Lewis Taylor
A North London multi-instrumentalist and singer, formerly guitarist of the Edgar Broughton Band, whose self-titled 1996 debut for Island, with "Lucky" as its opener, became a cult soul record.
Barnet to Island
Andrew Lewis Taylor was born in London on January 20, 1966 and raised in Barnet in North London. His first professional gig, at about 20, was touring as guitarist with the Edgar Broughton Band, and he made two records under the name Sheriff Jack, Laugh Yourself Awake (1986) and What Lovely Melodies! (1987). Island signed him on the strength of his demos, and the debut, Lewis Taylor, released on August 19, 1996, was recorded on digital reel-to-reel machines in his flat in Wood Green and produced by Taylor himself. Sabina Smyth co-wrote "Lucky", "Track", "Song" and "Damn".
It was praised and sold poorly, with no chart positions that we found. AllMusic's Thom Jurek gave it 4.5 stars and Pitchfork's Ross Scarano 8.7 out of 10 in 2021, while Muzik gave it 2 out of 5 in 1996. Record Collector's Paul Bowler called it one of the great what-ifs of British music, and the BBC review quoted by Albumism said it was an album everyone talked about but few bought. Albumism quotes David Bowie calling him the most exciting sound of contemporary soul music with a European sensibility. In an interview with Soul Jones in 2016, Taylor described Smyth's involvement as the writing, the arrangements, sounds and textures and the production, and called the late executive-producer credit patronizing at best.
Slow Reality and the break
Island rejected a psychedelic follow-up. Taylor made Lewis II, released in September 2000, and Island then dropped him. He started his own label, Slow Reality, and released Stoned, Part I in 2002 and Stoned, Part II in 2004, along with The Lost Album, whose date is variously given as 2004, 2005 and 2007. A US edition of Stoned came out on Hacktone on September 6, 2005, with covers of the Stylistics, Brian Wilson and David Sylvain; PopMatters gave it 8 out of 10, calling him a British soul sensation of astonishing skill. His last setlist.fm entry is the Bowery Ballroom in New York on January 26, 2006, and the site lists ten shows in all, from the Paleo Festival in Nyon in July 1997.
He retired from music in June 2006. Robbie Williams had a success that November with "Lovelight", from Stoned, Part I, written by Taylor and produced by Mark Ronson. Wikipedia and Internazionale say he appeared as Andrew Taylor, musical director and bassist for Gnarls Barkley, which Sounds of Surprise calls unconfirmed. The debut was reissued on Caroline Records in 2016, with a bonus disc of B-sides, "Lucky" remixes and an extended "Bittersweet", and as a double LP by Be With Records in 2021. A new album, Numb, appeared quietly in June 2022. Praise has come from David Bowie and Elton John, and in a 2016 interview he said he still loved music but that it no longer defined him as a person.
Albums
Songs
- Lucky Lewis Taylor · 1996
The opening track of Lewis Taylor, a 1996 single reissued in 1997 with Kruder & Dorfmeister remixes.
Sources
- Lewis Taylor, Wikipedia
- Lewis Taylor 25th anniversary, Albumism
- Lewis Taylor, Lewis Taylor, Record Collector (2021-05-03)
- Lewis Taylor, Stoned, PopMatters (2005-12-18)