June 19, 2010
The "Almost Man" Porsche Photos, News from Austria

The Porsche story (regarding Allan’s song “The Almost Man”) has been written and will appear in the official Porsche magazine, “Christophorus”, in the November issue. Allan, along with journalist Reiner Schloz and photographer Markus Leser, recreated the journey Allan took with his father’s ashes; Leeds, London, Brighton and Sompting (where he scattered the ashes). On the way Allan revisited The Troubadour in London, where he had played some gigs in the late sixties and early seventies (a place that also had gigs from Paul Simon and Tom Paxton and many others), and then they travelled to Brighton beach, where Allan’s journey as a musician began. Many thanks to Porsche GB for giving Allan the 911 Carrera S for a week – unfortunately he had to give it back.

Allan is now back from Austria – a couple of gigs and some time spent with Allan’s friend, Pinky, made for a pleasant week.

While Allan was performing in Austria the artist Gerald Brettschuh made many drawings and gave one to Allan.

On the way back from Styria Allan stopped in Vienna to record a song with his old friend from Slovenia, Vlado Kreslin (www.kreslin.com)

Many thanks to those who came to the gigs. Allan is already planning next year’s tour of Austria.

May 31, 2010
The "Almost Man" Recording for Porsch, Vinyl Releases, Review of The Endless Highway

Allan has recorded a new version of “The Almost Man" (on the Leaving at Dawn CD) for the Porsche organization. The new version is called “A Promise and a Porsche” and is the result of a conversation Allan had with Dieter Burmester, of the Burmester HiFi Company.

During the Hi-End Exhibition in Munich in May 2009 where Allan and Stockfisch Records were presenting Allan’s new CD (Leaving at Dawn) and his documentary film (The Endless Highway) Allan met the Burmester Hi-Fi Company and got to know the team. They were using his CD Hotels and Dreamers to demonstrate their equipment (the best HiFi available!) and during the course of the weekend Allan told the story about his father and why he had bought a Porsche to Dieter Burmester, who had been commissioned to design and build the sound system for the new four-door Porsche, the Panamera.
Some-time later Dieter told this story to the Porsche organization, and subsequently, Christophorus (the official Porsche magazine) decided to write an article about Allan, telling the story and making the journey one more time. The Porsche organization will send a journalist and photographer to England to re-create the journey Allan took with his father’s ashes, from Leeds to London and then on to Brighton.
Further news regarding Porsche and Burmester: Allan’s CD Hotels and Dreamers was used for the North American launch event of the Porsche Panamera.

Stockfisch Records have decided to release two vinyl record containing tracks from Allan’s last four CDs. As yet a release date has not been decided, but details will follow when we know. The vinyl series will be called In the Groove.

A superb review by David Kidman of Allan’s documentary film The Endless Highway is published in Britain’s premier acoustic music magazine, fRoots. Check out www.frootsmag.com.

Tour details of Denmark in September and Germany in October/November are now posted on the Tours page.
Allan will be flying to Austria for just two concerts in June (details on Tours page) and staying with his friend Pinky at his wonderful place in Styria for a few days. Ideally situated on Weinstrasse no doubt the superb wine in the area will inspire some new songs.

March 7, 2010
Paris. A Word from Allan:

It was great to be back in Paris. I was there for the screening of the film The Endless Highway and to play a concert. The Director of the film, Patrick Ferryn, and the Cameraman Michel Baudour came through from Brussels and we all stayed at the Hotel Villa des Princes in Rue Monsieur Les Princes. The hotel is only fifty yards from what used to be the Bar Monaco, where Alex Campbell and Derroll Adams used to sing, usually in the street in front of the café in the 50s. I had been there almost twenty years ago when the café/bar still looked exactly the same as it did in the 50s, but now it has completely changed and there is nothing to remind one of the history of the early days of the folk song revival and the crazy times of the Beat period.

I was there with the French singer/songwriter/author Marc Robine researching the story of Alex for a programme I was making for the BBC (produced by Rab Noakes). Marc was showing me around Paris to help with the research. A few years later I made a songwriting trip to Paris for a couple of weeks, staying in the Bastille area, and it was in Marc’s apartment (less than fifty yards from where the great chanteuse Edith Piaf was born) that I wrote “Brighton Beach”. During that trip I also wrote “Creole Girl”.

The film was shown with the French narration and it was the first time I’d seen it on a big screen. After the screening we took questions from the audience and I then played the concert. It was a memorable evening and many thanks are due to Jacques Deniel for promoting this concert and screening.

On Sunday we did the tourist bit; Les Deux Magots café where two literary giants I admire - Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus - spent a lot of time. And then it was on to Le Procope where another of my favourite writers, Oscar Wilde, in his self-imposed exile would frequent and hold court. We visited the Hotel Vieux Paris that used to be The Beat Hotel and met again Madame Odillard who very proudly showed us the plaque that commemorates the Beat poets, novelists and artists who lived there in the 50s and early 60s. Part of The Endless Highway was filmed there and it was good to see her again. At the time of filming she had told me that she had my song “The Beat Hotel” on her answer-phone with the lines “Welcome to Nirvana at the Beat Hotel” - I’m not sure if that's still the case.

Saint Germain is still the best area to be in Paris and I’m thinking of making another songwriting trip there; maybe this time I’ll rent an apartment for a couple of weeks and just write and see what happens.

There are a few more adventures coming this year - I’ll post the details when they are confirmed. I’m taking less work in 2010 to allow time away from the endless slog of one gig after another. I’ve done that for too many years and now I’m looking for other experiences so I can write some new songs, so I’ll be playing fewer concerts this year.

Allan performing at Cinema Jean Vigo	Allan at Cinema Jean Vigo
Allan at Les Deux Magots in St. Germain, Paris.	Photo taken at Cinema Jean Vigo on the day of the screening/concert: Patrick Ferryn (Director), Allan, Michel Baudour (Cameraman)
March 7, 2010 Allan's PA System for Sale Allan is selling his PA sound system as he will soon be acquiring a smaller system. The system includes: Fohhn Speaker System Xperience 2 – Hi Fi quality PA: 2 Top speakers, 1 sub speaker with integral 1000 watt digital amplifier plus covers for all. Mackie Onyx 1220: 12 channel studio-quality mixer – premium analogue with flight case. T.C. Electronics M3000 reverb and chorus unit rack mounted monitor speaker (db technologie) Manuals for all and all cables and leads Price: £2,550.00 (or 3,000 Euros) Please contact Allan at enquiries@allantaylor.co.uk Note: As of March 2010, the cost of a new Fohhn Experience 2 system (2 side speakers and one sub XS-20 active amp and bass speaker) is £3,549.00 . The cost of the Mackie Onyx new is approximately £475.00.
Allan’s Fohn PA System For Sale

March 7, 2010
Allan on a Cover version of “The Morning Lies Heavy”:

The young Scottish group, Breabach, have recorded the song I wrote in 1971, “The Morning Lies Heavy”, a song inspired by my brother-in-law Jimmy who was called to the draft in America during the Vietnam War. It’s great to know that a song I wrote so long ago still resonates with a new generation. Thanks to Patsy Reid (who sings and plays fiddle in the band) for sending me the CD. Check out www.breabach.com

February 7, 2010
Ulli Boegershausen’s plays “Back Home to You”

Check out Ulli Boegershausen’s You Tube page where he is playing “Back Home to You” with TABs available on request. 

January 18, 2010
The Endless Highway Trailer

A trailer of the documentary film has now been posted on YouTube - see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8TUFL3YvIs

December 23, 2009
The Endless Highway, Best Friends

Release of the Documentary Film about Allan's life on the road, called The Endless Highway.

News from Stockfisch Records is that the film is finally finished and will be delivered to Stockfisch on 23 December, 2009. Each unit will consist of two discs of the same film, one in DVD format and the other in BluRay. For French speakers there is a synchronized track in French. Those of you who are interested please go to the Orders page to order your copy.

Best Friends

Jimmy and Val (jiva), who help Allan with the administration of the business side of his life on the road (along with John Deane in New York who organizes Allan’s website) have recorded their first CD entitled Best Friends on which they have recorded Allan’s song “Back Home To You”. Contact them at www.jiva.co.uk

December 13, 2009
A Word from Allan

The German tour was a great success. I enjoyed playing some new clubs as well as returning to my old favourites. Most of the concerts were sold out, and I had chance to meet up with many old friends along the way. Hannes Wader came to the first gig in Bad Karlshafen and we sang “It’s good to see you” (Gut, wieder hier zu sein) together at the end of the gig. We may do some gigs together in 2011. Ben Sands dropped in to the gig in Einbeck (Ben is great songwriter from Ireland, and performs solo and with The Sands Family). Beppe Gambetta (the guitarist from Italy) came to the Ansbach gig and Santino de Bartolo came to Altenkirchen. I have translated three of Santino’s songs and at the end of the tour I recorded them in Bonn for Santino’s new CD (to be released in February). Helmut Debus came to the gig at Stuhr – Helmut’s son Jacob, though only sixteen years old, is a very good guitarist. In the dressing room Jacob played my song “Cry from the heart” for me; it’s a difficult song to play but Jacob did it well – I was surprised.
I played two concerts with the group Laway. Thanks Balou for arranging this, and thanks for your great translation into Plattdeutsch of my song “It’s good to see you”.
The Kanapee gigs in Hannover were special. All three were sold out – it’s a great place to play because it has a special ambience. Many thanks to Yassir and Annette. At the Berlin gig the Burmester Hi-Fi team came, and it was great to see Dina, Stephi, Ralf and Dieter. We may be working on a project together in the New Year – but more on that later.

One very special meeting was with Andreas and Andrea Gaertz in Waldkreiburg. Andreas has made a very good translation of “Boy becomes the Man”(the song I wrote for my son, Barnaby), and he told me the story of how it came to be. It was a favourite song of Andreas and his son Florian. After finishing his apprenticeship Florian was due to take a year out and travel the world before going to university, but tragically he was killed in a car crash. For his memorial, Andreas made the translation. They asked me if I would play the song that night and I did, and dedicated it to Andreas and Andrea. Here is the translation:

Der Junge wird zum Mann (Boy Becomes the Man)

Der Junge steht am Uferrand, schaut hinaus aufs Meer
Schiffe in der Ferne, es zieht ihn hinterher
Er wirft Steine in das Wasser Wellenkreise Zieh’n geschwind
Er reitet drauf nach Afrika sein Haar zersaust der Wind
Haar zersaust vom Wind, Haar zersaust vom Wind

Die Karte ueber seinem Bett nachts beschaeftigt sie ihn sehr
Er traeumt sich um den Erdball ‘rum, ser Sonne hinterher
Er geht vorwaerts Richtung Westen auf der Suche nach der Sonn’.
Hat der Kreis sich dann geschlossen, beginnt er noch mal von vorn
Noch einmal von vorn, noch einmal von vorn.

Und der Vater sieht den Burschen in dem der Mann schon sitzt
Er kennt den Geist der Freiheit der aus diesen Augen blitzt
Es ist sein Blick aus jener Zeit als er war einst der Sohn
Und er weiss, das ser ihn verliert denn aus dem Jungen wird ein Mann
Der Junge wird zum Mann, der Junge wird zum Mann

Und der Weg geht immer weiter geh ihn so lang du kannst
Wenn du nicht mehr reisen willst, komm wieder heim, mein Sohn
Wieder heim mein Sohn, wieder heim mein Sohn

During the tour I heard from Holger Hansen saying he wanted to buy the Martin guitar I was selling. It is now his!
Thanks to all of you who came to the concerts, and came to say hello. I enjoyed meeting you all, and I especially enjoyed playing some new venues. This is the last tour I will play of such length – next year the tour will be much shorter, although hopefully, I’ll see you all again. I will be planning this tour myself, so if you want to contact me, either just to make contact or to arrange a concert, please contact me on enquiries@allantaylor.co.uk. Thanks Germany for another great time “on the road in Germany”.

We Must Journey On: Songs of Allan Taylor Vol. 2
Allan's second songbook is now available. The book's 191 pages contain 46 songs, anecdotes and background information. updated  details of guitars and PA, colour pictures, album discography  (from "Sometimes" through to "Leaving At Dawn") and text about the two DVD/Blu-Ray discs (the Live In Belgium concert  and the Endless Highway documentary). It follows the same format as the last re-print of Volume 1 in that it is A5 wirobound (excellent for those who want to see the words/chords while playing the songs).

You can buy the book either at Allan's gigs or from his website Orders page.
 
Allan's 65th Birthday Celebration, Wengen, September 2010
We have received quite a number of replies and Allan is making enquiries with a hotel regarding details of their charges/discounts for this special weekend. If the weekend does go ahead then it will be for the weekend of 24/25/26 September 2010 as shown in the September update email.
 
Autumn Tour
Allan began his autumn tour in Germany on the 16th October in Bad Karlshafen and is very much looking forward to this and to meeting up with many of you. Details of where he is playing are on the Tours page and can also be found on his MySpace profile (www.myspace.com/allantaylorsongwriter).
 
Allan's Martin 000028H for Sale
Allan has decided to sell his Martin 000028H. Bought in 1995 and customized by Ralph Bown (double scratch plate, special machine heads and Highlander Pick-up), Allan has used it for most of his recordings since then. Only 182 of this model were made, making it extremely rare for a Martin. Some of the songs written on this guitar are: "Colour to the Moon," "Some Dreams," "Brighton Beach," "Creole Girl," "The Beat Hotel" (a full list is available to the lucky purchaser). Of course it has a Martin moulded case. Allan will sign the inside of the guitar if required. The price will be in the region of £4,000.00. Contact enquiries@allantaylor.co.uk if you’re interested and/or if you want to know more.

Songbook Volume 2	Allan's Martin 000028H

October 16, 2009
Allan’s son, Barnaby Taylor, wins Emmy
We’re very pleased to announce that Barnaby Taylor has won an Emmy (News and Documentary Awards in New York) for his music on the BBC series “Wild China – Heart of the Dragon”. The series also won two further awards, for Editing and Cinematography. The programmes are available on DVD from most distributors.

Barnaby was in Nairobi, Kenya, last week recording the Masai for his new project for the BBC about the Rift Valley of Africa.

September 13, 2009
Allan's 65th Birthday Celebration in Switzerland

As 2010 will be Allan’s 65th year he is planning on having a special concert to celebrate. All are welcome, and he hopes those of you who went to Brussels can be there as he missed you all due to his hospitalisation.

One of Allan’s favourite places is Wengen, in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. It is a beautiful place in the mountains which is only accessible by mountain railway from Lauterbrunnen in the valley. If driving, leave your car in the Lauterbrunnen car park. Nearest airports are Geneva or Zurich (4 hours from Wengen), Basle (2 hours from Wengen) or Bern (one and half hours from Wengen).

The plan would be:
· Friday: Arrive Wengen, check in to hotel.
· Saturday:
    · Around 17:00 train to Allmend (the first stop on the route from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg and the Eiger – journey time 15 minutes)
    · Hot food/running buffet at the venue in Allmend.
    · Concert starts at 20:30, ends around 22:30 (Allan is hoping to have some of his musician friends there as guest artists).
    · A special train will be booked to take people back to Wengen around midnight.
· Sunday: Lazy day. Evening – a meal in the hotel.
· Monday: Leave Wengen.

The two weekends under consideration are:
September 24, 25 and 26 or October 1, 2 and 3, 2010.

To negotiate the best hotel deal we need to know who would be interested in coming. Please let us know if you are interested and which weekend would suit you the best.

Please contact us on: enquiries@allantaylor.co.uk

August 30, 2009
The Furies, German Tour, Ely Festival Review

The great Irish band “The Fureys” have recorded Allan’s song “Crazy Amsterdam” (the song he wrote about Colin Scott, one of the legendary characters in the British Folk Song Revival). Allan has been friends with the band since the early seventies, and they have recorded a few of Allan’s songs. They will be touring the UK in spring of next year (check out their website) and Allan will no doubt meet up with them at one of their gigs. As Allan says, “few people can sing my songs with as much heart as The Fureys – they’re a great bunch of Lads – I always love to hear what they do with a song of mine.”

Details of the October/November German tour are now listed on the Tours page.

Below is the review of Allan’s gig at the Ely Festival in Maverick Magazine:

Last act up on the afternoon session was folk troubadour Allan Taylor, and his velvety voice and intricate guitar playing along with his storybook songs pulled the whole audience into his musical world. He reminded me a little of Tom Russell on the Mexican border styled tune "Los Companeros", and James Taylor on the wonderful ballad "Got To Get Back Home". Every song was a lyrical masterpiece and I especially loved "The Stranger" with its slightly haunting feel to it. I also enjoyed "New York In The Seventies" with its references to Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen as well as the very sad and tremendously hard-hitting lyrics of "Roll On The Day" all about the miners who died of black lung disease. David Knowles, Maverick Magazine

Special event on September 22, 2009:

At the Colston Hall in Bristol (boxoffice@colstonhall.org) there will be an evening, hosted by David Attenborough, showing the BBC award winning film “Natures Great Events”, with music by Barnaby Taylor and Ben Salisbury, played by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Needless to say, Allan will be there to support his son, Barnaby.

New Cover of "It's Good to See You"

Allan has had another cover version of “It’s Good to See You” – Gerd Brandt (Balou) with his group Laway (with whom Allan has performed a couple of concerts) has translated “It’s Good to See You” into Plattdeutsch, the old German language from the northern part of Germany.Allan will be playing two more concerts with Laway during his October/November tour (details to follow).

New Review of Leaving at Dawn

Read David Kidman's review in the new issue of fRoots of Leaving at Dawn, hich can be found on the Press page.

July 25, 2009
New Reviews, New Project with Barnaby Taylor

The July 17 issue of Audiophile Audition includes a review of Leaving at Dawn. Here is the link: Audiophile Audition

For our German-speaking friends, here is a review of the concert film, Allan Taylor Live in Belgium, in Sempre Audio.

Allan has been in the studio with his son, Barnaby, recording music for a BBC documentary called The Bear Man of Northwood. Barnaby has been nominated for an Emmy for the music he wrote for the BBC series Wild China.

July 10, 2009
A couple of photos from Allan’s recent tour of Denmark, Germany and Austria

June 24, 2009
Live Concert DVD/BluRay Disc Available

Live in Belgium – Allan’s new DVD/BluRay disc is ready. Each box will contain a DVD and BluRay disc and will be available from the Orders page.
The documentary film The Endless Highway should be ready soon.

November 30, 2008
Illness Forces Allan to Cancel Last Two Concerts on German Tour

Allan has had to cancel his concerts in Iserlohn and Osnabrueck (28 & 29 Nov.) because he has laryngitis and cannot sing. We are trying to reschedule the concerts for next year, either in May or during the October tour. Apologies to those who had a wasted journey - those who know Allan know that he rarely has to cancel a concert.

October 17, 2008
Allan Radio Interview on Omrop Fryslan (Updated Oct. 27)

Allan has just rcorded a radio interview for Omrop Fryslan which we will be broadcast on YouTube beginning today around 6:00 PM/GMT.

YouTube video clip of Allan playing 'Kerouac's Dream' - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-LUxS88pKk.
Sound clip of Allan playing 'Back Home To You', 'Frenchtown' and 'Kerouac's Dream' on the station website - listen at http://www1.omropfryslan.nl/Player.aspx?t=a&fn=320c7ce8.wma.

September 28, 2008
Photos from Jon Wright Tribute Concert, Tonder Festival

The tribute concert in Newcastle for John Wright was a great success. The performers sang their songs that John had recorded, finishing with Allan's song, "It's Good to See You", backed by the thirty-seven members of the choir Rolling Home who came from Holland especially for the concert.

August 7, 2008

Allan is currently in Belgium checking the first edit of the film A Noble Highway, the film about Allan’s life on the road. He’ll be there for two days and then he’ll travel to Switzerland to work on the narrative script for the film. Towards the end of the month he’ll record the narration at the Stockfisch studios in Northeim (Germany) and then he’ll travel to Denmark for the Tonder festival. Although Allan is not booked this year, he will be playing a couple of guest spots around the festival, and he’ll be performing at the Sunday afternoon concert in the Visemollen.

July 26, 2008

Allan has just returned from The Fiddlers Green Festival in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland. The final concert was recorded by Radio Ulster – Allan played three songs, two with Colum Sands. You can hear this concert by clicking on:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radioulster/folk_club/index.shtml

The programme will be accessible from the above link from Sunday 27th July for one week.
Photos will soon be posted of Allan with Colum Sands.

Catch Allan this weekend at the Trowbridge Folk Festival where he will be doing a workshop on songwiting and a concert on Sunday.

July 10, 2008
New CD, New German Agent, Out of Time, Bermuda

On Allan's recent trip to Germany he put the finishing touches to his new CD. As we previously stated, it will be produced in Hybrid SACD format. For the more technically minded, go to www.Wikipedia.sacd for the precise description of the SACD format, for others, be assured that it will play on normal systems as well as super surround sound and super audio systems. The company that Allan records for in Germany, Stockfisch Records, has produced a sample CD in cooperation with Bowers and Wilkins speaker systems and Jaguar motor cars that features Allan and is given to every buyer of the above in Germany. Editing has started on the documentary film of Allan´s life on the road.

After the next German tour in November all future tours and concerts will be arranged by the agent, Michael Behr (See Agents on Tours page for full details).

Due to popular demand, the CD Out of Time has been re-pressed and is available from Allan - check out the Orders page. This CD contains such classics as "Roll on the Day" and "It´s Good to See You."

May 21, 2008
Film & CD Update

Allan has returned from Germany during which time he completed the filming for the documentary about his life on the road. Editing will start within a week, and will take between two and three months to complete. The film of Allan's concert in Belgium last year is edited and ready. However, the plan at the moment is that both films will be released together in a box set, hopefully for the November tour of Germany.
As for the CD, Allan has started recording the new songs and will return in a few weeks to continue the recording. The CD will be released in the SACD format.

May 9, 2008
Barnaby Taylor on BBC

The first of the BBC programmes called "Wild China" for which Allan´s son Barnaby wrote the music will be broadcast on Sunday 11 May on BBC 2 at 20.00 hours.

For our German friends, the programmes have been edited to two one hour programmes and will be broadcast on Sunday 11 May and Monday 12 May at 21.45 on ARD 1.

April 26, 2008
Allan Taylor's Piano for Sale

Update, July 26 – Allan's piano has been sold.

Allan is selling his piano – a Schimmel (from Braunschweig, Germany) that he had shipped over from Germany around 20 years ago. It’s an over-strung piano made in the mid-sixties and is in perfect condition. On this piano Allan wrote the songs:

A House by the River
Notes from Paris
Pearls and Wine
A road too long
Provence (to be recorded on the new CD)
Winter (to be recorded on the new CD)

The reason for selling – Allan needs an electric piano that has the facility to be played with head phones (Allan very often works through the night on his music) meaning he will not be keeping anyone awake while he works.
If anyone is interested, please contact us on: piano@allantaylor.co.uk

April 17, 2008
Radio Scotland, Doncaster Gig, DVD & CD, Old Friends-New Roads Review,
John Wright Tribute Concert, Barnaby Taylor's Work for "Wild China"

Radio Scotland

On Wednesday 16 April Allan recorded a programme for Radio Scotland, “Iain Andersen’s Fine Tunes”, choosing some of his favourite tracks from CDs. Check Radio Scotland for broadcast times.

Doncaster Gig

On March 31 Allan had to cancel the Doncaster gig because he had bronchitis. This has now been re-scheduled for June16.

DVD & CD

The DVD of Allan’s concert in Hoeillaart Belgium in 2007 is almost finished. A shortened version will be shown at the Munich Exhibition of Hi-Fi equipment in May.
As for the documentary about Allan’s life on the road, Allan will be in Brussels on 25 to 27 April for the final filming sequences. Editing will then start and hopefully the film will be ready for the Autumn tour.
After the Venne Folk Festival (1,2,3,4, May) and two gigs at Augenweide in Muenster (9 and 10 May), Allan will be recording his new CD at Stockfisch Recording Studios in Northeim, Germany from 12 to 16 of May.

Old Friends-New Roads Review

OLD FRIENDS - NEW ROADS – Allan Taylor (Stockfisch SFR. 357.6047.2)
Allan’s one of the key songwriters of our time, a true professional as much respected by fellow-musicians as by his loyal audiences. Over some 40 years, he’s produced a large number of intense and significantly enduring songs, and his own recordings of many of those most frequently requested remain obstinately (though unavoidably) unavailable, languishing on long-deleted LPs and CDs (and yes, there’s three of Allan’s albums that I’ve never even owned on disc myself!). With this in mind, Allan has chosen to go into the studio and re-record a dozen of his best songs which fall into that unfortunate category. Yet considering its status as a collection of songs from different periods of Allan’s writing career (spanning the quarter-century from 1970 to 1994) and its originally-intended function as a kind of stop-gap pending Allan’s next album of brand new material, this set works fantastically well as a strongly unified offering in its own right which highlights both the mighty consistency of Allan’s writing craft and the unstintingly high quality of his singing and playing. It also points up the stature of Allan’s own continually evolving interpretations of his earlier material, by presenting the songs in stripped-down settings (just voice and guitar or piano) which in most cases are radically different from the original recordings. This method permits an altogether closer focus on the vocal nuances of Allan’s increasingly mature renditions, which embody what I can only describe as a more conversational delivery that brings a more intimate expression of the emotional climate and extracts further (hitherto unacknowledged) subtle insights from the lyric. The unadorned new settings serve to retrieve the essence of the songs, meaning which may over the course of time been lost in indifferent or over-cosy cover versions or buried beneath inappropriate instrumentation. The incredibly heartfelt simplicity of "Now You Know" still speaks emotional volumes, as do other oft-requested songs such as "Flower In The Snow" and "For An Old Friend." Priceless observational pieces like Urban Love Song glisten like freshly-polished jewels, while the reflective "Chimes At Midnight" (one of three songs on which Lutz Moeller’s grand piano takes the place of Allan’s guitar) also gains much from being shorn of its late-80s full-band arrangement). Yes, Allan, at the present moment you very probably “couldn’t possibly play and sing any of them better than (you) have here”: snapshot in time though any recording inevitably is, I’m strongly inclined to agree. It shouldn’t be so easy to temporarily lose count of just how many great songs Allan’s written, but I suspect that even his biggest fans can be guilty of doing just that – so this immensely rewarding new CD will provide a further salutary reminder.

-David Kidman, Folk Roundabout (147), NetRhythms website – the direct link is http://www.netrhythms.co.uk/reviewst.html#allantaylor

John Wright Tribute Concert

Details for the John Wright tribute concert have been finalised (see Tours page) for September 5th, 2008 in Newcastle. Artists appearing with Allan are: John Wright’s Band, Kieran Halpin, Steve Knightley, Maartin Allcock and Troy Donockley, Thom Moore, Robin Laing, Ray Hearne, The Rolling Home Shanty Choir from Holland.
A special CD is being prepared of songs John had recorded and had not released plus songs from live performances. Also, Allan is working on putting music to three poems John recorded shortly before he died, and Wendy Wetherby will be playing the cello on these pieces.

Barnaby Taylor, BBC programs: “Wild China”

Allan’s son Barnaby has been busy working on six programmes for the BBC about China, called “Wild China.” The programmes are now finished and will be broadcast on the following dates at 9 pm.:

BBC2 - Sunday, May 11th at 9pm:
P1 - Heart of the Dragon (Phil Chapman) -Sunday 11th May
P2 - Shang-ri La (Kathryn Jeffs) - Sunday 18th May
P3 - Tibet (Gavin Maxwell) - Sunday 25th May
P4 - Beyond the Great Wall (George Chan) - Sunday 1st June
P5 - Land of the Panda (Gavin Maxwell) - Sunday 8th June
P6 - Tides of Change (Charlotte Scott) - Sunday 15th June
It has been mentioned by the schedulers that the time may change to 8pm so keep an eye out in the tv guides but hopefully it will stay at 9pm.

For excerpts of the music, check out Barnaby’s website, www.barnabytaylor.com and go to “new commissions”.

Photos of Allan’s recent tour of Austria will soon be posted.

March 9, 2008
Danish Tour Photos

Allan has returned from the Danish tour. It was with mixed emotions that he played the tour after John Wright's tragic death a week before the tour was due to start. For each concert, Allan requested that on the stage there should be a table with candles and a glass of wine. As on the previous tour three years ago John and Allan always had a table on stage for one to sit when the other played a solo song, and Allan felt that for this tour, somehow, John's presence should be aknowledged. Many thanks for the support so many people offered to Allan during the tour.

There will be a tribute concert in Britain and Holland later in the year for John Wright - details will be posted on this website and on John's when they are available.

Allan will be in Switzerland for the next two weeks working on songs for the new CD.

February 14, 2008
Update on Danish Tour in Memory of John Wright

All the clubs have enthusiastically agreed to go on with the planned concerts in the hope that sales of John Wright's CDs will benefit John's family, with the exception of the Kulturhuset organizers in Arden, who have decided to cancel. Please show your support for John by attending one of the other concerts, to be found on the Tours page.

February 9, 2008
Danish Tour in Memory of John Wright

Allan will be in Denmark for the Strib Festival on Thursday 14th February.

The series of concerts originally booked as the "Allan Taylor and John Wright Tour" starting on 20th February will continue as planned, though now as a tribute to John who died on 7th February. To help John's widow, Barbara, through these hard times Allan will be selling John's CDs and DVDs.

The funeral arrangements for John Wright will be posted on his website: www.johnwrightmusic.co.uk as soon they have been decided.

February 8, 2008
Tragic News of John Wright

Allan heard this morning (8th February) that his dear friend, John Wright, died last night of a stroke. A proper tribute will follow.
Allan and John were due to tour Denmark in 10 days' time. The Danish agent is currently contacting all of the clubs to establish whether each club wants to continue with the booking. Allan wants to do the tour as a tribute to John. As soon as we know we'll post the news on this site.