan has almost finished recording his own CD - he's hoping for a release date sometime in the Autumn of this year.
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"Veteran folkie leaves audience spellbound."
"...the guitar maestro held his audience spellbound with a superb repertoire of his own work."
"...the modern-day travelling minstrel - as popular, or even more so, in Europe and America than in his native England - made the most of his own experience with self-penned songs which were personal without veering into the mawkish or sentimental."
"Rubenstein Remembers - not one of his own - had a mittel European, Jewish/Yiddish, flavour which showcased Taylor's skill on guitar and the haunting melody brought wistful echoes of a culture consumed in the flames of Auschwitz and its like."
"His incredible versatility was again highlighted by his next song, Boy Becomes The Man, about the poignant realisation that preparing his own son for manhood inevitable means losing him."
"A beautiful counterpoint was Brighton Beach - seen from the perspective of childhood in the 50s, through the counter-culture of the 60s, to the rampant consumerism of Thatcher's Britain in the 70s and 80s, with the guitar skillfully catching the pop music styles of the decades."
"Hopefully, it won't be seven years before the Island gets a chance to listen to him again."
Raymond Hainey,
The Royal Gazette
April 8, 2000.
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Allan's Danish tour started with the tragic news that his old friend Derroll Adams (whom Allan wrote "Banjo Man" for) died on 6th February in an Antwerp hospital with his wife Danny by his side. Allan last saw him in the hospital last October where, if the truth is known, they both knew it would be the last time they would see each other. The last of the great legends has gone.
A documentary film which is being made about Derroll and on which Allan has been interviewed will be released sometime in April - firstly to be broadcast on Belgian T.V.
The Danish tour was a success for Allan. Amongst the concerts he played, two were with Dick Gaughan and Rod Sinclair, the last of which was also with Eleanor Shanley. Dick, Rod and Allan played "Land of the North Wind" together, a song which Allan wrote in the seventies and which Dick recorded on his CD "Sail Away". Dick and Allan are discussing ways of working together in the future.
The Skagen festival (in Northern Denmark) has now confirmed; Allan will play the final concert on the Sunday evening (2nd July) with the great Danish songwriter Allan Olsen.
The Austrian tour is now set for the first week in October
- details will be posted when the gigs are confirmed.
The Dutch tour, from 27th October to 6th November is now fully booked (details
to follow) and the German tour from 9th November to 3rd December is becoming
full.
Allan is set to record the new CD in late April. Hopefully it will be released in late summer, in time for the Autumn tours.
Barbara Lange will be designing and up-dating the Danish and German web-site, with reviews from the last Debus/Taylor tour of Germany and also from the Danish concerts Allan has played.
B.G.O. (the record company which in 1998 licensed from EMI and re-released Allan's first two albums Sometimes and The Lady, recorded in 1971 and 1972 respectively) have licensed the following two albums, The American Album (recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles in 1973) and Cajun Moon (recorded in London in 1975) and will release them on one CD in March/April of this year. Catalogue numbers will be posted when they are known. If the demand warrants it, Allan will sell this release on gigs. Of course the CD will be available at major record shops, for example Virgin and HMV.
Allan has only one musical hero, Randy Newman, and he finally got to meet him on Tuesday, 22 February at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where Newman was performing with The London Philharmonic Orchestra. After the concert Allan went backstage and had the chance to finally talk with, as Allan says, "the greatest songwriter in the English language."
AT: So what are the chords you use in the middle eight of "I think it's Gonna Rain Today?"
RN: You know, I can't really remember - Just play what you think sounds right! Allan is currently working on the arrangements for the songs on the next CD. More news as and when!
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