March 06, 2024 Hi All
I’m planning to make a short tour of Germany – maybe 3 or 4 gigs in late November this year, and then again in May next year for maybe 6 to 8 gigs. More detail to follow. In 2025 I’ll being doing some gigs in Denmark late January/February 2025. Flemming Christensen – info@marskmusic.dk is the contact regarding these. I’ll be in Switzerland for the next three weeks, but easily contactable. |
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February 21, 2024 Hi All I’ve just got the news that I’ll be playing the Wuerzburg festival again, “Songs am einem Sommerabend – July 27th, 2024. I was there last year to play a concert and receive the song-writing prize so it’s a great delight to be invited back. Also, I’ve been invited to perform at the Strib Festival in Denmark during the weekend of 7/8/9 February 2025. I’ve not mentioned any gigs/tours of Belgium and Holland because we’re still working on the time period. Just as soon as I know we’ll post the news and update the tours page Closer to home: the Edinburgh Fringe Festival gig has been changed to Sunday 11th August. Allan |
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February 20, 2024 Hi All I’ve decided to do some short tours of Germany, Austria and Denmark – my “Farewell to the Road” tours in Europe. It’s a bit late for arranging gigs this year, but November is a possibility for Germany, maybe the last week – November 22nd to December 1st. As for next year, 2025, I’m planning on a time period of 2nd May to 19 May for Germany. Provisionally, the Austrian tour will be in April, German tour in May and Danish tour in June. Allan |
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February 02, 2024 Hi All My new album, “The Road Well Travelled” will be on digital release (Spotify and other digital platforms) on March 15th, and the single “A Giant Red Balloon” will be on February 23rd. The physical release of the album will be on February 23rd. Allan |
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January 27, 2024 Hi All, I’m pleased to announce that the official release date for my new CD/Album 'The Road Well Travelled' is February 23rd. |
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January 03, 2024 Hi All I’m very pleased to announce that my new CD will soon be on sale, either through Stockfisch Records (www.stockfisch-records.de), Amazon, or In-Akustik. It is in Hybrid SACD/CD format that can be played on either system. The vinyl version will in released in a month or so. As is always the case with Stockfisch Records the Hi-Fi quality is first class. The CD is called “The Road Well Travelled”. The CD has given rise to the idea of doing a gig by the same title, in which I will tell the stories, the anecdotes, that led to the songs I’ve written during more than fifty years on the road. I’ll be describing what it was like being part of the various music scenes; the Brighton and London music scene of the 60’s, then on to the New York, Greenwich Village scene, the Los Angeles Laurel Canyon scene of the 70’s, and then on to my travels throughout Europe and the rest of the world. None of my songs would have been written had I not lived these experiences throughout the world. I wish you all the best for the new year – I hope it all turns out well for us all, Allan |
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November 01, 2023 Hi All Stockfisch Records have re-released my CD Colour to the Moon (in Digipack) due to continued interest in this CD. I recorded it in 2000, and it's surprising to me, and gratifying, that people still want to buy it. It's available from Stockfisch in Germany or Amazon. We won't be selling it from our website, as I have previously explained, as the import costs because of Brexit are too high to make it financially viable. I've a few gigs this month which I'm looking forward to starting with the Denholm festival this coming weekend - I'll be performing on the Saturday evening. It's in the Scottish Border region, a really beautiful area. After that you can find me in Southport, Redcar and Market Rasen. See you on the road sometime! Allan |
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October 03, 2023 I’ve decided to sell one of my guitars – the Martin D18V. I bought this in 2006, direct from Martin Guitars, at the factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. This guitar is a classic. I’ve had a few D18’s and they were all superb instruments. The D18 guitars are especially suited to professional use; they put out a lot sound for very little effort, ideal for performing, but also, they record well, having an even tone from bass to treble (unlike the D35 for example, which is bass heavy). I’ve used one since 1972, when I bought my first D18, when I lived in New York. This model is the special Vintage edition, conforming to vintage specifications. It has a Gold Plus Natural pick-up with a volume control fitted inside by the sound-hole (fitted at the Martin factory) and comes with the traditional Geib case.
Price: £3250.00. |
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September 01, 2023 Hi All The Tonder Festival was great, as it always is. Many thanks to Maria Theessink for inviting me to play two concerts, billed as "Surprise Concerts". Both concerts were filled to overflowing - word had got around that I was doing it and both were a great success. Thanks to the Sound guys who put up speakers outside the venue so those who couldn't get in could at least hear the concert. On both concerts I called on stage the great young Danish songwriter Jacob Dinesen, to sing "The Joker's Hand " which we wrote together. He's a local guy who I've known for 12 years or more, and I'm real proud to have played a part in his career.
The only downside to the whole trip was trying to get home. I arrived in Amsterdam from Denmark on Monday only to hear all flights to UK were cancelled. This meant I had to stay in Amsterdam for the night. During the day I met up with an old pal (Phil Jackson) and we wandered through the back streets and the red light area. It brought back a lot of memories of early days hanging out in Amsterdam. (From which I wrote Crazy Amsterdam and Scotty).
Fortunately my wife managed to find me a flight for Tuesday evening so I got home in time to fly to Jersey with her as she is competing in the Home International Skeet shooting competition as part of the Scottish team. After this I have a few weeks off before playing a few folk clubs which I'm really looking forward to. More news as and when. Allan |
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July 31, 2023 Hi All, I’ve just had a great few days in Germany. The first gig was in Ingolstadt, in a great venue just outside the town. It was a full and sold out gig. The Bavarian singer-songwriter, Monika Drasch along with accordionist Martin Danes played the first set, and I joined them for one song of Monika’s, "Gestern". In the second set I called Monika on stage to sing one of my songs that she translated, "Crazy Man". All in all it was a great night. On Saturday we travelled to Wuerzburg for the "Songs am Sommerabend“ festival, which is in the old Harbour area of the town. Twelve hundred people enjoyed the warm summer evening listening to some great music. I was on last and when I finished my set I was presented with the Walter von der Vogelwiede Lifetime Achievement Award. Vogelweide was Germany’s greatest lyrical songwriter-poet from the 12th century.
The translation of the commendation is as follows: Allan |
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July 23, 2023
I’m enjoying making these short trips away for two or three gigs so I’m thinking of arranging some for next year. If any of you have ideas for this kind of venture, please contact us (enquiries@allantaylor.com) and we’ll see what we can arrange. Allan |
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July 04, 2023 Hi All, I’m just back from Skagen Festival. As I’ve done for the last ten years, I hosted and played the Songwriters’ Circle, this time with Ben Sands and Mike Silver. It was an incredible evening; it was the first concert of the festival to sell out (months ago), and it was an absolute joy to play with two great musicians and songwriters. It was a classy gig too – every audience member was offered a glass of champagne as they entered the venue.
And again, as per tradition, I played “It’s Good To See You” as the finale to the Saturday afternoon concert, and the final concert of the festival on Sunday. It is a bizarre experience to walk through the small town and hear “It’s Good to See You” being played on the bells from the local church. It was great to meet up with old friends... Eleanor Shanley and Hans Theessink.
Now for a short break of two weeks in Switzerland and then I’ll be in Germany for Ingolstadt and Wuerzburg festival. Allan |
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June 12, 2023 I’ve decided to sell one of my guitars – the Martin D18V. I bought this in 2006, direct from Martin Guitars, at the factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. This guitar is a classic. I’ve had a few D18’s and they were all superb instruments. The D18 guitars are especially suited to professional use; they put out a lot sound for very little effort, ideal for performing, but also, they record well, having an even tone from bass to treble (unlike the D35 for example, which is bass heavy). I’ve used one since 1972, when I bought my first D18, when I lived in New York. This model is the special Vintage edition, conforming to vintage specifications. It has a Gold Plus Natural pick-up with a volume control fitted inside by the sound-hole (fitted at the Martin factory) and comes with the traditional Geib case.
Price: £4500.00 or nearest offer. |
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May 23, 2023 Hi All, The Northeim gigs last weekend were great. Thank you to everyone who came and made the two nights very special for me... and thanks also to some of my friends who came too which created a great atmosphere.
While I was in Germany I did some more work in the Stockfisch studio on the new album - still no definite news about a release date but we'll keep you posted with any updates. More news as and when |
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May 15, 2023 Hi all I’ll be heading out to Germany on Wednesday for a couple of gigs in the Burgsaal in Northeim, right next to the Stockfisch studios. Both gigs are sold out, so there’s a lot to look forward to. I’ll also be checking the progress of my new album, “The Road Well Travelled”. As I’ve said in previous news, I’ll not be making any long tours, but the occasional special “one-offs” are coming in. The latest to be confirmed is Perwez, in Belgium on December 13. Full details are on the Tours page. As for the UK, I’ll be doing a few folk clubs, and the next up is Hungry Horse Folk Club in Ellesmere Port on 25th May. Safe travelling.. |
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April 07, 2023 I had a great night at Cramlington Folk Club on 5th April. Here's a quote from the club "Playing to a full house he performed with total professionalism to a captivated audience, some travelling from far afield... engaging stories and beautiful songs making the night end too soon... and a rousing rendition of "Roll on the day" with full audience participation... what could be better..."
Thanks to those that travelled all the way from Belfast and from France and I also met up with my old friend, Tom McConville, one of the scene’s finest singers and fiddle players. I’m enjoying getting back into playing folk clubs where I started all those years ago. Thanks to all for coming along and making it such a great gig. Allan |
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March 21, 2023 Hi All The gig in the Buergsaal, in Northeim, Germany (19/20 May 2023) is selling well, so if any of you are thinking of going, contact the organiser, Klaud Hoheisel soon. Details on tours page. It's a small venue, that's why I'm doing two nights. The concert consists of two sets of one hour each. It will be more autobiographical than my usual gig, with stories, songs and anecdotes of my life on the road, from my teenage years of busking on Brighton beach to the present day. Rossella Seno's new promotional video of the song I wrote for her (Cantami/Sing Me) is stunning - check it out with the link below. As I've mentioned in previous news items I'm not arranging any long tours anymore, but I will take on some special projects - the occasional "one-off, or two-off" gigs. If any of you have any special ideas let me know. One more week in Switzerland and then I'll be heading home, back to work and looking forward to Spring in Britain. I hope to see you on the road sometime. Allan |
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January 24, 2023 Hi All, Following on from my last post, I’m responding to a comment by Franco Farfaneti who said he was at the concert Barnaby and I played with David Crosby and his band. He also mentioned Fabrizio de Andre, who I regard as one of the greatest Italian songwriters, and who I had the privilege of meeting at the Folkest Festival in Spilimbergo, and then introducing him for the concert.
His album “Crueza de Ma” is one of the best I’ve ever heard – so I was especially honoured when Fabrizio’s record company asked me to sing one of his songs on a tribute record to Fabrizio. I chose the song “A Pittima” which I translated to “The Beggar” with the help from Stefano Caltagirone. I recorded the track with Maartin Allcock on bass and Chris Leslie on fiddle (both friends of mine from Fairport Convention). Fabrizio told me he loved my version of his song, and I’ve played it at various concerts in Italy. I also recorded it with a full orchestra on my CD called “There was a Time”. We got on so well that we decided to meet up the following Spring in Sardinia where he lived and maybe we would write some songs together. Unfortunately, it never happened because Fabrizio died the following January. Then I had the sad duty to sing the song at his tribute concert in Milan, which was a very emotional but fulfilling experience. Maybe I’ll get out to Italy this year – there are a couple of ideas that are potentially possible – we’ll have to see what happens. Allan |
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January 20, 2023 Hi All, I read the sad news yesterday that David Crosby had died. As part of Crosby Stills and Nash they defined the sound of West Coast America in the 70's - part Folk, part Country and part Rock. I had the great privilege of playing a concert with him at the Friulian Festival, Folkest, in Spilimbergo, northern Italy in 1998. I played it with my son Barnaby, which is always a great thrill. Crosby played it with his son, James Raymond. Apparently he didn't know he had a son and had only recently been reunited with him, so it was a special occasion for all of us. I remember distinctly occasionaly looking to the side of the stage, and seeing Crosby and his whole band standing watching us. That showed great respect, which of course we returned. I remember him being a gentleman, quiet and friendly, and I was very impressed with his gig. And Barnaby and James got on real well.
We're leaving Switzerland tomorrow, having been here for two weeks. Yesterday I met up with Bruce Caldwell, who presents the Saturday morning programme for Radio Bern. I've done a couple of sessions for him over the last couple of years, and I 'll do another when I'm back here in July. I hope you're all getting through the winter OK, safe and warm. All the best from minus 15 degrees C, Switzerland |
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January 15, 2023 Hi All I'm in Switzerland for a couple of weeks. I've written quite a few songs here so maybe I'll get lucky this time. You'll see from the links that the Italian actor and singer, Rossella Seno, has recorded two songs of mine: "The Dove" - which translates as La Colomba, YouTube link here which I wrote maybe thirty years ago, and "Sing Me" (Cantama), YouTube link here which I wrote especially for Rossella. Both songs were translated by the Italian singer-songwriter, Federico Sirianni, and my Italian friends tell me the translations are excellent. Maybe sometime this year I'll go to Italy and make a concert with Rossella. Future provisional projects are three gigs in Holland and the three in Austria. Keep an eye on the tours page of my website for any details. I don't have a specific date for the release of my new album; the SACD will be released in a couple of months and the vinyl will be later in the year. I hope you're all getting through the winter season OK. Safe travelling, |
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December 09, 2022 Hi All, The funeral of Rab Noakes in Scotland last week brought many old friends together to say farewell to a great guy; a great songwriter, a great performer and a great friend to many. I played a new song to start the proceedings – The Last Train, the chorus of which says: Allan |
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November 28, 2022 Hi All, I’ve just arranged a gig in Ingolstadt to go with the festival gig in Wuerzburg in July 2023. Ingolstadt will be on 27th and Wuerzburg will be on 29th. Details for the Ingolstadt will be posted soon when the venue has been decided. As I’ve done every year for the last ten years, I’ll be presenting the Songwriters’ Circle at Skagen Festival in Denmark on Friday 30th June. My guests will be Mike Silver and Ben Sands. This is always the first concert of the festival to sell out, so book your tickets soon. As I’ve said in previous newsletters, I will be playing a few folk clubs in the UK next year and some have already come in – check the tours page for all gig information. |
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November 12, 2022 Hi All, The foremost audio/HiFi magazine, “AUDIO” gives a free CD with it’s Christmas edition. It’s a collection of various artists, and Allan’s recording of “The Joker’s Hand” (from the new album) has been chosen to be one of the tracks. The York gig next Thursday (17th November) is sold out, but check before in case anyone cancels. Val (Allan admin) |
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November 01, 2022 Hi All Congratulations to Tom Paxton who is 85 today. After Woody Guthrie, Tom has been the most influential songwriter in the folk music tradition. His writing definitely influenced me, and it still does. He’s still out there gigging and by all accounts, having a great time. I first met Tom in a folk club in London in the early seventies. I was playing a gig and he showed up to say hi. This was because I’d sung a song of his for a movie (Tom called it “Love Story” with crack/cocaine) made by United Artists (we were both signed to the record company). We became friends and remain so. On my last album, “All Is One” I recorded his song “I Followed Her Into The West”, a song I’ve always loved, and my version is quite different in approach from his. It’s hard to do a Paxton song in a different way from him as his interpretations seem definitive. However, I did it, and as he said to me, “you’ve made that song your own, but I’ll fight you for it!”. So, to Tom, “safe travelling and stay well.”
As for me; gig tomorrow at the Willow Folk Club at the Wrea Green Institute, Preston. My old friend Tom McConville is playing the Black Swan Folk Club in York next week (the week before I’m playing it), so I’ll be there as a punter – maybe see you there. Allan |
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October 28, 2022 Hi All It’s a long time since I played a British folk club, but I have two gigs coming up in November: The Willows Folk Club in Preston on the 2nd and Black Swan Folk Club in York on the 17th. (details here) The last two to three years have been problematic, and trying to get back to some kind of normalcy has been difficult for all of us. Credit must be given to those who organise the folk clubs, and who are getting back to a routine of booking professional musicians and continuing with the singers’ nights. I’m looking forward to the gigs, so much so that I’m planning on doing a few folk club gigs next year. If any of you are interested, please get in touch via the website email address. My new album, “The Road Well Travelled” is finished and ready to be pressed, on SACD and vinyl. We won’t be selling them from this website because we have to import them from Germany and pay import tax, and if we then sell them abroad, the recipient has to pay another tax. All product can be ordered from Stockfisch Records direct and we'll let you know when the new album is available to purchase. Stay safe and well Allan |
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October 01, 2022 I’ve just read in the obituary column of The Times that Harold Chapman has died at the age of ninety-five. Harold was the photographer who lived for seven years at what was known as The Beat Hotel. I’m fortunate enough to have his book of photos and anecdotes about his time there, and it was this book that inspired me to write the song “The Beat Hotel” (on the Hotels and Dreamers album). I first visited The Beat Hotel when I was in Paris in the 90’s, making a documentary for the BBC about the Scottish folk singer, Alex Campbell. By this time the hotel had been sold and completely renovated to a four-star hotel called Relais du Vieux Paris. The owner, Madame Odillard gave me Harold’s book, and it was this that inspired me to write the song (in 2002). After I’d written the song, I visited Harold at his house in Deal (Kent) and played the song to him, mainly to see if I’d got it right. He loved it and gave me his full approval. I subsequently met him a few times and he was a charming man.
The recording session at Stockfisch Studios last week went very well, and apart from a couple of over-dubs it’s finished. As yet I have no idea of when it will be released. It will be called “The Road Well Travelled”, and I guess it will be released on SACD and Vinyl. It will be available direct from Stockfisch and Amazon. Allan |
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September 10, 2022 Hi All It was great just to “hang out” at Tonder Festival and watch and listen to my fellow musicians. Thanks to Maria Theessink (the festival director) for the invitation. I’ve been going to Tonder Festival since the early 80’s, sometimes as a performer and sometimes as a guest, and it’s always a special experience. At the end of this month, I’ll be returning to Denmark to join Jacob Dinesen for a couple of gigs at Musikhuset, Aarhus. Jacob will be playing the gigs with his band, but I guess I’ll join him on stage to play “The Joker’s Hand”. After that we plan on driving down to the Stockfisch Recording Studios in Northeim, Germany to record “The Joker’s Hand” (which we wrote together) for my new album. I’ll also be adding the finishing touches to the album, which will be called “The Road Well Travelled”. More news as and when, |
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August 28, 2022 Hi All I'm having a great time here in Tonder. I was booked to play but I had to cancel after my operation because the doctor wasn't sure if I would be fit enough, and I thought it only fair to cancel then rather than at the last minute so the festival could find a replacement. As it turned out I got the go-ahead from the doctor three weeks later, and the festival organiser, Maria Theessink invited me to come just to hang out, which I'm doing! Thanks Maria!
Allan |
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August 07, 2022 On Saturday 27 August there will be a concert of music written for BBC Natural History Documentaries at the Royal Albert Hall, called Earth Prom (prom 53). Among such renowned composers Hans Zimmer and George Fenton whose music will be played by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is the music of my son, Barnaby Taylor. The programme will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Needless to say, I’m really proud of his music achievements. Allan |
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July 05, 2022 Hi All, I’ve just returned from playing the Skagen Folk Festival in Denmark. After a two year lay-off it was great to catch up with a lot of old friends, and to spend some time in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. I was mostly involved in arranging and presenting the Songwriters’ Circle, on the Friday evening, but because my song “It’s Good to See You” is the festival song, I had to sing it on four occasions, usually rounding off an afternoon or evening concert. Here is a link to one of those perormances It's Good To See You However, what I wasn’t prepared for was the local church playing the tune of my song on the church bells, and the sound was ringing through the small town. That’s a first for me! We’ll try to find a link for it – I know a few people recorded it, so we’ll post the link soon. I was joined on the Songwriters’ Circle with Andy Irvine, Brian Willoughby and Cathryn Craig. I’ve been presenting and performing this concert for more than ten years now, and it is always the first concert to sell out (it was sold out by March of this year). This year was one of the best, with Andy performing well on a borrowed instrument (his instruments were lost in transit), and Brian and Cathryn playing and singing some great songs. I’ve already been asked to host and perform the idea for next year, so hopefully some of you will make it to the gig. I hope you’re all having a pleasant summer, |
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June 27, 2022 Hi All As mentioned in the last news, I have had to cancel my appearance at the Wuerzburg festival because it is only two weeks after my hospital operation, and I won’t be allowed to travel. However, one pleasing outcome of this is I’ve just heard from the festival committee that all of the performers will sing one of my songs on the night I was due to perform. I’m deeply honoured by this idea. I understand it will be recorded, and perhaps some of you will post the visual/audio recording on YouTube – if you do, please let us know. We’re leaving for Denmark on Wednesday for my appearance at the Skagen Festival; I’ve missed the last three festivals so I’m really looking forward to being in one of the most beautiful places in Denmark – and it’s a great festival. I think I’ve been there every year for the last 10 years, and many times prior to that. I’m looking forward to meeting my fellow songwriters, Andy Irvine, and Brian Willoughby with Cathryn Craig for “The Song-writers’ Circle”. I’ve heard from Tonder Festival (at the end of August) that I’ve been invited to appear on “Gentlemen’s Circle”, with my old friend Hans Theessink and Raul Malo (from The Mavericks). See tours page. More news as and when. Allan |
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June 11, 2022 Hi All Allan is scheduled to have a major operation/surgical procedure on his spine (spinal fusion) on July 14th. The recuperation period is six weeks which rules out any kind of travel and/or performance. Therefore Allan has had to cancel his appearance at the Wuerzburg festival on July 30th.
In the meantime Allan is going through an intense period of physiotherapy to help his situation. Given the time period between pre-operation and post-operation, Allan will still be able to perform at Skagen festival and Tonder festival. Val (Allan Taylor admin) |
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June 11, 2022 Hi All Denis Billau has recorded a great version of my song Provence - check it on https://youtu.be/o6HysvlyVyc Allan |
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May 25, 2022 Hi All, I’ve just heard the rough mixes of the recording for my new album which I did at Stockfisch Studios in Germany two weeks ago. So far – so good! I’ve recorded the song I wrote with Jacob Dinesen, "The Joker’s Hand," and thanks to Jacob for singing it with me. He recorded his part yesterday in Denmark and then sent it to Stockfisch. Jacob Dinesen is on his tour – called “The Joker’s Hand” tour, after the song we wrote together. The stage set-up for him and the band is great – especially the backdrop of The Joker. I’ll be at Tonder Festival this year. I’m booked to do “The Gentlemen’s Circle”, with my old friend Hans Theessink, and Raul Malo (of The Mavericks) on Saturday 27 August. I hope you’re enjoying the video “The Happy Train” on YouTube that I did with Martin Moro. More news as and when Allan |
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May 16, 2022 Hi All, I’m now home from a week at the Stockfisch recording studio. We recorded nine songs, all new apart from “New York in the 70’s” which I’ve re-recorded because of the two extra verses I wrote (about Bob Marley and Dame Rollerena). Martin Moro came from Graz in Austria for the session and played guitar on some tracks. Here we are having fun with my song "The Happy Train" in the Stockfisch studio in Northeim. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7STeG50YiKE Lutz Moeller came from Hamburg to play keyboards mostly on the poem “The Road Well Travelled”, which is also the title of the album. I have recorded “The Joker’s Hand” which I wrote with Jacob Dinesen (check out our YouTube film of us recording it in Denmark last September https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxUTtw0aItI) and Jacob will sing his part “down the line” from a studio in Denmark sometime next week. He’s busy getting back on the road for some gigs so he couldn’t make it to Northeim last week. I might return to Northeim within the next month if I need to re-do any vocals or whatever, but I’m not sure yet. I got the overnight ferry on Saturday after a seven-hour drive from Northeim, arriving 08.30 Sunday morning, and then home! More news as and when, Allan |
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May 13, 2022 Photos from the Stockfisch studios where Allan is recording his new album
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May 08, 2022 Hi All, It was great to be back at the Venne festival after an absence of three years. Festivals are great for so many reasons; meeting with old friends and fellow musicians. And it's where spontaneity takes place, as it did when the great German guitarist (and an old friend), Jens Komnick, invited me on stage during his set for one song, as did I with him during my set. He helped to make a magical effect on my song, A Giant Red Balloon. Another old friend, Santino de Bartolo (the Italian songwriter) showed up for the weekend. I recorded my translation of his The Cloud on my last album. Here's a photo of us trying to look cool!
Here are a couple of pictures taken by Wolfgang Behnke.
I'm now in the Stockfisch studios in Northeim recording the new album. Allan |
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May 05, 2022 Hi All, I’m just loading the car and getting ready to leave on the overnight ferry to Rotterdam, and then on to the Venne Folk Frueling Festival (near Osnabrueck) where I’m playing a concert on Sunday at 17.30. We missed a couple of years of the festival because of Covid, but the festival is back on track and I’m really looking forward to playing it again. After the festival I’ll drive to the Stockfisch recording studio in Northeim and spend the week there recording the new album. We have some fine musicians lined up to add their take on the songs. I’ve already chosen the title; it’s – “The Road Well Travelled”. I’ll not be selling CDs/DVDs/and LPs on the road from now on; the complications because of Brexit have caused too many problems (import duty etc) so we’ve decided to direct all enquiries for sales to Stockfisch Records. This also applies to the sales from this website. Travel safe, Allan |
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April 29, 2022 Hi All, Here are some of photos of me and Rab Noakes at The Rockingham Arms in Wentworth.
It has been more than twenty years since either of us was there; it used to be one of the best folk clubs in Yorkshire, and we each individually played it many times. The gig was arranged by Paul Maorawski, the son of the previous organisers, Adam and Linda. All the money raised was for the hospice where his parents spent their last days. For Rab and me it was a trip down memory lane, and it was great fun. Thanks to the audience who gave us such a great welcome, and thank you to Allan Wilkinson for the photos. Allan |
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April 05, 2022 Hi All Many thanks to the Slovenian friendship society for a wonderful night in Edinburgh. Vlado Kreslin is a legend in his country, and this was evident when the whole audience sang all of his songs with him. I did three songs with him and the experience took me back to the times we did some gigs in Slovenia and Croatia.
Now we’re talking about doing something else – maybe in Slovenia – so we’re open to ideas! More news as and when... Allan |
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March 27, 2022 Hi All The recording I did for RABE radio in Bern, Switzerland, was broadcast last Saturday 26th March. It is now available as a podcast, which you can access here . I’ll be making a quick visit to Edinburgh on Monday 28th to meet up with an old friend, Vlado Kreslin (www.kreslin.com). We toured together back in the troubled days of the break-up of former Yugoslavia, and from then on became firm friends. He’s a great songwriter and well-loved in his home country of Slovenia. He’s in UK for a few days playing two concerts for Slovenian expatriates and he has asked me to join him for the Edinburgh concert.
We’ll certainly do my song “Let the Music Flow” (which was inspired by him), and “Dalec, je Dalec”, his song about his homeland. You can find both of these songs in YouTube where we’re singing together... Let The Music Flow The coming year is looking good with some exciting projects ahead – more on this later. Allan |
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February 20, 2022 Hi All, I forgot to mention that I’ll be recording a session for RABE (Radio Bern Switzerland) on 14th March, which will be broadcast on Saturday 19th March. I did a three-hour session for this program in March 2019 As I’ll be in Switzerland for three weeks in March this year, I contacted Bruce Caldwell, the presenter of the programme, and he suggested we do another recording. I guess I’ll play a few songs as well as chatting generally about life on the road. I think he makes it available on a podcast so if you can’t listen to it when it’s broadcast check out the podcast.
It’s a great programme. Bruce knows a lot about our scene and genre of music, he asks interesting questions, so it’s never boring. Allan Postponed to 21 March |
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February 17, 2022 Hi All It’s good to see life starting to move forward at last, where we can start to make plans for moving on. I’ve decided to do a few British folk clubs, and the first to come in is The Black Swan Folk Club in York, on 17th November 2022. I have had to cancel this gig twice, but now it’s back in the diary and I’m looking forward it. The Venne Festival in May is back to almost normal schedule. I’ll be there for the Sunday afternoon concert (8 May) and then I’ll spend a week at the Stockfisch Records studio in Northeim recording the new album. Skagen Festival in Denmark (30th June to 3rd July) will go ahead, and I’ll be doing the Songwriters’ Circle on Friday 1st July with Andy Irvine (a friend from way back) and Cathryn Craig with Brian Willoughby. As this is always the first concert at the festival to sell out make sure you get your tickets early. The next gig is at Wuerzburg, in Germany, on Saturday 30th July. It’s called “Songs am Sommerabend”. I’ve never played this festival before so it’s going to be a great adventure. I hope you’re all keeping well – see you on the road sometime. |
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December 29, 2021 Hi All Stockfisch Records has just released the latest CD from the German singer-songwriter/Liedermacher – Hannes Wader, called “Poetenweg” on which he has recorded my song “It’s Good to See You” – “Gut, Wieder hier zu Sein”. He had quite a lot of success with this song in the 80’s, and it opened a few doors for me when I started touring Germany. He also recorded it with Reinhard Mey and Konstantin Wecker when they toured together – it was the opening song for every concert. It’s strange for me to remember writing it, on the island of St. Thomas, in the American Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean, around 1977, where I was staying for a few months. I had no idea then how popular the song would become, and how far it would spread throughout the world. There are now more than one hundred versions, in ten different languages. I wish you all a happy and safe festive season, and I hope I’ll see some of you “on the road” next year. Allan |
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December 14, 2021 Hi All Last week I made a Zoom interview with TV Slovenia for a documentary about the life of my dear friend Vlado Kreslin. We did a few gigs together in the 90’s in Slovenia and Croatia (while the conflict was in full flow!) and though it was a dangerous time we had a lot of fun and became firm friends.
This year he is celebrating 30 years of playing the Cankarjev Dom, the most prestigious venue in Ljubljana. Every Christmas he plays it for three/four days, and the concerts are always sold out (around 3000 people). Each year he invites a guest performer to do a few songs, and I’ve been invited twice. I’ve always had a great time and you can see our performances on YouTube. Vlado is doing a gig in London on 5th February next year, and he has invited me to join him for a couple of songs. I’ll post more details later. Thanks to the person who contacted me to tell me that my song “My Father’s Room” has been covered again by two groups and can be seen on YouTube. I’m getting great pleasure from hearing so many different versions of my songs, around one hundred and seventy now I think, and I enjoy both the amateur and professional versions just as much. I guess it’s been a strange year for all of us. This has been the longest time I’ve not played a gig since I was eighteen/nineteen, and it has been a strange experience not being “on the road”. What has made it easier is the fact that I’d already decided a couple of years ago that in the future I would not make any long tours, but it’s nevertheless strange after being on the road for 50 years. However, next year looks like it’ll be fun – there are a few festivals and as I said before I might play a few UK folk clubs. I hope you’ll all have a great festive season – stay safe and well. |
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November 30, 2021 Just to let you know that soon we will be stopping our mail order service because it makes no sense to import the CDs/DVDs from Germany and pay import duty, only to send it abroad again (apart from UK orders of course), with potential for the buyer to also pay duty when he/she receives their order. As current stock runs out then amendment will be made on Allan's website giving a link to the Stockfisch site where you can buy Allan's CDs etc direct from them. Still plenty of time to place an order for Christmas! Val (AT Admin) |
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November 11, 2021 Due to a minor health issue unfortunately Allan is having to postpone his gig at The Black Swan Folk Club in York till next year sometime. Details will be posted on his website when finalised. |
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October 28, 2021 Hi All My son, Barnaby Taylor, has written the music for a documentary about the Irish painter, Jack Butler Yeats (brother of the poet W.B. Yeats). The film is narrated by Pierce Brosnan and you can see the trailer for it it via the link below. The film is wonderfully atmospheric, and Barnaby's music enhances the mood so well. I'll be playing at the Black Swan Folk Club in York on 25th November. It's my first gig since the Strib Festival in Denmark in February 2020 - everything since then was cancelled due to the Covid situation. I’m looking forward to it - and I'm thinking I might arrange just few folk clubs for next year. I'll not be making any long tours of Europe again, but I'll be playing a few special festivals abroad. As for the UK - I think it would be fun to play a few folk clubs so I'll see what can be arranged. I'm hoping to get the booster jab during the next week. Good luck to you all - stay safe and well. Allan |
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October 01, 2021 Hi All, Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes on the 30th September; it was wonderful to read your comments and it made the day extra special. Special thanks also to my wife, Wendy, for the amazing couple of days at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison, and to my family for their gifts. Thanks to Jacob Dinesen who got the audience at his gig in Frederiksvaerk to sing happy birthday, just before he sang “The Joker’s Hand”.
Thinking of things French, I am reminded of two of my songs that had been translated into French by the same man who translated some of Edith Piaf’s songs. I fell in love with the voice of Piaf when I was around eight years old – it was the song “Les Trois Cloches”, and later, the classic “Non, je ne regrette rien” so this made it extra special. I later wrote a song called “Piaf” which is on the “Win or Lose” album. The idea to translate my songs came about when Nana Mouskouri recorded my song “It’s good to see you”. At that time, she was the biggest selling female artist in the world and had already amassed three hundred gold albums. After she had recorded my song, I met her at one of her concerts, and she asked me to write some songs for her for her new album. I wrote “It will be me” and “Maybe Another Day” and sent them to her. She called me and said she wanted to record them, and would I play the guitar for her on the recording, which was set for some weeks later in Paris. That turned out to be a wonderful few days. Twenty years later I wrote “Creole Girl” and “Brighton Beach” in Paris. In translation, the songs I’d written for her became, “Ce Sera Moi” and “Il Etait Different”, and you can find them on Spotify.
She also recorded them in German; “Ich Denk an Dich” and Vielleicht im Naechsten Jahr.” I listened to them recently for the first time since her album release, and they sound pretty good. They also bring back some great memories. Allan |
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September 14, 2021 Hi All, I’m just home from a great week in Denmark with the Danish singer-songwriter, and my great friend, Jacob Dinesen. As I mentioned in the previous newsletter, we wrote a couple of songs together for Jacob’s new album, and one of them is a duet called “The Joker’s Hand”. It’s getting quite a lot of attention, so Jacob and his management team decided to film a promotional video. I arrived in Denmark last week on Monday and on Tuesday we filmed the video at the bar in Tonder where the music club is, called Haggis. It was the ideal place because it was at the Tonder Festival that I met Jacob, when he was 13, and it’s at Haggis where I invited him on stage with me when he was 17. It has been a great friendship over the years, and now Jacob invites me on stage with him. He was on a solo tour and so I joined him for three gigs; Holbaek, Thisted and Aarhus. The photos below are from the theatre we played in Aarhus, and from Haggis where we filmed.
Someone filmed the gig at Holbaek, so you might like to check it out. https://youtu.be/Di6FnrC2lvA Allan |
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August 08, 2021 Hi All, I have further news from my friend Juergen Dittwald in Germany. He has found more versions of my song “It’s Good to See You”, so now the total amount of cover versions exceeds one hundred. Thank you to Juergen for having the patience to trawl the internet and find all of these versions. He has also found various songs of mine, and other writers, on which I’m singing and playing guitar. Two examples he sent me are with the great singer-songwriter from Slovenia, my good friend Vlado Kreslin. We did a duet on “Let the Music Flow” on the recording we made in Vienna (different from the version we did on my CD, “The Endless Highway”), and on a concert in the Ljubljana concert hall we did Vlado’s song “Dalec je moi Rojstni Kraj”, on which I sing in English and Slovenian. I’ve just checked them both on Spotify and they bring back great memories.
I guess the lockdown times we’ve all had due to the Covic pandemic has given us time to reflect on what has passed, and on reflection, memories are brought back. As is the case with Vlado, I remember the tours we did in Slovenia and Croatia (during the troubled times of the Balkan war), and the good and crazy experiences we had. However, we must be careful about too much reminiscing; Tom Paxton (a good friend from way back) once said to me, “Nostalgia is OK as long as you don’t stare!”. Allan |
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August 02, 2021 Hi All, Many of you will know about my friendship with the Danish singer-songwriter Jacob Dinesen (www.jacobdinesen.com). I’ve known Jacob since he was fourteen, and even at that age I knew he had something special regarding the music. Over the last few years I have occasionally asked him on stage with me for a couple of songs, and now I’m pleased to say, he occasionally asks me on stage with him and his band.
The whole process of Jacob’s recording is being filmed and I have been asked to take part, so, if the rules regarding travelling and Covid allow, I will visit Denmark in September for a few days, and maybe even join Jacob on stage during one of his solo gigs for a couple of songs. I was pleasantly surprised when I read the latest edition of Living Tradition. One of the reviewers, Fiona Heywood, has given the re-release of Win or Lose a very positive review. I hear from my record company, Stockfisch Records, in Germany, that the vinyl version is proving to be very popular and is selling well. I’m still planning on making another album for Stockfisch, but I have no specific date set yet. More news as and when, |
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July 08, 2021 Hi All, Here's another video recently recorded. It's a song called Dr Johnwhich is about one of the music scene’s great characters, Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), otherwise known as Doctor John. He was from New Orleans, and as they speak in Creole French, I wrote the chorus in French – excuse me, my French speaking friends, if I got the vernacular wrong. Here is the link to Dr John As the song says, “I met him in the Village…” – this is Greenwich Village, New York, where most of the music clubs were when I lived there in the 70’s. I was with him in the hotel, and he was looking worried. I suggested that the night would be OK – everyone was looking forward to his gig. However, he explained that he was worried that his sequined jacket would not arrive before the gig, and he had to live up to his image. He was a sharp dresser. I next met him in London when we were both booked for the BBC TV programme “The Old Grey Whistle Test”. This was the most prestigious music programme in Britain; it was live and was broadcast (I think) around 10.00 at night, to an audience of ten million. As a performer on the programme, you had to forget that you were playing to such a large audience, otherwise it could be too intimidating. I’ve never played this song in public, nor have I recorded it, so this is its first public performance! Hope you like it. Allan |
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June 22, 2021 Hi All, Thanks for the great response to the song, “The Happy Train” that we posted a week or two ago – it was fun to record and very rewarding to read your comments. I’ve been receiving up-dates from a friend in Germany (Juergen Dittwald) about cover versions/recordings of my song “It’s Good to See You”, and so far, he has found 77. Apparently, his search continues. Thanks to Juergen for his hard work in trawling the internet and finding these versions. As “The Happy Train” went so well we’ve recorded another positive song for the internet; “Golden Island”. Here is the link to "Golden Island". The original version of this song is on an album I made in the eighties called “Win or Lose” (which Stockfisch Records has just re-released). The title refers to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, in the American Virgin Islands. We spent a few months there in the late 70’s, and it’s where I wrote “It’s Good to See You”. It was, and still is, a magical island. Imagine my surprise when I walked into Sparky’s Bar, on the waterfront, and heard on the radio my first album being played. It turned out that the DJ (originally from New York) was a fan. We eventually met up and I remember a wonderful day when he invited us to sail with him over to the island of St. John. Imagine how different this felt when, just a few months before my group, Cajun Moon, had disbanded, we were all in enormous debt to the management, and I was having throat and voice problems. Maybe that’s how and why I wrote such a positive song as “It’s Good to See You”, because life was at last going well for us. Let’s hope the same positive and optimistic situation will apply to all us soon. More news as and when. Allan |
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June 07, 2021 Hi All I had a great session in the studio last week – Ron Angus (the engineer/tonmeister) did a great job as usual. Here's a link to the first song “The Happy Train” and I'll post a link to the second song “Golden Island” in a week or so. I heard from Gunter Pauler of Stockfisch Records yesterday – the vinyl/SACD release of “Win or Lose” is getting great reviews in Germany. It’s great to know that something I did forty years ago is being appreciated so much. Although I’ve retired from touring, I will still occasionally play festivals and “one-off” concerts. I’ve already agreed to play the Skagen Festival in Denmark, and Venne festival and the Wuerzburg festival in Germany next year. Stay well and safe - more news as and when. Allan |
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June 02, 2021 Hi All The new release of the vinyl version of “Win or Lose”, along with the SACD format is now available to buy. Because of Brexit, it doesn’t make sense for us to import the product from Germany and pay import duty, and then shipping it abroad or wherever with the buyer incurring similar costs. Details of how to order from Stockfisch Records are shown on the orders page. I will be in the recording studio tomorrow, 3rd June to record and video some songs. The sound engineer/owner, Ron Angus, always helps me with my preparations for new recordings – I always like try various ways/arrangements on the songs before I record the final product at Stockfisch Studios in Northeim, Germany. We’ll video two songs for Facebook and the Website; “Golden Island”, which I wrote some years ago, and a new song that I’ve recently written, just for fun, called “The Happy Train”. I guess the songs will be posted in a week or so. There’s an interesting story behind “Golden Island” that I’ll tell when we post the song next week. In the meantime, |
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March 13, 2021 As I mentioned in the news in November 2020, Stockfisch Records are releasing the first album I did for my own company, T Records, which I recorded in 1984. I had kept the master two-track analogue tape, and the quality was so good that Stockfisch decided they would like to release it on SACD and on Vinyl, on the Analogue Pearls series. I’ve just received some copies of the SACD and the quality is superb. The vinyl version is still waiting to be pressed, and it will on the best quality vinyl that Stockfisch is renowned for. The release date is schedule for 28 May 2021. These will be available to purchase direct from Stockfisch and the orders page will be updated once they are available from their website. As regards concert plans for this year: nothing can be full confirmed yet, firstly because of the Covid pandemic, and secondly because of the Work Permit/Visa/Carnet problems. It is apparently a bureaucratic nightmare to get the relevant permits and it is also extremely costly. Nevertheless, I hope to see some of you, sometime this year. Allan |
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February 10, 2021 Hi All, My favourite studio that I use for working out the songs for a new album/project is Studio One in Chester-le-Street. The engineer, Ron Angus, is also a great photographer (ronangus.myportfolio.com), and he has just sent these photographs taken at my 70th birthday celebration gigs that I did in the famous Troubadour Club, in Old Brompton Road in London in 2015. This club was the most famous folk club in London during the 60’s and 70’s. I played a few gigs there in those days.
The two photos; the first is with Vlado Kreslin. Vlado is a Slovenian songwriter I got to know in Zagreb at Ethnomusicology Festival during the 90’s. We went on to do some gigs in Slovenia and Croatia. This was during the wars between the various nations in former Yugoslavia, and we had some strange experiences during our travels. Check out the YouTubeclip of us performing the song I wrote for Vlado, “Let the Music Flow” at the Ljubljana Concert Hall. Vlado wrote one verse in Slovenian for the song. The second photo is with Ulli Boegershausen, a great acoustic guitarist who I have worked with on a number of occasions in Germany. Ulli has a very popular catalogue of music on Spotify. He has influenced many up-and-coming young guitarists – check him out. It seems life is on hold for all of us; none of us knows when we’ll be free to move around and get on with our lives. Spare a thought for the festival organisers who are having to decide whether to go ahead or cancel. Although I have some gigs arranged for this year (Tours page on my website) I fully expect some of them to be cancelled. |
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January 21, 2021 Hi All I had an operation last week to remove one rib that had not healed after my accident last June. I was in hospital for three days and now I’m home. The operation was a success. Many thanks to the surgeon, Richard Milton, and his team for the care and attention, and for their professionalism. Further to the issue about work permits, visas and carnets for musicians touring throughout Europe, it seems both sides of the negotiations, the UK and the EU are blaming each other. The easy way out of this would be to publish the details of the negotiations (the EU laid out their details) but the UK have refused to do so. It seems that one of the problems is that Britain would not reciprocate by allowing foreign musicians to tour here, to which I would add, how many times have any of us seen a German or Italian or whoever perform in a British folk club – never I suspect. That is why, as British performers, we have been privileged to travel throughout Europe performing in Arts-Cultural centres. The European attitude to multi-culture in the arts has always been so refreshing, and as I said in my last newsletter, it has enriched my life, and the life of many of my peers, incredibly. I certainly would not have written the songs I have if I hadn’t travelled so far and wide. As regards my plans for performing over the next two years, I will play some concerts this year (already listed on the Tours page) depending on the virus situation, but for 2022 I’m thinking I’ll make a few, special concerts throughout Europe and Britain as a “farewell to the road.” I hope you’re all keeping well and safe. My wife, who is a nurse, has just had her first vaccination, and I’m scheduled to have mine on February 1st. Thanks to many of you for staying in touch. Allan Administration advice: |
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January 11, 2021 Hi All Alarming news is slowly being released about post-Brexit problems for travelling musicians. Before Brexit we had freedom of travel throughout the European union, and the freedom to work in any country, but this has all changed. We now need a Visa and Work Permit for every country we perform in (which we will have to pay for), a Carnet, which is a list of all instruments and equipment we have with us, and which has to be signed by customs officials in and out of each border we cross, and which will be expensive. Health insurance might still be covered under the European Health agreement, but official sources state that we should also get private health cover, and this could also be expensive. The bureaucracy could be so complicated that many will not be able to deal with it. The music industry generates £6 billion every year for the British economy, but our government has done nothing to help us continue touring and performing. According to The Independent newspaper and other media outlets, the EU offered exemption for touring musicians from obtaining Visas, but the British government rejected the offer because it would not reciprocate the offer for EU musicians touring Britain. Such a response from our government is xenophobia and cultural ignorance at its worst and deserves condemnation from all of us. This problem will really affect the younger musicians and bands who learn about “life on the road” by touring and performing in different countries and being exposed to different cultures. Throughout my years of touring the world, especially Europe, my life and songs were extremely influenced by the endlessly fascinating change of cultures as I passed through them, and my life was better for it. I remember as a young travelling troubadour the excitement of getting off the ferry in Ostend at the start of a European tour. I always went into the first bar for a coffee and a Belgian cigarette. The smells, the bars, the ambience, architecture and the language were all different and exotic in a strange way. And then I might travel to Holland, to Germany, to Switzerland and further south to Italy and Slovenia. And then north, through Austria, Germany again, and on to Denmark - what an adventure it always was. I feel sorry for the younger generation who might not be able to have such times. A young kid singing to fifty people in a bar in Hamburg, or wherever, could one day be playing to thousands of people throughout the world and political machinations should not deny them this opportunity We’ve all had to put our lives on hold for a while as none of us knows when this deadly virus will be gone. Maybe it’s easier for us older musicians than it is for the younger guys; we’ve seen it all and done it all, for many years, and we can sit back and just take it easy until the situation improves. But, again, it’s the younger musicians who will be frustrated and disappointed, as they are desperate to play some gigs, such as my young friend in Denmark, Jacob Dinesen who has had to cancel some gigs. I know he just wants to get on the road (I remember that feeling!) so for him and his peers, I hope it happens soon. Allan |
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January 01, 2021 Hi All 2020 has been a tough year for all of us, but hopefully the hard times are coming to an end and we’ll soon be able to move on to living a normal life. I wish you all the best for this coming year, and hopefully we’ll meet, some time, “on the road”. Allan |
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November 23, 2020 Hi All Stockfisch Records have decided to release on the “Analogue Pearls” series my album “Win or Lose” that I released in 1984. I found the original analogue master tape, sent it to Stockfisch and after they checked it they confirmed that the sound quality is superb. It was recorded in Yellow Two/Strawberry Studios, (10CC’s studio in Stockport) on 24 track analogue and mastered on to two track stereo tape. It will be released on Vinyl (DMM) and SACD, but there is no release date as yet. I’d like to record an album of new songs for Stockfisch, but we can’t schedule anything yet because of the Covid virus situation. I need to write a couple more songs, but it’s difficult finding the inspiration at home. As most of you know I wrote most of my songs “on the road”, in hotels, bars and cafés, and the homes of friends. For example, I was watching a film a couple of days ago about Paris, and it reminded me of the songs I wrote when I stayed there for a couple of weeks. My routine was to wander the streets and the bars at night for an hour or two past midnight and then go back to the hotel and write about what I’d seen. That’s how 'Creole Girl' was written, and how I got the ideas for 'Notes from Paris'. Tom Paxton is a friend of mine, and we once talked about how we write songs. Tom told me his routine was to sit at his desk and start writing, and to keep on writing until he had a song. I told him that I couldn’t do that; I had to be out on the road, seeing all the places of the world, hearing the conversations etc. Tom’s only comment was, “my way is a lot cheaper”. That’s typical Tom – he tells it like it is – straight to the point. I hope you’re all keeping safe and well. Allan |
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September 26, 2020 Hi All Some good news at last; the plaster cast I have to wear for another six weeks is detachable, meaning I can remove it for a few simple exercises, and most importantly, I can start practising the guitar. I’m allowed ten minutes three times a day which I’ll extend slowly as my hand and arm gain in strength. During this long period of rehabilitation, I’ve been working through my collection of memorabilia from my fifty plus years on the road and collating it into decades. It has been quite a trip down memory lane. I have around thirty VHS tapes of various concerts I’ve played, and I wonder if any of you have the facility to transfer VHS to DVD, and if so, would you like the job?! As always, thanks for your encouraging messages, they do help. |
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September 15, 2020 Hi All Today I attended hospital in Leeds on the understanding that I would have the cast removed from my arm. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case as the break has still not healed enough, and I therefore will need another cast on my arm for a further six weeks. However, it is a removable cast which I can take off for physiotherapy and, as that takes effect, hopefully I can start practising the guitar. I have agreed to do a Danish tour from September 22nd to October 2nd 2021. Already booked is Haggis (Tonder), Portalen (Greve) and Drauget (Hoerve). On May 7th , 2021 I will play a concert in Leer. Usually I play Taraxacum, but the organiser, Peter Gerdes, will find a larger venue for this special gig. I hope you’re all well and safe, |
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August 31, 2020 Hi All It’s a beautiful day today, here in the UK, and I’m thinking about what would have been Tonder Festival last weekend. I’ve had some great times at the festival (my first time there was in 1982 I think), and thanks to my dear friend Hans Theessink for posting those photos from the last forty years or so. There are so many memories I could fill a book with anecdotes, as I’m sure Hans could. In the meantime, best wishes to Maria Theessink, who took over running the festival a few years go and who has done a fantastic job, and the team who keep it running smoothly. Let’s hope we’ll all be there together next year when the bad times have passed. Two weeks from 1st September I’ll have the cast taken off my arm. I’m hoping that the break will have healed and I can start on the long process of physiotherapy and practising the guitar. As for my ribs, I’ll see the thoracic surgeon at the end of the month, and hopefully all of the ribs will be back in the correct position. Like most of my musician friends I want to get back to playing some concerts and festivals just as soon as it’s safe to do so. When life gets back to normal and we can start again doing what we do best, I will look forward to seeing you “on the road” somewhere. You’ve all sent some great words of encouragement to me on facebook and I appreciate this greatly – thanks so much. Stay safe |
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August 12, 2020 Hi All I’m very proud to announce that my son, Barnaby Taylor, who is a film music composer, has just been nominated for the prestigious Jackson Wild Award in Britain (www.jacksonwild.org/2020-media-awards.html), Best Original Music Score, “A Song for Love”. As regards my health situation; I’m having Ultrasound treatment on my broken arm every day. This treatment promotes bone growth, so hopefully in five weeks’ time the fracture will have healed and I can start with some physiotherapy on my hand and arm and play guitar again. As for the damn virus – let’s stay safe and well. Allan |
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August 04, 2020 Hi All I had the plaster cast on my broken arm removed today, but unfortunately it was not good news; the break in the bone has not healed correctly and I will have to wear a new cast for another six weeks. Then I will need twelve weeks of physiotherapy. It will also be five months or maybe more before my broken ribs have healed. Obviously, we will have to cancel the Danish concerts we had planned for October. I will not be fit enough to play any concerts until April 2021. I am extremely disappointed to have to do this; I had planned 2020 as a “comeback year” throughout Europe, and I was so much looking forward to it, especially as Flemming Christensen had arranged a really great tour for me. However, I cannot change the situation, I can only hope that next year will be better for all of us. Let’s hope we can all get through the rest of the year safe and well, and 2021 will see the end of the Covid 19 virus and we can all get back to normal. As always, thanks to so many of you for your messages of support – they mean so much to me. Allan |
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July 19, 2020 Hi All, |
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July 16, 2020 Hi All I’ve just heard from Raffaella Luna (partner of the Italian guitarist Franco Marone) that she has recorded my song “Plenty for the Few”. It’s a wonderful version, and can be found via this link: https://open.spotify.com/album/5zCSKFJlsnbsF8Q3wCBES6?si=pDwIrOMfRIObv7DwFrcxRQ Allan |
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July 02, 2020 Hi All Allan is now home. He will have to wear the plaster cast on his arm until late August. He says "thanks to you all for your kind messages. I'm ok - working on my recuperation and feeling positive and optimistic about the future." Val (AT Admin) |
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June 25, 2020 Hi All We're sorry to give you the news that Allan has had a serious accident resulting in severe injury. Last Saturday he fell from a ladder and fractured his ribs in nine places, and broke his left forearm. He is still in hospital but hope's to be home this weekend. For a while he will not be responding to emails and messages- we, Wendy and Val, will take care of that. As his condition changes we will update you with the news. Val (AT Admin) |
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May 31, 2020 Hi All Invitations are coming in from festivals and clubs for next year and the tours page has been and will be up-dated as and when details come in. I’ll plan next year much the same as this year was going to be – no long tours but just enough gigs to be fun. I’m really pleased that the festivals have decided to start up again next year, with much the same line-up as was supposed to be this year. Certainly there is a lot to look forward to. |
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May 27, 2020 For our German speaking audience this review will appear in the German music magazine, Folker, in August. Link here to article (from Folker 4+5/29 www.folker.de ) Allan |
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May 21, 2020 Hi All, I had a great year planned for this year, but of course, because of the pandemic all gigs have been cancelled (certainly until the end of September 2020). However, the gigs will be re-scheduled for next year and I’m really excited by the prospect of getting back on the road and playing some concerts. Regarding Facebook; as you all most probably know, Val Monteith-Towler takes care of my website and Facebook. This meant that I could not respond to anyone personally. We recently arranged the Facebook page so that I could sign in personally, so I’m giving it a try, although I’m sure I’m not getting it right. I like reading the great messages that you send so thanks so much for making contact. I might just leave it to Val to administer – at least she gets it right! I’ll be posting another song on my Facebook band page soon – and like the others it will be recorded in my garden. All is well with me – I hope the same applies to you all. I hope to see you somewhere, “down the road”. For Hi-Fi enthusiasts; as I’m sure you all know I record for Stockfisch Records in Germany. Stockfisch are without doubt the leading record company in the world regarding HiFi quality. Gunter Pauler and the team are always working on new ways to present music, in various formats. Lately we have been releasing Vinyl records alongside CDs, as the vinyl format has a special attraction for the HiFi enthusiast. Now Stockfisch have invented a way of producing CDs that have that special vinyl sound, without the inherent problems of vinyl (turntable rumble etc.) For a more complete review of this new invention, check out the Stockfisch website. Allan |
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April 12, 2020 Hi All A few days ago I got the sad news that John Prine had died from the Coronavirus. Prine, in my opinion, was one of the best songwriters in America. His songs were disarmingly simple, but, speaking as a song-writer, I know how difficult it is to write a simple song that that has power and insight. I had the privilege of meeting him and being on stage with him at the Tonder Festival in Denmark (2015) when I led the finale of the festival with traditional Tonder farewell song, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” Many thanks to Bo Petersen for allowing me to use the photo.
I don’t know when I’ll be performing next, we just have to take it day by day. I hope you are all safe and well. Allan |
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March 12, 2020 Hi All Thanks to all of you who wrote the wonderfully encouraging messages on my Facebook page about my concert at the Strib Festival. It was great to read them all. However, this good news is mitigated by the bad news due to the coronavirus; Venne Folk Festival has been cancelled under orders from the German government. I am obviously disappointed about this, but many people have to endure much more serious problems. I have been told that the two gigs in Leer on 7 and 8 May are now sold out and at the moment are still scheduled to go ahead but they might have to be cancelled also. We're not sure yet. Please keep checking my website for any changes affecting all upcoming gigs as any changes will be posted as soon as we know anything. Allan |
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March 05, 2020 The first gig of the year was at the Strib Festival in Denmark. It was a great success, and many thanks to the audience for the wonderful response and the standing ovation. I really felt I was back on form, and as a result I’m looking forward to the coming year’s gigs.
I’m still planning on making a new album, but I’m not sure when yet; hopefully it’ll be this year if I get around to writing a couple more songs. You Tube hits seem to be increasing, likewise Spotify downloads/plays are increasing, so it’s gratifying to know that my audience is showing so much interest. For the next month I’ll be in Switzerland, in the beautiful village of Wengen. I feel completely relaxed there – especially with the help of wonderful Swiss wine. I’ll see you “on the road” sometime. |
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February 03, 2020 Hi All, I’ve just heard from my old friend Tom McConville (www.tommcconville.co.uk) that he has recorded for his new album two songs of mine; Plenty For The Few and The Irish Girl. The CD will be entitled Plenty For The Few. Thanks Tom – I always consider it a privilege when friends (and musicians I respect) such as you choose my songs to record and perform. I’m making preparations for my trip to Denmark next week for the first gig of this year. This will be for the Strib Winter Festival (www.strib-vinterfestival.dk). My concert is on Friday 7th, but I’ll stay over on the Saturday and maybe join a few sessions. The Danish singer songwriter Erik Grip is also appearing. Erik and I spent some time together in the early 80’s when I was visiting Copenhagen a lot. Erik make a great translation of my song Come Home Safely To Me and recorded it on one of his CDs. Maybe we’ll get the chance to sing the song together on one of our concerts. No doubt I’ll post a few photos of the event. More news as and when |
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January 03, 2020 The artist Allan Black has made another portrait of me, from a photo he took in 2003 in Melrose.
As for the coming year I’m looking forward to it. The work schedule is light, so each gig will be special I’m sure. I’ll be recording sometime during the year and I have most of the songs ready, although I need maybe a couple more songs. One song, “The Giant Red Balloon” I’ve been playing on gigs for the last year or so, and it’s on the vinyl record “In the Groove 2”. Here’s a verse from the song, which verbalises thoughts for this coming year;
I wish all of you “all the best” for the coming year. Thanks for your Christmas and New Year messages – see you sometime, somewhere “on the road”. |
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November 30, 2019 Hi All, I’m back into the swing of things having just played a couple of folk clubs here in the UK (Rhyl Folk Club and Black Swan Folk Club in York) which went extremely well, and I’m looking forward to the coming year. We’ve fixed the schedule in a way that I can enjoy playing some concerts throughout Europe without making such long tours as I used to. Over the winter season I’ll be in Switzerland on and off until April (apart from the Strib Festival in Denmark in February). It has been great to get so many offers throughout Europe to play concerts, so thanks to all the organisers of clubs and concert venues for getting in touch. I am working on songs for the new CD which I’ll record in the early part of next year. As always, I’ll be recording for Stockfisch Records in Northeim, Germany. More news as and when, Allan |
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August 9, 2019 I will play a few concerts in November this year and next year I will play Strib Festival in Denmark (February), Venne Festival (May), Wurzburg Festival (June) both in Germany, and Skagen Festival (July) and Tonder Festival (August) both in Denmark. Check out the tours page for full details. The Danish tour that had been planned for this year is being re-scheduled for next year, October 2020. This is being arranged by: Flemming Christensen – 0045 7542 1758 - email: info@marskmusic.dk. As regards other concerts/festivals please contact me (enquiries@allantaylor.com). I plan to play some concerts, but not on long tours as before. Allan |
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July 31, 2019 Hi All, On June 26/27, 2020 Allan will play two concerts at a festival in Wuerzburg, Germany; “Songs an einem Sommerabend” (www.studio-fuer-veranstaltungen.com). The concerts take place in Kloster Himmelspforten. Not only is it a great honour to play this festival (previous guests have been Reinhard Mey, Hannes Wader, Konstantine Wecker, Klaus Hoffmann) but Allan will be awarded the “Walther von der Vogelweide” gold prize for song-writing, presented by the Presidency of the State of Bavaria. Walther von der Vogelweide (1170-1230) was a song writer and poet and is known as the greatest lyrical poet before Goethe. We will shortly be listing the concerts/gigs that have been reinstated. Val (Allan Taylor Admin) P.S. |
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June 18, 2019 Hi All, The German tour in May 2019 was a huge success with every gig sold out. It was so successful that I will have to make two “final” tours next year as every venue I played asked me to return next year – some even wanted to book two nights in the same venue. Therefore, I’m arranging one tour in May 2020 (6 to 28) and another in September 2020 (12 to 27). The May tour is already more or less fully booked, and I’m still working on the September tour. I’m also working on some songs for a new album/CD, which I’ll record either late this year or early next year. Of course, this will be with Stockfisch Records. When I played Loni Ubler Haus in Nurnberg on the last tour I met a couple of guys who perform under the name of MistleToe and Ivy – Robert and Franz. They gave me their latest CD on which they have recorded three of my songs – in fact, the CD is called “Some Dreams” which I take as a compliment. Thanks Robert and Franz for choosing my songs. Peter Neugebauer (in Austria) has written tablature for several of my songs. We occasionally get requests from people asking for tablature, but because I don’t write guitar tablature we’ve not been able to help. However, now we can. For those of you who are interested, we can send a CD of the tablature. See the orders page for more detail. The next gig for me is the Skagen Festival, which is always great. I’ve arranged and performed the Songwriters’ Circle gig for the last 7-8 years and it’s always the first gig of the festival to sell out. Apart from the great music over the weekend Skagen is one of the most beautiful areas of Denmark, and I love going there. Thanks to those of you who have reserved tickets for my gig in Wengen, Switzerland on 20th July this year. I’m sure it’s going to be a great night. Allan |
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April 14, 2019 Hi All It’s been strange having so much time “off the road” since early November last year. It's given me plenty of time to consider what comes next, and next up is the May tour of Germany. A couple of extra gigs have just come in for this tour (Muiden in Holland and Grefrath in Germany – see Tours page for details) so it’s quite a full tour. However, as you’ll see from the Tours page I’m not making any long tours – two to three weeks is long enough now. The free time has given me the chance to try a few interesting projects; the concert with Ulli Boegershausen in Wengen on July 20 is an example. I’ve just had three weeks in Wengen (great skiing conditions) during which time we confirmed the details for the concert. Some of the audience are coming from far away so thanks to you all for making the effort for this special concert.
Maybe on this next German tour I’ll bring to the set list a few of the older songs I wrote many years ago. If any of you have a favourite let me know and I’ll make sure it will be “performance ready”. Allan |
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March 12, 2019 Hi All, Greetings from Wengen, Switzerland. I’m here for three weeks during which time I’ll be working on the details of the concert I’ll be doing with the German guitarist, my good friend, Ulli Boegershausen on July 20, 2019, in the cinema in Wengen. As before, with other concerts I’ve made here, I’m being helped by Steve and Janice Dennett who live here in the village. We’ve decided that the best way to reserve tickets for the concert is to write to the email address below and state how many tickets you require. We will confirm your request by email. Bring the email to the concert and pay at the entrance to the concert. Tickets will cost 50 Swiss Francs and wiil include a glass of prosecco (or two) and canapes during the interval. Ulli will play for around 50 minutes, followed by a half-hour interval, then I’ll play for around one hour and a quarter. The last concert I played in Wengen was on 23 July 2016, also in the cinema, and was a great success, so hopefully it will be as good if not better than last time. This will be my final concert in Wengen, and next year, 2020, will be my last year of touring. As this concert is in the summer why not stay for a few days as the scenery is amazing (it’s a World Heritage site) and there are many trails through the mountains for hiking. One could never fail to love this area – I look forward to seeing you at the concert. Allan |
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February 12, 2019 Hi All, I went to see my old friends Fairport Convention a few days ago at Leeds City Varieties Theatre and they were on fine form. As I’ve often mentioned in the past, they did me a huge favour when they asked me to open for their tour of Britain around 1970, and it’s because of them that I was offered a contract with United Artists Records (one of the biggest three record companies in the world at the time). Ric Sanders reminded me of the time we all played the Skagen Festival in 1995. I played it with Mike Silver that year, as a duo. Also on the bill was Eric Andersen, who I met in the Greenwich Village music scene in the late 60’s, early 70’s. Eric was appearing with Rick Danko (from The Band). After Eric and Rick did their gig they watched us play our set. Rick sat next to my wife, Wendy, and when he found out she was Scottish he told her about his herd of Highland Cattle he kept. He was very gracious; when we finished our set he said to me, “Man, listening to your songs is like seeing pearls from heaven”, praise indeed from one of the greats. Other memories returned concerning my time with Chris Leslie. We worked together on a couple of my CDs (“So Long” and “Faded Light”), and we’ve met up in various countries in Europe at festivals. One highlight of our time working together was when I was asked to submit a version of a Fabrizio de Andre song for the tribute album that included many artists, all Italian. We worked on it with Maartin Allcock. When I eventually met Fabrizio in Spilimbergo, Friuli, Italy, he told me that our track was his favourite, which was extremely gratifying as I always felt that De Andre was one of the all-time greats.
As for my time “off the road” – well, I’m enjoying being home and I find I’m looking back down the road I travelled, remembering some great times (and some tough times). I’m preparing for the next tour in May; the tour is just the right length, just over two weeks, and all of the gigs I’ve played before except Karlsruhe. I have heard that all of the gigs are selling well. In a few weeks Stockfisch Records will release “In the Groove 2”, a compilation of tracks, with one new un-released song “A Giant Red Balloon.” This will only be released on vinyl. In a couple of weeks I’ll be back in Switzerland for most of March, during which time I’ll be arranging details for the concert I’ll be doing there on July 20th. I’ll post the ticket details on this news page in a few weeks. In the meantime, I hope you’re all getting through the cold winter safe and comfortable. Allan |
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January 10, 2019 Hi All, The concert in Wengen on 20th July 2019 is going ahead. We’ll advertise soon how you can get tickets. I will share the evening’s concert with Ulli Boegershausen, and there will be the usual hospitality of Prosecco and Canapes as part of the ticket price. Wengen is a most beautiful place, a World Heritage Site that has lured artists of many disciplines to sample it’s beauty, Byron and Medelssohn to name just two. Fantastic for skiing in winter and for hiking in summer I’ve always felt at my most relaxed there, to the point where I now spend at least two months of the year there.
If you come for the concert why not stay for a few days and sample the wonderful clear Alpine air – it’s invigorating. Allan |
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December 29, 2018 Hi All, I mentioned some time ago that the Austrian singer-songwriter Dominik Plangger has translated (into German) and recorded “Los Companeros”, so for our German speaking friends, here is his translation. Dominik and I will play a concert together in Ingolstadt during the May tour of Germany. Allan |
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December 13, 2018 I’ve been getting quite a lot of hits on YouTube over the last year or so, so I thought it might be worth mentioning this on my website and Facebook page. Below is just a selection of what is getting attention. Hits on the general YouTube channel; Colour To The Moon (uploaded by Kyoto) – 2 million On my own YouTube channel, where there are tracks I recorded especially to illustrate how I play the songs – www.youtube.com/allantaylormusic - we have; I’m Going Home 75K Many of the hits are from Hi-Fi (High End) enthusiasts, and this is because Stockfisch Records (the record company for which I record) is the best in the world for sound quality. Recently, China State Record Company commissioned Stockfish to build an exact copy of their disc cutting and recording studio in Shanghai. I’ve often found that my CDs are used by many Audio Speaker manufacturers (Bowers and Wilkins, Fohn, Burmeister etc) who use my CDs to test their equipment. In Media Markt (a chain of shops in Germany) I’ve seen my CDs being used to demonstrate their sound equipment to clients. They do get somewhat surprised when they recognise me in the shop. I’ve just completed my first month of life “off the road” and I’ve managed to clear the decks of things that had needed doing for some time. I’ve listened to the tracks we’ll use for the new Vinyl “In the Groove 2” and I think it’s a great collection. The songs are: Side One Side Two No specific date has been set yet for the release, but I will let you all know when I know. I’ll sign off by wishing you all well for the festive season. Thanks for continuing to come to my concerts – I don’t take it for granted. Allan |
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November 29, 2018 Hi All, As I said in an earlier newsletter, I’ve taken six months off; there are no concerts until the May 2019 tour of Germany. The tour is looking good; long enough to make it interesting but not so long as before, when the last week or so was always tough-going. One more gig has just come in (check out the tours page) which is in Ingolstadt. Walter Haber, the organiser of gigs in the club Neuwelt has organised a “long night of song” with three other performers; Dominik Plangger (who recorded his German translation of “Los Companeros”), Monika Drasch (who has translated and recorded “Crazy Man”) and one more yet to be decided. We’ll soon be posting the details of the gigs in Belgium and Holland in September and the Danish tour in October. I will play a few UK gigs in late November/early December but we have yet to finalise the details. Now that I have some free time I have chance to travel for fun – not just work. I quick trip to Venice to look up an old friend brought many memories back. Around fifteen years ago I was in Conegliano (prosecco lovers will know this place) to record some songs as a tribute to the great Fernanda Pivano, who translated so many Dylan songs and novels by the Beat Poets, most notably Jack Kerouac. Others on the recording were Eric Andersen, who I’d met years before in Greenwich Village NY, and who I was later to tour with throughout Belgium, and Lou Reed. The whole project was funded by the Italian fashion organisation, Benetton, but somehow it all disappeared so I’m not sure what happened to the recording (or the money!). However, I did get to spend some in Venice as a payment for the gig. Sometimes experiences are worth more than money.
Last weekend I visited my son Barnaby and his family in Cornwall. The photo shows us in his studio, and in the background you’ll see on the screen a Panda; this is just one scene from a series of films about China that Barnaby is writing the music for. Barnaby is holding a Martin O16 New Yorker guitar. This is the first Martin guitar I owned, bought for me by my first wife in 1971. I had to sell it in 1978 when I was quite ill and needed the money. Four years ago the guy I sold it to contacted me and asked if I wanted to buy it back. So I did; I had it renovated – just a few things needed up-grading, and then I gave it to Barnaby. Strangely, that model of guitar was always known as “the Traveller”, which I did not know until recently. This makes it extra special because shortly after I had to sell the guitar I made one of my most successful albums called “The Traveller” which won the Grand Prix du Disques de Montreaux for the best European Album. Seeing the guitar again brought back so many memories.
Stockfisch will soon be releasing the second edition of the vinyl “In the Groove” which is a new collection of seven songs taken from various recordings, and the new song, “A Giant Red Balloon”. I think it will be released early next year, only on Vinyl. Stockfisch are also considering releasing the live concert “50 years on the road”, which was only on BluRay, as an audio CD. Many people have asked for this, mostly those who don’t have a BluRay machine but want to hear the concert. This will also be sometime early next year. I hope you’ll be warm and safe over the winter; it looks like it could be wild one this year. Thanks to you all for coming to the gigs – I always enjoy seeing old friends who still support gigs. Allan |
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November 05, 2018 Hi all Some of you have been aware of the problems I have with my left hand, and these problems led me to arrange six months off without touring, starting on November 4. I arranged to see the hand surgeon Professor Simon Kay today. Professor Kay has operated twice on my left hand, and is the foremost hand surgeon in Britain. The good news is that I don’t need an operation soon. The diagnosis is that the finger joint is deformed with two or three bone “spurs” which cause swelling and pain and this will gradually get worse. However, it is not in danger of breaking and as long as I can deal with the pain it is best to avoid surgery, as fixing it in a certain position (fusing) could result in more problems with my hand having to adopt a different position. Presently the pain is not a problem. Therefore I’m optimistic for the future. During this six month period without concerts I plan on writing some songs for a possible recording in April 2019. During this time I will spend a few weeks in Wengen, Switzerland, where I’ve written a few songs (most notably “Kerouac’s Dream”) and hopefully the Muse will visit me again and I’ll get more ideas for songs. Thanks to you all for making this year of touring one of the most enjoyable; I made the tours shorter with fewer concerts and it made a big difference. Consequently I enjoyed every concert. The next series of gigs will be the German tour in May next year. I hope you all have a pleasant winter season, and I look forward to seeing you next year, wherever it might be. Allan |
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October 19, 2018 Hi All I'm on the German tour and it's going great. The first three gigs were sold out, and the Hannover gigs, where I am now, are also sold out. I stopped off at the Stockfisch Studios to record a couple of songs, one of which will be on the new vinyl release, "In the Groove 2".
Autumn in in Germany can be stunningly beautiful. It's a real Indian summer here and the colours of the forests are vibrant. It reminds me of when I lived in New York, driving upstate for gigs. The last gig of the year will be November 3 in Washington, then I'm taking 6 months off. I might need another operation on my hand - I'll see the surgeon when I get back from this tour. In the meantime I'm really enjoying this short tour and all is well. Allan |
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September 27, 2018 Hi All, Whilst I was in Austria I heard the sad news that Maartin Allcock had died. Maart was an exceptional musician and multi-instrumentalist. We worked together many times; he prepared my first songbook and played bass and various instruments on a couple of my albums. He was also in Jethro Tull, then Fairport Convention and latterly he worked on recordings with Yusaf/Cat Stevens.
We also performed together in Germany and Denmark. He had an enquring mind, and was always ready to learn something new. I will miss him - he was a great guy. Allan |
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September 10, 2018 We're looking forward to the gig on Friday at the Kalamazoo Club in London. See tours page for full details. I don't play so often in London these days so it will be great to be back in the city - bringing back so many memories of the crazy times i had when I lived there. Then the main gig in London was The Troubadour, but I seem to remember there was a club very night of the week. Now it seems that the Kalamazoo is the place to play, so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope to see some of you there... Allan |
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August 24, 2018 Hi All, I'm in Denmark just now and if you were at the gig I did yesterday at Tonder Festival and took photos, especially when Jacob Dinesen joined me on stage, please send them to us. (enquiries@allantaylor.com) I'm looking forward to my upcoming gigs in the UK. The organiser of the Tadcaster gig on 5th September has asked that if you're thinking of coming to let him know because he's planning the seating - I don't do many gigs in the area so it'll be good to play a local gig. Greetings from Denmark. Allan |
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August 09, 2018 Hi All Last weekend Tom McConville and I were at the funeral of Dieter Wasilke, the organiser of Venne Folk Fruehling. I have played the festival for the last 19 years (and Tom for the last 10 years) and I’ve always stayed at Dieter’s farmhouse, which is the most delightful place, way out in the country and beautifully peaceful. Sometimes in early morning one can see the occasional deer in the garden. The ceremony in the church (which is always the venue for the festival concerts) was full of music and tributes to Dieter, and though it was emotionally draining, it was nevertheless uplifting and a wonderful farewell to a good friend.
And so we move on … The concert in Wengen is receiving some enthusiastic responses. So far the consensus is it would be convenient for all to have it in middle to late July 2019 – possibly the 20th. Much the same as the last concert I did there, we’ll make it extra special by serving Prosecco and Canapes to the audience (all part of the ticket price) before the concert starts and during the interval. As for the immediate future, I’ll play the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on 16th August and a concert on 23rd August at the Tonder Festival in Denmark. Allan |
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August 02, 2018 Hi All I’ve been asked to make another concert in Wengen next summer, and I’ve invited the German guitarist Ulli Boegershausen to play the concert with me. Ulli and I have been friends for many years, and he is a great guitarist. The evening programme will be; Ulli plays the first set, then we’ll have an interval, then I’ll play the second set. We’ll finish with a couple of songs together. Check out his website, You-Tube and Spotify etc. www.boegershausen.com The time period is sometime in late July/early August 2019. If any of you are interested in coming to Wengen for the concert please contact us (enquiries@allantaylor.com) so we have some idea how many people will come so we can choose the correct venue though it will most probably be in the Wengen cinema. Why not consider coming for a few days as Wengen is a most wonderful place for a holiday. Allan |
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July 31, 2018 Hi All As I was preparing to leave Switzerland on Sunday I got a phone call from a friend telling me that Dieter Wasilke, the organiser of the Venne Folk Fruehling festival had died. Dieter built the festival from nothing and made it into one of the most enjoyable festivals in Germany.
I have stayed at Dieter’s beautiful farm house many times, not only during the festival but when I was touring Germany. I wrote many songs there, including The Beat Hotel and Some Dreams, and we shared many enjoyable nights drinking some good wine and sharing stories of life on the road. The funeral is next Monday, 6th August so I’ll be travelling there with Tom McConville (who has become a firm favourite at the festival). Dieter’s wife has asked us and a few other musicians to play some songs at the funeral. Allan |
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July 29, 2018 Hi All I've just returned from 10 days in Switzerland where I've had chance to work on some new songs.
I always make the initial recordings at Ron Angus's studio Audioloft in Houghton le Spring. Apart from being a really good sound engineer Ron is a great photographer - check out: http://ronangus.myportfolio.com I have an enjoyable month this August - the Edinburgh fringe festival on 16th and Tonder Festival on 23 to 26 - my concert is on the 23rd. Details of this and other gigs see the tours page. See you on the road sometime. Allan |
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July 19, 2018 Hi All, I’m back from Skagen festival. My song “It’s Good To See You” has been the festival song for at least twenty years, so I have to sing it three times; to open the festival, as part of the afternoon concert on Saturday and to close the festival on Sunday. There are a few Danish translations (and translations in ten other languages) so we usually manage to have at least a bilingual version. Skagen, in the northern most tip of Jutland, Denmark, is one of the most beautiful places in Denmark and a place I’ve visited many times since my first festival there in 1983. It is where two seas meet – The North Sea and the Baltic, and as the seas collide the waves seem to reach all the way to the horizon.
The festival was a huge success – and my particular gig was the Songwriters’ Circle which is always sold out way in advance. This year it was with Kenny Speirs (from Scotland and the group Real Time) and Tom McConville. The festival was extra special because of the Sands Family and Na Leanai (who are all related). It was magical performing with them.
Many thanks to Sven Erik and Dorthe Larsen (the organisers), Anders Mikkelsen for lending me his two great Martin guitars and to the many volunteers who made it so enjoyable and successful. The next trip for me is Switzerland at the end of July where we’ll meet up with my son and his family. The next UK gig is Edinburgh Fringe on Thursday 16 August. I think it’s a relatively small gig, so if you want to come make sure you book early. Thanks to all of you who continue to come to the gigs. |
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June 23, 2018 Hi All, It has been a real busy time since the last news. The German tour in May was great with all gigs sold out. Thanks to all of you who came along and made the tour special. I will be not taking such long tours in the future and this one, at just over two weeks, was perfect. The German tour for May 2019 is more or less finalised, and is, again, just over two weeks.
I did three gigs in Scotland with my old friend Rab Noakes. Rab’s a fine singer-songwriter and we go back to when we first met at the BBC folk programme in London in the late 60’s. The gigs we do together are fun because we tell many anecdotes about life on the road. Even the miserable experiences, when told, turn out to be funny.
I’ll do another Scottish tour sometime next year, but nothing is decided yet. In early June I went to Switzerland where we arranged to meet a great friend of mine from my New York days, John Deane. John took the photos of me for the “Colour to the Moon” CD, and for the website. His wife Nobue designed the website. One time, way back in the eighties, I happened to be in Miami. I phoned John in New York and suggested we meet up. When we met, John gave me 3000 dollars; he was returning a loan I’d completely forgotten about. So, with unexpected good fortune we had to spend it, so we rented a Ford Thunderbird cabriolet and drove through southern Florida to Key West. The song, “Passing the Time Away” came out of that experience.
Back in Switzerland two weeks ago, we were hiking along a mountain path when we met a guy who recognised me and told me how much he liked my music. He then told me that he was the guy who wrote to my facebook page to tell me of how he heard “Brighton Beach” on the airport sound system of Shanghai Airport when he was waiting for a plane. The coincidences in life are sometimes amazing.
After Switzerland we went to Styria in south east Austria for a 70th birthday of a dear friend. Of course there was plenty of music, and Hans Theessink and I had chance to play a few songs together. We were there for three days and had a great time (it’s in the wine producing area).
Already scheduled for next year is a tour of Germany in May, Holland in September, Denmark in October and possibly Germany in November. As for this year, I still have quite a lot of travelling and touring to do, but as from the last gig this year (Washington on 3rd November) I will be taking six months off touring and performing. I’m hoping to use the time to write some songs for a new album. Thanks to you all for your messages and for coming to the gigs and making them so enjoyable. Allan |
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March 29, 2018 Hi All, I’ve just back from three great weeks in Wengen, Switzerland, and now I’m home preparing for the up-coming gigs over the next few months. I’ve been asked by friends and fans in Switzerland to play another concert in Wengen – in the cinema as I did two years ago. If any of you would consider coming to Wengen please let us know and we can then see if the idea is viable. Email I’ve taken enough concerts for this year so it would have to be 2019, and during the summer months as in winter the snow can be heavy (great for skiing but not for travelling). I’ve mentioned in the past that my son, Barnaby, is a film composer, and his latest project will be shown on Saturday 31 March (see advertisement below).
I have a few gigs coming in the UK next month (see tours page) starting on the 4th April at Uppermill and after that I will then I will be preparing for my next German tour in May. See you on the road somewhere … Allan |
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February 27, 2018 Hi All, I had a great week in Ireland, and it was made extra special because Gerry Creen, a friend from way back, offered not only to drive me to the gigs but also to loan me his two Lowden guitars, which meant I could fly over from Leeds to Belfast without worrying about airfreighting the guitars. Added to this, Gerry and Eileen offered me accommodation at their house on the Antrim road, just outside of Belfast. Consequently, my trip was stress free – one of the easiest tours I’ve ever done. The first gig in Rostrevor was solo, and was special because a few of my old friends were there – Tommy, Colum and Ben Sands and Brian Willoughby.
The next three, Armagh, Antrim and Belfast were with the group Na Leanai (all off-spring from the Sands Family). The gigs were great; Na Leanai did three very good sets and it was great to see the next generation of performers doing so well. At the end of each concert we did three songs together and that was special.
I’ll be in Switzerland for three weeks in March, then when I return I’ll be preparing for the gigs in UK in April. I’ll be meeting up with Rab Noakes sometime early April to film a couple of songs to publicize our three gigs together in early June. It looks it’s going to be a good year. |
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December 11, 2017 Hi All, The last gig of the year was in Amen, in Holland and it was a great gig to finish the year. We are already scheduling a return visit to the club for 2019. I can now look back on the year with a great sense of achievement - I enjoyed every gig, although there were some tough times regarding my shoulder problems. In March of this year when I was diagnosed with three torn tendons in my shoulder I thought I would have to cancel the German tour in May, the Austrian tour in June and Skagen festival as I could hardly lift a guitar, let alone play it. However, a physiotherapist taught me a few exercises and by following the regime he set I managed to get through the tours successfully. In Austria I was helped greatly by Peter and Tina Neugebauer who drove me to some of the gigs. The operation on my shoulder (rotator cuff repair) was scheduled for July 4th and was a great success, and since then (and doing forty-five minutes of physiotherapy every day) I’ve been able to get through the Autumn German and Danish tour. Now I’m home and I am considering plans for next year. I will definitely make the tours shorter, and even do fewer tours. Some of you have been asking me when I’ll make the last tour, and my answer is that I’m not sure yet, although the idea of making 2019 the last year of touring is a possibility. However, I’ve not yet made that decision. The good thing is that I’m still enjoying the concerts and there are still new projects, clubs and concert venues that interest me. I’m still getting many requests to either return to venues or to play concerts in new venues that have contacted me. For example, a new development is that next year in February I’ll be returning to Ireland for one solo concert and three concerts with the wonderful Irish group Na Leanai (see the Tours page on my website). Na Leanai have just recorded a new album on which they have recorded my song “Roll on the Day” – and they’ve made a superb version of it. I’m not sure if I’ll record a new CD next year, although the idea of doing a “covers” CD (recording a collection of songs by my favourite songwriters) has been put forward and I’m considering it. I’d like to thank you all for making 2017 a great and successful year; it could have been quite different with my shoulder problems but everyone was very supportive and encouraging and the positive response during the concerts always stimulated the adrenaline which helped to overcome the shoulder pain. I hope you all have a good time over the festive season. I’ll not be out “on the road” now until February so, hopefully, I’ll get around to writing some new songs. Allan |
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November 22, 2017 Hi All, I had a free night last night so i went to see a concert by my old friend Hannes Wader. Hannes is making his final tour through Germany so it was the last chance i would have. It was Hannes who translated my song "It's Good To See You" (Gut Wider Heir Zu Sein) - he recorded it and it became extremely popular. This helped me in establishing my career in Germany. A few years ago we made a tour together, out of which came a live CD, "Old Friends in Concert".
I joined Hannes on stage for the final song of the night, and we sang It's Good to see you in English and German. It was an experience not to be forgotten. Starting tomorrow I have the final three gigs, then I'll be travelling home. Allan |
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November 13, 2017 Hi All, The first part of this tour started great - thanks to all for making "The Gerd Weimbs Tribute Concert" such a tremendous success.
Last weekend I was asked to do a couple of songs with Jacob Dinesen and his band in Portalen, near to Copenhagen. It was their final gig of a 90 gig tour - it's quite amazing how this last year has gone for them.
I visited Copenhagen main station to remind myself of my first experience of life on the road. Fifty-one year's ago, almost to the month. I had spent most of the small amount of money I had left on a sandwich in the station. I spent the rest on travelling to Malmo, and landed there with only a ten shilling note, less than one euro in today's money.
Standing there with my guitar, freezing cold (I had no idea how cold it was in Sweden), I thought, how am I going to survive this. It wasn't easy, but I made it through. Peter Neugebauer has now made a tablature version of my song "Like I Used To Do" - PDF here. Allan |
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October 30, 2017 Hi All, Peter Neugebauer from Austria has made a tablature version of “Endless Highway”, and I understand from him that he’ll do some more if anyone has a particular choice of song. Thanks Peter. Allan |
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October 25, 2017 Hi All, Another week and I’ll be heading back to Germany to finish the tour. I’d like to publicly thank Paul Perkins who has been giving me physiotherapy since my shoulder operation in July. My progress and recovery has been excellent and I’m ready to continue the tour to the end of November. Thanks Paul.
I’ve just heard that there will be some gigs in Ireland in February; we’ll post all the details just as soon as we know. Allan |
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October 20, 2017 Hi All, I played some concerts with Happy and his brother Artie in Greenwich Village in the late 60’s and early 70’s and we’ve stayed in touch since. Watching his performance last night was a real trip down memory lane; a lot of the characters he mentioned I knew too, and I also played the same venues; Gerdes Folk City, The Gaslight, The Bitter End etc. Ten years ago when I was touring America (doing a few gigs with the fine songwriter Chuck Brodsky) I played the famous Café Lena venue in Saratoga, New York State, with Happy. We then played a concert in Woodstock, where Happy lives. We’ve also shared the stage at the Tonder festival in Denmark and the Nyon festival in Switzerland, so we go back a long way. It was also good to see Martin Simpson there. Apparently it was his only night off on his current tour so he was lucky to get there. Also there was Dave Peabody, the photographer and blues player.
I knew the evening would be somewhat nostalgic so I decided to take another look down memory lane and visit The Troubadour club that I used to play in the 60’s and 70’s, and where I held my 70th birthday gigs a couple of years ago. It’s on Old Brompton Road, London if any of you want to check it out. The place has not changed much, and there is a wonderful feeling of history, obviously subjective, where so much of my formative musical experiences took place. There are still concerts going on there – mostly of the new generation coming through.
In a couple of weeks I’ll be returning to Germany to continue the tour; Germany, Denmark and the final gig in Holland on 25th November. The young Danish songwriter Jacob Dinesen (www.jacobdinesen.dk) has asked me to join him and his band for a couple of songs on the final gig of a ninety gig tour of Denmark. Every gig was sold out – and he was playing to between one thousand and ten thousand people a night. The gig is at Portalen in Greve, just outside of Copenhagen – www.portalen.dk but I think this is already sold out. By the end of November I’ll be home for a few months and maybe then I can work on some new projects and songs. I hope to see some of you soon. |
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October 12, 2017 Hi All, I've just had a couple of days at Stockfisch Records Studios in Northeim. Along with Gunter Pauler (the boss of Stockfisch) we tested some superb guitar and vocal microphones for future projects. China Records (the state owned record company) have commissioned Gunter to build an exact replica of the studio cutting equipment which he built. This is a huge project and it confirms that Stockfisch is pre-eminent in High End quality as China Records will only take the best.
There are certain projects under discussion for next year, one of which is that I will be cutting back on the amount of gigs I'll do, but more on that later. Allan |
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| October 07, 2017 Tour and Spotify Hi all I'm currently on tour in Germany and everything is going well. The shoulder is holding up well too. I'll be at the Kanapee in Hannover for four nights 12th - 15th October (13th and 14th already sold out). Back home for a short while then in November back over to play in Germany, Denmark and Holland. Look forward to seeing you there. I wanted to let you know that some of my music is now available on Spotify - click this link to go to my Spotify profile. Allan |
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September 30, 2017 On the 17th and 18th May 2016 Allan Taylor was in concert at the Buergersaal in Northeim, Germany. Both nights were filmed and recorded by Stockfisch Records and we're pleased to announce the blu-ray disc of this concert is now available to purchase. Please note this concert disc is in blu-ray only and will not play on a standard DVD player. Check out the orders page and get your copy today!
Here's a link to Kerouac's Dream from the concert. |
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August 31, 2017 Hi All, Tonder Festival was one of the best ever. I usually go whether I’m booked or not – it’s that kind of festival, and I’ve been going there since 1982. This year Maria, the organiser, asked me to arrange the finale (as I did last year) and you’ll see from the video below that it was amazing. The festival is one of the foremost in Europe mainly because the artist line-up is not predictable – there are always new and excellent performers being booked, and the favourites are often returning. I especially enjoyed meeting and listening to Marc Cohn and telling him I wish I’d written “True Companion”. Allan Olsen did a special gig a few years ago with Lillebjorn Nielsen in Skagen so it was good to see him again. The Danish band Jonah Blacksmith were fantastic, and of course my young friend Jacob Dinesen and his band did two amazing sets, one of which I joined for one song. Great! We’ve posted a lot of photos on my Facebook page, mostly of my Danish fellow musicians. I was having breakfast with Neils Hausgaard over the weekend and he mentioned that we must be the last two from the old days who are still performing. Well, I guess we are. But why not, it’s still great to be on the road. The recuperation on my shoulder continues to go well. The first gig is next Sunday in Southport so I’m putting the practise in to make sure I’m on form. I still have another few weeks of physiotherapy sessions, and of course I still have to do the exercises twice a day. But I feel confident it will all be OK (and I’m enjoying checking out the smaller bodied guitars!). Until the next one, |
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August 10, 2017 Hi All, I had another session with a physiotherapist today and as a result of the exercises I've been doing (three times a day) my arm/shoulder is now strong and flexible enough to practise on a guitar slightly bigger than the travel guitar - the Martin OM. Many thanks to Csaba Koller from Hungary for allowing me to buy back this guitar which I sold to him a few months ago.
I've been advised by the physiotherapist to use a smaller bodied guitar, such as the Martin OM, treble O and even the double O. Therefore, after Csaba has chosen one of my other guitars, I will be selling either the Martin DC16RGTE (used on "Live in Belgium" and many tours throughout Europe) or the Martin HD28 which I have been using regularly for the last ten years on tour. Finally, I will sell the Martin CEO4R (serial number 2) - this is a very rare guitar and the first one sold by Martin Guitars (serial number 1 of every model always goes to the Martin museum). All of these guitars have a superb pick-up system fitted by Martin guitars, and have either the traditional Geib case or the moulded case. I will keep the Martin D18 Vintage and the Martin M38 because they are so good for recording. Finally I will keep the OOOC Nylon string because it's so good to play when my hands get tired! Allan |
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July 13, 2017 Hi All, The operation on my shoulder went well; the surgeon told me that there had been more damage done that he had first thought, so the operation took twice as long. Now, one week after, the recuperation is going well. I’ll not be able to play guitar for another few weeks, but as I not have to play until the end of August this will not be a problem.
Many thanks to you all for your messages of support. I just got a message from the English singer-songwriter, Keith Hancock. He was sitting in a bar in Vietnam and heard my song “Some Dreams” on the bar radio/system. Some months ago I got a message from someone who heard “Colour to the Moon” on the airport sound system in Shanghai. Maybe this is because there are an amazing amount of bootleg versions of my CDs in the Far East, and China especially. I saw one recently – a three CD boxset, beautifully packaged with photos drawn from various sources and compiled by the bootlegger. If any of you get to China and see a bootleg, please send me a copy please. Allan |
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June 21, 2017 Hi All, I’m now home from the Austrian tour. Many thanks to Tina Roeck and Peter Neugebauer for their help during the tour. Peter sings some of my songs on his gigs in Austria, and he’s currently working on a translation of “Leaving at Dawn”. Also thanks to Peter Ratzenbeck, the Austrian guitarist (www.peter-ratzenbeck.at), for arranging some of the gigs.
The last night of the tour was free and I was invited to join some friends for Styrian party on Weinstrasse. The road cuts through the vineyards, with Slovenia on one side and Austria on the other. For the party the organisers close the road and set out seats and tables for around 300 people, with plenty of wine and food. I heard some wonderful traditional Austrian folk music from a local band, which featured one of my favourite instruments, the hammered dulcimer.
Now I’m home I am preparing for the Skagen festival at the end of the month, which will be the last gig before the operation on my right shoulder on July 4th. Apparently I’ll have my arm in a sling for around four weeks, then I’m hoping I’ll be able to start playing the guitar again. This leads me to the news that I have been told by my physiotherapist that I should be playing smaller bodied guitars now and for the future, to take the pressure off my shoulder. Therefore, over the next few months I will decide which of my guitars I will sell and then I’ll announce the details on this news page. I hope you’re all having a pleasant summer. Allan |
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June 15, 2017 The Austrian tour is going well, and plans are already underway for another tour next year, possibly around Late September time.
Many thanks to Peter Ratzenbeck for arranging some of the gigs, and to Peter and Tina for driving me to the gigs and the accommodation. I had a great day out with them yesterday- we cycled along the banks of the Danube for around twenty miles, through the vineyards and old quaint villages. While we were out cycling we met up with this wandering minstrel - what a delightful and charming character, Peter Georgiou.
We talked awhile and he played me one of his songs. He had no possessions other than what he carried - guitar and small paper bag. He said he was looking for a dentist to fix his missing front teeth - then he was hoping he might find a girlfriend if he looked better! Today we're back on the road for the next four gigs. More news as and when. Allan |
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June 05, 2017 Hi All, I’ve just had a wonderful week in the Provence, in Villefranche sur Mer. Time enough to come down from the high of the German tour, relax a little and then to prepare for the Austrian tour which starts on Friday. I had only planned on doing around four gigs, but Peter Ratzenbeck (the Austrian guitarist) got involved so now there are nine gigs. June is a good month to be in Austria – before it gets too hot.
After that, I’ll be home for seven days or so and then I’ll be at Skagen Festival for the usual songwriters’ circle gig. I’ll fly back to UK on 3rd July and on 4th July I’ll have the operation on my shoulder, which then means I’ll not be able to do much for at least eight weeks – just in time for the Tonder festival at the end of August. I’ll not be playing a concert this time, but I will arrange and perform the finale as I’ve done for the last three years. The rest of the year is more or less confirmed so I think there’ll not be any changes in the schedule. Stockfisch are going to release a new DVD of the concert I did in Northeim last year. It will be released in the Blu-Ray format. Hopefully this will be in time for the Autumn tour of Germany and Denmark. Allan |
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May 24, 2017 Hi All, Just back from my tour of Germany which got off to a great start in Oberotterbach at Musikantebukl. This place is very special; small, intimate and of those places one has to play at least once in one's life. Because it's always sold out when I play it, I play a second gig in a much bigger venue in a nearby village. Many thanks to those who came, especially Herbert and Doris who flew from Vienna just for the gig, and Eckhard and Sigrid who drove from Dusseldorf for both gigs. And to Bigi for coming and bringing a few friends. Finally, of course, thanks to Alfons and Gerry for promoting the gigs. Then I drove East to Marbach am Nectar and Grosskarlbach for two gigs, both of which are in a wine area -- needless to say some wine was drunk that weekend. Venne folk fuelling was up to its usual standard of fun and good music.
Monday was a unique experience. I played in an open theatre way out in the country, near the city of Jena. Thanks to Nico Schneider for arranging this gig, and for showing me around the beautiful city of Weimar.
Then I stayed with the German guitarist Ulli Boegershausen for a couple of days before finishing the tour with a couple of gigs; Northeim and Elsfleth which were sold out.
And I have just heard that Germany’s leading Hi-Fi magazine, Stereoplay, has included a track of mine for their demonstration CD. The track chosen is the orchestral version of "Chimes at Midnight". Allan |
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April 29, 2017 The re-release of Behind The Mix is now available to purchase from the orders page. In just a few days time I will be making my way to Germany for my May tour (see the tours page for full details of where I am playing). I’m looking forward to seeing you all somewhere out “on the road”. Allan |
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April 24, 2017 Allan was the guest on Eva Lees show 'Coffee With A Danish' on Celtic Music Radio on 24th April. You can listen to this again here.
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April 01, 2017 Hi All The finger operation went well and I am playing the guitar again. I have now seen the surgeon about my right shoulder problems. He diagnosed that two, maybe three tendons are torn (rotator cuff tears) and I will definitely require an operation. This will mean a long period of recuperation afterwards – at least eight weeks. The operation is scheduled for the first week in July, as I don’t want to cancel any gigs if I can help it. I have three gigs in Scotland this month. In May I’ll be in Germany, Austria in June and finishing with the Skagen festival for the last weekend of June/first few days of July. We have decided to re-release the CD Behind The Mix CD because so many people have asked us to make it available again. The recording began as a bonus CD to accompany Colour To The Moon in a special box edition and was released in the 2000. Colour To The Moon has remained in production, but the bonus CD, Behind The Mix was discontinued when the box edition sold out. When the idea was first suggested to me I listened to it for the first time in almost sixteen years (I rarely listen to my CDs once they are released) and I realised that it is special for many reasons, but mainly because of the friends I worked with on it. What you hear on this CD is three musicians, Chris Jones on guitar, Grischka Zepf on bass and me on guitar and vocals, just having a good time in the studio playing a few songs. There are a few anecdotes of my time with Alex Campbell followed by recollections of the times I spent with Derroll Adams, another dear friend and a great inspiration. Listening to these recordings takes me back to some real good times, but I don’t have to linger there for long as those good times are still with me. I can still hear Derroll’s voice and his banjo playing when I perform songs such as “The Stranger” (which was inspired by his memory, shortly after he died), just as I can hear Alex Campbell when I sing “It’s Good To See You”. He was the first to record it after I had written it in 1976. I hope you will enjoy this recording; it’s gentle and mellow and I’m sure it will make you smile, especially if you listen to it with a glass of good wine! It will soon be available from the orders page… so keep checking. Allan |
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March 28, 2017 Pictured is The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, New York (photo by John Deane). Reading the obituary column in The Times yesterday I noticed that Fred Weintraub has died. Fred Weintraub was the owner/organiser of The Bitter End during the 60’s and early 70’s.
I played some gigs at The Bitter End in the early 70's when I was living in New York; it was one of the iconic places that many folk singers played. Bob Dylan played it as did most of the luminaries of the music scene and I remember the exitement of either watching or playing a gig there. One gig I did (in those days the gig lasted a week, two shows a night sometimes) consisted of four acts; Spencer Davis, John McLoughlin, Furry Lewis and me – what an eclectic line up! They were good times. |
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February 28, 2017 Hi All, My heartfelt thanks to so many of you for your words of encouragement on my Facebook page regarding the operation on the first finger of my left hand. The surgeon said it went well and I should be able to start playing the guitar in a couple of weeks. I feel fortunate that once the seriousness of the situation was established I was operated so soon after diagnosis. Many thanks to Professor Kay and to his team for their excellent work. And many thanks to my wife Wendy for coordinating the operating theatre and team. (Wendy is the assistant manager and clinical nurse). Regarding my shoulder; I’ve had some treatment this morning which will hopefully ease the situation for a few months. An operation is provisionally scheduled for the first week in July. Thanks again to you all, Allan |
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February 27, 2017 Hi All, I saw the eminent hand surgeon Professor Simon Kay, this morning thinking that we would arrange an operation for a couple of months ahead. However, he decided that I needed the operation on my left hand as soon as possible, so in a few hours, this evening, I will be in hospital for the surgery. Professor Kay worked on my hand some years ago when he fused the joint of my fourth finger on the left hand. He is most famous for performing the first hand transplant in Britain. Therefore I’m sorry to say I have cancelled my concert this Wednesday at Kirkham. I won’t be able to play the guitar for a couple of weeks or so. Tomorrow I have an appointment to see another surgeon about my right shoulder which is also causing serious problems, the same as that on my left shoulder which was operated on a few years ago. I will need an operation on this as well, but hopefully I can arrange it when I have enough time for recuperation, so I won’t have to cancel any concerts. Many thanks to Csaba Kollar from Hungary for buying my OMJM Martin guitar; this will help to pay for the operations. From this Saturday 4th March I will be in Switzerland for three weeks – a great place to be recuperating from the operation. Allan |
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February 05, 2017 Hi All, I've just spent a week with my son Barnaby at his place in Cornwall, where he gave me the good news that the song I wrote for the Disney film, Born in China (on which he wrote the music), will be on the soundtrack, which will be released on CD. Although I've seen a lot of the film already during the recording of the music at The Abbey Road Studios in London last year, I will definitely go to see it in the cinema when it's released on April 21st of this year.
Of course I'm proud of my son and the great music he writes for film and television, but on this film, Born In China, the music is some of the best I've ever heard him write. The main theme, which is based on the Chinese scale, and for which I wrote the lyrics, is hauntingly beautiful, and when played with the vision it's extremely powerful. I hope some of you will see the film - let me know what you think! Allan |
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February 02, 2017 I've just received the latest CD from Burmester Audiosystems (www.burmester.de). The company occasionally compile tracks for their demonstration CDs for use on their house systems and car systems (they design the sound systems for Porsche, Mercedes and Bugatti). Of course the main criterion is that the sound quality must be of the highest standard, and as Stockfisch Records make some of the best Hi-Fi recordings in the world we usually have a track on Burmester's samplers. Along with Nils Lofgren and Al Di Meola and a few others my old friend Hans Theessink is on the CD. Burmester have used my track "Chimes At Midnight" from the orchestral CD of mine, "There Was A Time". I got to know Dieter Burmester at the Munich High End Exposition, where many of the finest Hi-Fi companies in the world exhibit their products. It was my first time there, but as I walked past the Burmester stand I heard my CD playing; they were demonstrating their sound equipment to prospective customers with my CD, so naturally I stopped and got talking to Dieter Burmester. We became friends - and met up a few times in Berlin where I stayed in his beautiful apartment. He was a keen bass player so I asked him to play bass on "Dedicated to ..." on the "Songs Of The Road" CD, which we recorded in the Stockfisch Studios in Northeim, Germany. I think Dieter was a little nervous and did not want me there watching him as he recorded, so he gave me the keys to his new Porsche Panamera and told me to go for a drive for the afternoon. That was no problem for me - what a car!
Dieter Burmester died in August, 2015. I miss his enthusiasm for almost everything he was interested in. He has a great legacy; first class sound systems that continue to develop in the pursuit of excellence. |
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January 24, 2017 We still get requests for the songbooks 'We Must Journey On' Volumes 1 and 2, which are currently out of print. However, Val has prepared the masters for making CD copies of the books, so they are now available in that format. Check out the orders page if you would like to order one or both songbooks. Allan has been collating various items from his 50 years on the road. He has found many unusual items; some rare vinyl editions of his albums and some rare CD releases and cassettes. In addition Allan has for sale his Martin OMJM guitar and 2 foot pedals. Again check out the orders page. |
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January 09, 2017 On hearing of the death of Carrie Fisher (who was best known for her part in the Star Wars movies as Princess Leia) I was reminded of a great act of kindness she showed towards me when I worked with her many years ago. The photos show me with Carrie when I was asked by Yorkshire Television to write some music for a film being made at Ripley Castle in Yorkshire in 1983. The film was called Frankenstein, from the book by Mary Shelley, and featured Carrie Fisher in her first role since playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie. I was asked to write a pastiche Victorian parlour ballad which was to be sung by Carrie. We rehearsed at her hotel in Harrogate one evening and she was great to be with; no airs or graces, just easy-going, but totally professional in learning the song. My son (who was around 11 at the time) told his friends at school that I was working with Princess Leia, but they did not believe him and teased him about it. He told me about it when he came home from school, so the next day I told Carrie the story and asked her if I could have a photo so he could take it to school and show his friends. She was great, understanding and sympathetic. She immediately agreed and asked the set photographer to take some photos. My son’s credibility went sky high when he took the photos to school. Many years later her generosity of spirit showed again when she gave friendship and lodgings at her house in California to an emerging singer-songwriter called James Blunt.
My record company (Stockfisch Records) in Germany tell me that a sample CD is being compiled by Burmester Hi-Fi Company and In-Akustik distributors. This will be for sale to the public. I have one track on the CD – other artists include Al Di Meola, Nils Lofgren and Hans Theessink. In recent years Stockfisch Records have been commissioned many times by Burmester Audio (in Berlin) to produce CDs of their artists to be given to special clients. Since Dieter Burmester started designing High End sound systems for cars, our CDs have been given to the owners of the Bugatti Veyron, Porsche and Mercedes Benz as a free sampler, to best show off the in-car entertainment. I've just heard from a friend that "There Was A Time" has been reviewed in the German edition of Akustik Gitarre, and it has been described as a masterpiece - which of course I'm so pleased about as the project took two years of hard work. This is the German text - and this is the English text. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas – I wish you all the best for 2017. We're now in Wengen, Switzerland, for two weeks, and looking forward to watching the World Cup Skiing next weekend. Allan |
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December 10, 2016 Hi All I still feel enormously privileged to do what I do, and what I’ve done, for fifty years of my life on the road, and I still really enjoy the performing. Of course the daily travelling is a chore, but I always find that the excitement returns during the sound-check, and come the time when I walk on stage I feel the same thrill that I have felt all of my performing career. If this was not the case I would quit. So, to all of you who organise these concerts, to those of you who show me such hospitality and friendship when I’m travelling through your country, I thank you for this year and the good times. One final point; In the UK in general, Vinyl sales during this last year outstripped CD sales. My record company, Stockfisch Records, have produced two vinyl albums of my songs – “All Is One” and “In The Groove” (which is a compilation). Technically these albums are of the finest sound quality, as you would expect from Stockfisch. Almost without exception most HiFi and PA companies in Germany and Austria use our CDs/Albums to test their equipment. It seems that most sales are to the younger generation who are searching for better sound reproduction that they would get by downloading.
I look forward to meeting you all next year when I’m back “on the road”. I must add one final note regarding the website and Facebook page. If you contact us via Facebook you’ll get the initial reply from Val. Val and Jimmy, collectively known as “jiva” managed my website and sales for a few years before Jimmy died just over a year ago and were a tremendous help. It was because of them that the original songbook was re-printed (and re-formatted), and the second songbook was designed and printed. They also helped in arranging various concerts and song-writing seminars. None of this I could have done without them. After Jimmy died Val said she would like to continue as before, and she has been invaluable. I would like to say publicly how much I appreciate her help. Thanks Val. Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year. |
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November 30, 2106 Hi All, We’ve just had a few days in Prague to celebrate my wife’s birthday, and it coincided with the start of the Christmas market. The city is beautiful, one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen; the architecture is so diverse and stunning. One of the highlights was when we visited St. Nicholas church in the Old Square to hear a recital on the church organ of, amongst other pieces (by Handel and Dvorak), Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
I wanted to visit the memorial to Jan Palach who committed self-immolation as a political protest during what was known as The Prague Spring, when Soviet forces invaded Czechoslovakia in order to crush the liberal reforms instigated by Dubcek (the leader of Czechoslovakia). Twenty years later what became known as the Velvet Revolution was started when students marched through the streets of Prague demanding reform. They were brutally beaten by police, but in the end the government had to capitulate. The protests reached throughout Europe and led to the overthrow of communism and the dismantling of the Berlin Wall giving freedom for millions of people.
Prague is one of the few cities I had not visited before; I would like to play a concert there so if any of you have ideas of how this could be achieved please let me know. In 2006 I sold a Martin D18V to Mike Lloyd. I had bought it direct from the Martin Guitar Company in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, but when it arrived I realised the neck was the wrong profile for my hand, so I thought I would sell it immediately as it was new and in pristine condition. A few weeks ago Mike got in touch and said he wanted to sell it and asked if I would be interested. Many of you will know that the D18 was always my favourite guitar (I’ve had five of them) so I agreed to buy it back.
I will have the luthier, Bill Dinsdale, adjust the neck to the modified low profile that I prefer. I met up with Mike at the Ace Café in Wembley to collect the guitar. The Ace Café is one of those iconic places from the 50’s and 60’s, where the motor-bike Rockers would meet. When I lived in London I drove past it many times on the way north to gigs. |
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November 22, 2016 The December issue of the German Hi Fi Magazine has a free CD with tracks from Stockfisch Records, one of which is the title track from my latest CD “There Was A Time”. The magazine is distributed throughout Europe and is considered the authority on Hi Fi products. The CD has been prepared in cooperation with the Hi Fi Speaker Company, Bowers and Wilkins. We use their speakers in the studio as they are amongst the best in the world, and as the Hi Fi quality of Stockfisch Records is world renowned it’s a perfect collaboration. Allan |
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November 02, 2016 Hi All I’ve just returned from the second part of the German tour, and it’s good to be home. I’ve just a couple of gigs now until the end of the year – Denholm Festival this weekend and Hungry Horse Folk Club at Ellesmere Port on 17 November. This part of the German tour was as good as always; four nights in Kanapee (Hannover) were sold out, as were the two nights I played Die Kate in Volksdorf (Hamburg). A new gig in Bad Oldesloe was a great success and I’ll most probably do it again next year. I had a couple of free days so I drove to Tonder in Denmark to celebrate Jacob Dinesen’s 21st birthday. His new album will be released in a few days and he’s already on a promotional tour – check him out on YouTube – there are some of us performing together. It looks like my young friend is destined for great things. In between his tours and my tours we might do another couple of gigs together next year.
I will be touring Germany next May, Austria in June and Germany again in October and November. I might have to have an operation on my left hand soon. I am due to see the hand specialist next week and I will know then what the situation is. As you’ll see from the tours page I have taken a lot of time off from touring as I’m not sure how long the recuperation period will be. I will be selling a couple of my Martin guitars and replacing them with a smaller guitar which is better suited for lighter gauge strings, again, this is because of the problems with my hand. The first guitar I’ll be selling is the OMJM which is one year old and in pristine condition. It is a fantastic guitar (see the specification on the Martin website) with a great pick-up and customised hard case. I collected this personally from the Martin guitar factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. More news as and when. |
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September 11, 2016 Hi All, Fifteen years ago today I was in New York with my wife. I was staying in an area called Hell’s Kitchen on 48th Street with my old friend John Deane and his wife Nobue. Nobue received a phone call around 09.00 from her friend in Tokyo who was watching a newsflash on CNN; one of the Twin Towers had been hit by an aeroplane. We rushed to the roof of the building (only five floors high) and watched as it burned. Then we saw the second aeroplane hit the other tower. A cloud of dust slowly covered the area as both towers collapsed. We were so shocked we just stood and watched, speechless. The memory of that day is still vivid. Soon after New York was in lockdown; no-one was allowed to leave Manhattan. We were due to fly to Bermuda for a concert, but we had to wait until the weekend before we could leave. It was strange walking the streets of Manhattan with almost no traffic. What was the most poignant were the messages left on the walls of buildings near where the Towers had collapsed, asking for news of loved ones. My wife, Wendy and I have just returned from Berlin. I was in Berlin a few times before the Wall dividing East and West was torn down (1989), and I was there two months after, when 90% of the Wall was still standing. Then I walked across what was formally one hundred metres of bare ground, a kind of no-man’s land, and under the Brandenburg Gate, which, two months before was East Berlin. I remember standing on the bare ground knowing that two months’ before I would have been shot by the East German guards. There were makeshift stalls around the Brandenburg Gate, where East Germans were selling everything from watches and guns to East German uniforms. I bought a tank commander’s watch to remind me of this momentous occasion.
Around that time I had written “The Wall” (on the Lines album) in which I mention Peter Fechter who was shot by the East German guards as he tried to escape over the Wall, and who lay dying on the east side of the Wall for hours. This was not far from Checkpoint Charlie. The guards watched him die, and for this act of cruelty they received awards from the East German government.
I still find it extraordinary how some of my peers endorsed such a brutal, inhumane and corrupt regime. However, the reason for our trip to Berlin was to attend the wedding of Steffen Wilmking, the son of my former agent, Volker Wilmking. It is because of Volker that I have such a great affection for Germany. Over the last forty years or so of touring throughout Germany I have made many friends, I’ve learnt so much about this fascinating country and I’ve recorded some of my best work with Stockfisch Records in Northeim. Moreover, I’ve written some of my best songs whilst touring through Germany. I remember some special times with fellow songwriters and performers; with Wolf Biermann in Hamburg during the 90’s, with Hannes Wader at his Mill in Schleswig Holstein, with Helmut Debus in Brake and with Ulli Boegershausen in the Mosel area. And now I have in my memory the last weekend spent with the next generation of singer-songwriters at the wedding reception of Steffen and Anja. Each generation finds its own way, and it’s great to watch the new singer-songwriters coming to the fore. Thank you Germany for the last forty years!
On Thursday next I will be on the ferry to Rotterdam, arriving on Friday and then I’ll drive to Hattingen for the first gig of the German tour. I’m having a break mid-tour; a week in Switzerland with my son, then ten days or so at home in the UK before I return to Germany on 19th October to finish the tour. I hope to see you somewhere “on the road”. |
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September 04, 2016 Hi All, I’ve just returned from Denmark. Although I wasn’t officially working at the Tonder festival, the festival director asked me if I would arrange the finale, where all the musicians come on stage at midnight on Sunday to sing “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”. It can be quite chaotic but with plenty of forward planning it went well. You’ll find it posted on You Tube under The Tonder Festival finale, 2016. The Blind Boys of Alabama sang the first verse, Kira Skov the second, Anderson East the third and The Fairfield Four and the McCreary Sisters sang the fourth. It was an amazing finale. Apart from the finale I had the whole weekend free to watch the other acts. The highlights for us were Hudson Taylor whose every set was great; Anderson East has one hell of a soulful voice for one so young – likewise Jacob Dinesen and his band who played great sets on the open air stage (not an easy thing to do). Signe Svendsen played a great set, and although I didn’t understand a word (she sings in Danish) it was easy to see the quality in her music and performance. Folk Baltica Ensemble (around twenty fiddles and other instruments), led by Harald Haugaard turned in a great performance of Scandinavian music, as did Nordic Fiddlers Bloc. Under the new management of Maria Theessink the festival has gone from strength to strength. Here are a couple of photos from the festival.
A few days after the festival I played a concert with Jacob Dinesen at Baltoppen in Bellerup, near to Copenhagen. It’s a great venue – a purpose built theatre with all of the facilities needed for live gigs. It was a great gig; I still get so much pleasure from performing with Jacob, and even though there are fifty years between us, somehow the years disappear when we communicate musically. This weekend I’ll be in Berlin with my wife, Wendy, for the wedding of Steffen Wilmking who is the son of my old German agent, Volker Wilmking. We stayed friends long after Volker closed the agency, and I’ve known Steffen since he was around twelve years old. He has made a great musical career for himself, playing with The H-Blockx and Thumb. He is now mostly a producer, living in what is probably the hippest city in Europe at the moment. A few days later I’ll start the German tour. The first gig is in Hattingen and is already sold out, so maybe this tour will be like the last with most venues full. I’m looking forward to seeing you all somewhere out “on the road”. |
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August 24, 2016 Thanks to you all for coming to the Edinburgh Fringe gigs at the Acoustic Music Centre at St. Bride’s. It’s always good to be back in such a great city – and the AMC is the place for our genre of music. I had chance to meet up with some of my old friends whilst I was in Scotland; I stayed with Rab Noakes and his wife in Glasgow on the Thursday night before my gigs. Rab’s doing well, having come through his cancer illness and he’s on the road to recovery.
In Edinburgh I visited Ian McCalman and Dick Gaughan happened to be there at the same time. We sat in his garden in the sun, and of course, within no time at all the anecdotes were plentiful; Dick and I were in Berlin just before the Wall was dismantled – we were also in Rome playing a concert. And I crossed tracks in Germany and Denmark many times with Ian and his group the McCalmans, so there are many stories of life on the road.
I’m leaving today (24th) for Denmark; I’ll be at the Tonder Festival, just hanging out mostly, although I’ve been asked to arrange the finale on Sunday night. Then I’ll be rehearsing with Jacob Dinesen for our gig at Bellerup (near Copenhagen) on Thursday 1st September. |
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August 18, 2016 Click on the press page of Allan's website to read the review of his new CD There Was A Time given by David Kidman in fRoots magazine. |
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August 01, 2016 Hi All, I watched my old friend Allan Olsen do a great set at Skagen Festival. We're each holding M&Ms - Jacob Dinesen added in his contract rider that he only wanted blue M&Ms (an old musician's joke) and to return the joke the organisers agreed to his request. Consequently, Allan and I got the other colours!
There are some good gigs coming up this month; Davy Lamp Folk Club in Washington, Saltburn Folk Festival, Edinburgh Fringe and then the Tonder Folk Festival. As I mentioned before, I'll not be playing a concert this year at Tonder but I'll be arranging the finale on Sunday night. Jacob's doing a set so I might join him for a song or two. Allan |
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July 15, 2016 Hi All, Skagen Festival was a great success. This year I did the Songwriters' Circle ( which I've hosted for the last five years) with Jacob Dinesen and Pete Abbott. It's always gratifying to know that every year it's the first concert to sell out. As for my fellow songwriters; Jacob is only twenty years old, but has already made his mark on the Danish music scene with his new single being played regularly on Danish radio. I've known Jacob since he was twelve, and I'm rather proud that he refers to me as his mentor. We often perform together when I'm in Denmark, and a duo concert is scheduled for us on 1st September (see the tours page on my website for details). Check out Jacob's facebook and YouTube. The other songwriter on the Songwriters' Circle was Pete Abbott. Pete usually performs with his group Other Roads (who played a couple of great gigs at the festival), but for this concert he was alone and had chance to talk a little about how he wrote his songs. Pete fitted in easily with the format of the concert and sang some great songs. During the festival I got to meet The Kilkennys, four great musicians and singers from Ireland. They received rapturous applause for their gigs, and deservedly so. I'm writing a couple of songs for them. Of course, as it's the festival song, I had to sing "It's Good To See You" several times over the weekend; to open the festival, to the civic dignitaries and Lady Mayor, and to finish the festival, with all of the Artists on stage. Check out The Skagen Festival face book page for photos etc.
I'll be here in Switzerland for another couple of weeks - the concert I'll be making after the film of my life on the road "The Endless Highway" will be here in the cinema in Wengen is on the 23rd July. I hope you're all having a great summer. See you on the road sometime. |
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| June 16, 2016 Austrian tour Hi All, For the first few days I stayed with an old friend in Styria (southern Austria), an area of vineyards and beautiful countryside. His place is on the border with Slovenia. He has decorated the apartment in which I stay in style of the Belle Epoque in Paris; the photos show how the paintings on the wall are in the style of Edgar Degas and Toulouse Lautrec. I was particularly fascinated by the Degas pastiche which clearly shows the absinthe drinker (titled L’Absinthe), Ellen Andree. Her image jumps out from the painting – she deserves a song. The pastiche collage was done by the renowned artist Jean Paul Chambas, who lives in Paris. In another room he has decorated it in the style of the 1930’s, when the likes of Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald frequented Paris, complete with bar and balcony. I’ve written a few songs in this apartment – one of which is “Let The Music Flow”.
I’ve always enjoyed being in Linz – it’s such a beautiful city, so thanks to Peter Vogel for arranging the first gig of the tour.
Many thanks to Marcus Doneus (www.marcusdoneus.com) for arranging the concert in Schloss Riedegg (in Gallneukirchen, just outside of Linz), and for playing a couple of songs with me. Saturday night’s gig was in Baerenkogel, near Hoenigsberg. This is the second time I’ve played the gig and it’s a great place to play – twelve hundred metres up the mountain. Thanks to Claudia Fenzl for joining me on “It’s Good To See You”. I met Claudia when I played in Ingolstadt, Germany (Club Neue Welt) a few weeks ago. Claudia and her partner Dominik Plangger were the support act, and as they start every gig with “It’s Good To See You” I invited them on stage to do it with me. Check out the German version, “Gut Wieder Hier zu Sein” (translated by Hannes Wader) on YouTube. I wrote this song in 1976, and it’s still being recorded by other musicians (there are more than 120 cover versions of this song). Also at Baerenkogel I met Peter Neugebauer who gave me his first CD on which he has recorded my song “Los Companeros”. Thanks for making such a good version Peter. Also, thanks to Helmut Hammer and family for organizing such a great venue on the mountain.
I finished the tour in Vienna and stayed with my old friend Hans Theessink (www.theessink.com) and his wife Milica. I think we’ve known each other more than thirty years, and we’ve even performed together in a few clubs and festivals.
News regarding the new CD, “There Was A Time”; it has been chosen as the CD of the month in the German magazine “Stereo”. Early signs show that this CD and book, because it is the one and only time I’ll record with a symphony orchestra, is going to be popular judging by the sales. I’m home for two weeks now, then off to the Skagen Festival in Denmark, and then I’ll fly directly to Switzerland and stay in Wengen for three weeks. I hope to see some of you at the concert I’ll make in Wengen on 23 July (details for tickets are on the tours page). Allan |
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May 25, 2016 Hi All, Likewise with Neue Welt in Ingolstadt which I played last week. The organiser, Walter Haber, has decided to retire, so thanks to you Walter for some great times. The two concerts in that I played in Northeim last week were recorded and filmed by Stockfisch Records so sometime in the future there will be a live CD released as well as a video. The new CD, “There Was A Time”, recorded with the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra, was delivered on the day of the second concert in Northeim and is now available – check out the orders page. The CD is in a booklet of fifty pages of text and history of how this recording came to be. Of course, as is the case with all of Stockfisch’s recordings, it’s of the highest HiFi quality possible.
The last gig of the tour was in Nuernberg at the Loni Ubler Haus. It’s one of the most famous clubs in Germany – I’ve played it many times. Wolfgang Sendhardt was the manager, and he has now retired. Maybe I’ll do one more tour in Southern Germany in early 2018, but I’m not sure yet.
In early June I’ll be doing a few gigs in Austria, then home for a few days before I go to Denmark for the Skagen Festival. As usual I’ll be doing the Songwriters’ Circle on the Friday night. This time it will be with my young Danish friend Jacob Dinesen. Jacob has come a long way in the last two years; he now has a record contract and his first release is getting plenty of air-play. The other writer is Pete Abbott who some of you will know played alongside John Wright for a time until John died a few years ago. Pete has been making his way as a songwriter with the group Other Roads. This concert is always the first of the festival to sell out so book your ticket early. For our German friends, there is a good You Tube version of my song “It’s Good To See You”, sung in the German translation (by Hannes Wader) by Hannes, Reinhard Mey and Konstantin Wecker. I’m always amazed at how far that song travelled; I wrote in the St.Thomas, in the American Virgin Islands around 1976 and never expected it to be so successful. Here is a very complimentary remark by Reinhard: "... in my CD player I listen to Allan Taylor's music again and again - what a great music. It is the calm sound that, the louder and more superficial our world gets, strikes us the most and stays" From the German songwriter Reinhard Mey. Many thanks to my German friends, Iris and Micheal Maute-Hansmann, and to Dieter Wasilke and Regina for offering me the hospitality of their house. When I have free days it's no fun staying in a hotel, so staying with friends is always enjoyable.
And finally; the details for the concert I’m planning for Wengen, Switzerland are being finalised and we’re getting quite a lot of enquiries for tickets. It will be great to see friends from my tours in various countries. If you're planning on coming please do let us know in advance by emailing enquiries@allantaylor.com as this will help with arrangements. Wengen is a beautiful place, a world heritage site, so all are welcome for the concert and a few days in the Swiss mountains. |
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April 29, 2016 Hi All The portrait by the artist Allan Black is now hanging in Barnaby's house.
The final mix of the new album 'There Was A Time' is finished and is now at the pressing plant. Release date will be sometime in May – we cannot be more specific yet. I’m pleased to say that the sound is magnificent – the orchestral arrangements on my songs add a new dimension to what I have recorded before. I’m also pleased with the way my voice has been mixed with the orchestra; I thought it would be problematic mixing a non-classical voice with a classical orchestra, but Stockfisch have done an amazing job and the combination works excellently. For a preview click on this link to the Stockfisch Records website and you can hear some of the tracks. Next week I’ll be leaving for the German tour; some of the gigs are already sold out so if any of you are thinking of coming to one of the gigs, book your tickets soon. |
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April 02, 2016 My son Barnaby has been commissioned to write the music for a Disney film called “Born in China”. Barnaby invited me to the recording session at Abbey Road Studios in London. The music required using a full eighty-five piece orchestra and Abbey Road is one of the few recording studios left that can accommodate so many musicians. Abbey Road is mostly known for being the studio where The Beatles recorded, and where the famous photograph was taken of them on the zebra crossing. I was there in the early 80’s when I mastered and cut my “Win or Lose” album.
The only UK gig I will play this month is the Cambridge Folk Club on 22nd April. I’m not playing many British folk clubs these days so it would be good to see some of you if you can make it. I’ve been writing the sleeve notes for the new Orchestral CD and generally staying “on the case” with its progress. The album will be called “There Was A Time …” and is scheduled for release in May to coincide with my German tour. |
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April 01, 2016 Jimmy and Val, collectively known as jiva, were integral to helping me with the business side of the website and CD sales, and a strong friendship developed. Jimmy died in November last year, but Val has continued in the role of website and Facebook administrator. She also deals with sales.
Yesterday she was there when the memorial stone was put in place.
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March 23, 2016 Because I come to Switzerland so often, I always leave a guitar here so I don't have the hassle of trying to get my guitar on board the plane. A couple of years ago there was an EU resolution put to member states recommending musicians should be allowed to take their instruments on board (guitars and smaller) to be stored in the overhead lockers. Every country agreed except the UK, so the recommendation was dropped. Obviously the UK government cares little for the Arts. The Musicians' Union has also been ineffective. However, in America there is a presidential decree that stipulates musicians can take their instruments on board - this was signed by president Bush. The guitar I leave here in Switzerland is a Blueridge, which I've had for around ten years and is a great guitar. If I do gigs here I use it, and it compares favourably with any of my Martin guitars.
I needed some work done on the guitar so I went to Musik Althaus in Schwarzenburg. The proprietor, Bazi Stoll worked on my guitar and did a great job - thanks Bazi. |
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March 19, 2016 I'm still in Switzerland. Regarding the concert I'm doing here in Wengen on July 23; I've spent some time this last week preparing a few things. Steve and Colin (collectively known as Duo Centrale) do gigs in the village and they have offered to arrange the PA sound system for the gig. Steve's wife Janice is arranging the refreshments and the promotion. I had to sample two different types of Prossecco to make sure we have a good one for the audience. Tough gig eh?
Steve has already started selling tickets locally, but those of you who are coming from outside of Wengen, please contact Val at enquiries@allantaylor.com. I'll be here another week, returning over Easter. |
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March 11, 2016 Thanks to you all for coming to the British gigs last month. I just made it through the last gig at Hitchin - that morning I knew I was coming down with influenza and a sore throat so I was glad the gig was such a great success. The influenza lasted two weeks, but I have some free time so I have not had to cancel any gigs. Now I'm in Switzerland for the month. I'm working on some new songs and generally enjoying being in one of the most beautiful regions of Switzerland. This area is a World Heritage Site, and Wengen, where I'm staying is one of the villages in the area. The village is surrounded by snow covered mountains, and is the last major stop on the mountain railway on the way to the Eiger.
Whilst I'm here I'll be finalising details for the summer concert I'm making here (July 23). Friends Steve and Janice Dennet, who live here, will be arranging tickets (which can be bought locally from Steve at Central Sport) promotion and PA and lighting. Tickets can also be purchased by contacting me through enquiries@allantaylor.com. Regarding the concert, I see from the enquiries emails that many of you are coming from outside of Switzerland - Germany and UK mostly. I know I tend to come with these crazy ideas for concerts in various places, but it seems so many of you enjoy the adventures because you keep coming to the concerts, which I really appreciate. It's always good to see familiar faces from various parts of Europe. I still have no firm news about the release date of the new orchestral album. The recording and mixing side of the project is done; currently the Stockfisch Records team are working on the cover and packaging. I'll post more news as and when. |
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February 17, 2016 Regarding the new CD, “There was a Time . . .” ; the mixing continues and the booklet and cover are being worked on. Mixing the recording of a full size symphony orchestra is time consuming and complicated, so we don’t anticipate a release date within the next two or three months. I was hoping it would be ready for the Spring tour of Germany, but we can’t be sure yet. However, so far it’s sounding terrific! Now we’ve finalised the details for the Wengen concert in July those of you who are interested can get your tickets by contacting Val at enquiries@allantaylor.com |
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February 11, 2016 Hi All, The final arrangements and costings have been made for “The Endless Highway” film and concert evening on 23rd July 2016. The all-in ticket price is 45 Swiss Francs. This includes a free glass of Prosecco upon arrival and during the interval (there is also a non-alcoholic alternative offered) and petits fours. For those of you paying direct to Steve Dennett at Central Sport in Wengen, please pay cash and Steve will give you a ticket. For everyone else payment has to be made through PayPal so if you want to attend please contact us at enquiries@allantaylor.com to let us know how many tickets are needed. A PayPal invoice will be sent to you so payment can be made - please keep your confirmation of payment as your entry ticket. For those of you who are staying longer in Wengen you may be interested to know that on the Sunday 24 July there is a traditional Swiss festival of folk arts on the Maennlichen Mountain (five minutes by cable car from the centre of the village) – check out their website here where there is more information. This can be subject to weather conditions (Manlichen is at 2000 metres and in bad weather can often be covered by clouds). I will be in the village the whole month of July, so if any of you are there a day or two before perhaps we’ll meet – the village is very small! Allan |
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February 02, 2016 Hi All This year I’m doing something different – the event will take place in the Cinema in Wengen. The first part of the evening will be a showing of the film documentary of my life on the road “The Endless Highway” which will be followed by a concert. The provisional programme is as follows: My good friend, Steve Dennett, who lives in the village, will be helping with the arrangements and for those of you who live in the village you can pay Steve Dennett at Central Sport which is on the High Street in Wengen to book your place. We’re still working out the budget, but we expect the ticket price to be around 50 – 60 Swiss francs and this will be confirmed soon. For others payment can be made via PayPal – by sending money to jiva@jiva.co.uk (which is through Allan Taylor Admin) and use the confirmation as your ticket. Allan |
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January 19, 2016 The date set is 23 July - 90% sure it will go ahead but depends on further discussions this week. We hope to have final confirmation of details in two weeks - most of you who have requested tickets are coming from outside Switzerland and we know that you have to make your travel plans soon. We will most probably make the same arrangements as before; total ticket price will include a meal and a concert. Allan |
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January 16, 2016 Allan's son Barnaby is selling his Martin OM28 guitar. For full specification of this model check the Martin Guitar website at www.martinguitar.com. The guitar is 2 years old and in perfect condition. Price: offers around £1900.00 Contact: enquiries@allantaylor.com |
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January 13, 2016 Hi All, I have been asked by several people whether I would consider doing another concert this year. The suggested dates are either 16 or 23 July. Before I agree to this idea it would help if I knew how many of you would be interested in coming. Please contact us at enquiries@allantaylor.com. More News Regarding the two concerts in Northeim, Germany, on 17 and 18 May this year; as you all most probably know, I record for the Stockfisch Record Company which is situated in Northeim (nearest airport is Hannover). The concerts will be in a small, intimate hall next to the studios. On each of the days I will show ten people around the studios for an hour or so. Check out the website www.stockfisch-records.de. |
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| December 22, 2015 End Of Year Message from Allan It's been another good year and the recent tour of Germany was great with many of the shows being Sold Out. I'll be on the road again next year so keep checking the tours page to see where I am playing. Following the birthday concerts in Brighton and the Troubadour in London in September we asked for your photographs. Many thanks for sending these - you can see them here. I'm now recuperating after a knee operation and looking forward to a restful and peaceful Christmas with my family. So Merry Christmas everyone and all best wishes for the new year - see you again next year. Allan |
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November 04, 2015 Many of you will know that over the last few years I’ve had the invaluable help of Jimmy and Val Monteith-Towler, collectively known as jiva. If you wrote to me at enquiries@allantaylor.co.uk it would initially have gone to jiva. They have maintained my website and dealt with sending out CDs etc. and generally been there when I needed help with the general problems of dealing with technical issues. But more than that; Jimmy and Val have been good friends and it was delightful knowing them and seeing how happy they were with life. It was for their wedding that I wrote “Dancing on a Saturday Night”, which I recorded on “Songs of the Road”. Sadly, Jimmy died yesterday after an illness which lasted around six months. Jimmy was an example of the quiet, yet strong gentleman, who never spoke badly of anyone. He had great determination in dealing with any kind of problem, and always persevered until he succeeded. I respected him enormously. Messages of condolence to Val can be sent to jiva@jiva.co.uk Allan |
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October 20, 2015 This is a portrait by the artist Allan Black of Allan, painted more than ten years ago (the guitarists will notice that Allan is playing his custom made guitar that Ralph Bown made for him).
The last gig that Allan will make in the UK this year will be this Thursday (22nd) in Darlington. Allan |
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October 10, 2015 I’ve decided to sell the CEO. It’s a great guitar, with a magnificent sound – big, warm and mellow. It’s in pristine condition because I only took it out on the road once or twice (for example for the birthday gigs two weeks ago). It’s a big guitar and I’m moving towards the smaller bodied guitars because of the problems with my right shoulder. It’s the fourth guitar designed by Christopher Martin IV himself (Chief Executive Officer – hence CEO 4) and the R stands for Rosewood (back and sides). It is signed personally by Chris Martin. I will also sign it at the buyer’s request. The full specification is on the Items For Sale page, but briefly, it is serial number two (number one is in the Martin Guitar museum), it has a Gold + Natural pick-up and it has the traditional Geib case, also in pristine condition. If anyone is interested, please email us at enquiries@allantaylor.com. We’ll be posting photos of the Birthday gigs soon – thanks to those of you who have sent us some of your photos.
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September 21, 2015 Final arrangements have been made for the birthday concerts next weekend in Brighton and London. On Saturday at the Troubadour, Vlado Kreslin is coming from Slovenia and will play three songs with Allan; Ulli Boegershausen is coming from Germany and will also play a song or two with Allan. Here is a link to a video of Allan with Vlado (and a few others) which accompanies the song Allan wrote and dedicated to Vlado, "Let the Music Flow". |
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September 07, 2015 Allan was on the folk music programme at Radio Leeds performing a few songs and advertising the Otley Folk Festival. You can listen to the programme here.
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September 06, 2015 News from Allan’s travels: The Tonder festival in Denmark was a huge success for all. Under new management the festival has grown in stature and in popularity, and although it was always known as one of the biggest and best festivals in Europe, its profile now is even greater. For Allan it was extra special as he had not been there for seven or eight years. He played two concerts; in Palais des Glaces and La Gayola, both four hundred seater venues which were sold out, with more than two hundred people still queuing hoping they could get in. Aside from this Allan had chance to play a couple of songs on Jacob Dinesen’s sets. Jacob, described in the programme as “Allan Taylor’s protégé” is already getting a huge following in Denmark. He is a singer-songwriter who has just made his first CD, one track of which is on the playlist of Danish Radio. As Allan says, “Jacob is set to go far in the music world – he deserves every success he’s so good.” Allan and Jacob have decided to do a few gigs in Denmark together next year, and they are already booked for the Strib festival in February. As the festival came to a close on Sunday evening, Allan was invited to close the festival in the traditional manner by singing the festival song, “Will the Circle be Unbroken”. You can see this here.
Justa reminder for those of you in the Yorkshire area; Allan will be at The Courthouse in Otley as part of the Otley Folk Festival on Friday 18th September (see Tours page for full details). The concert will be special because Allan will spend the first half hour describing his early days of life on the road – and questions from the audience will be invited. |
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August 04, 2015 Details of vinyls, cassettes and CDs which Allan has available to purchase can be found on the Items For Sale page. |
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July 26, 2015 Hi All, I’ve just had a week in the Stockfisch Studios in Germany working on the orchestral album. It was an amazing week hearing my songs played by a symphony orchestra, especially through the first class equipment we have at Stockfisch. As always the sound quality on the new CD (and vinyl) will be of the highest quality, as it always is with Stockfisch.
At the beginning of the week I met up with the photographer Manfred Pollert. Manfred is commissioned to take the photos for the new CD. As I was leaving his studio he took this photo of me.
I've learned that I’m very popular in China; popular enough for almost my entire recording catalogue to be bootlegged! One box set contains three CDs of most of my work from Stockfisch. Of course we get no royalties, but there is nothing we can do about it. I have some free time now, although I will be rehearsing with my son Barnaby for the Troubadour gig in September. The next gig I’ll be doing will be two nights at the Edinburgh Fringe (see the Tours page). Over the next few weeks I’ll be making an inventory of CDs, LPs and various items that I’m going to sell. Those of you who are interested in older CDs and LPs please contact me at enquiries@allantaylor.com. Safe travelling. Allan |
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July 07, 2015 Hi all I'm just back from the Skagen Festival in Denmark. For the fourth year running I've presented the "Allan Taylor's Songwriters' Circle", which is always a success. This year was especially good as I invited Brian McNeill and Emily Smith, with her husband Jamie McClennan, songwriters I respect enormously. It was a 3 hour show with some great songs. I'm already considering songwriters for next year so if you have any ideas let me know. I also had a chance to play some songs with Jacob Dinesen, a young Danish songwriter who I've known since he was thirteen. He is still only nineteeen, and extremely talented for one so young. We are hoping to tour together next year, and the working title of the tour is "Two friends across the generations". There are a few postings on the Skagen Festival facebook page with me and Jacob, and with all the other musicians singing the festival song "It's Good To See You". I'll have some photos soon to post on this news page. I'm doing a special concert for the Otley Folk Festival on Friday 18th September this year. For the first part of the concert I'll talk about my life on the road over the last fifty years - I'll even take questions from the audience. Then I'll play a concert of an hour and half. Come along and ask your questions - most of them I'll be able to answer I guess! In two weeks I'll be travelling back to Germany to work on my new CD - Allan Taylor with the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra. This is the working title, or the sub-title - I'm still looking for a title and it's proving to be difficult. If any of you have some suggestions let me know. Allan |
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June 22, 2015 I’ve just had a really enjoyable couple of weeks in Florida and Grand Cayman. After the double bout of influenza during the first part of the year, and the recording of the orchestra in April, then the German tour in May, I needed to see some sun and to take it easy for awhile. I collected another new guitar whilst I was in the USA; it’s basically a Martin OMJM signature model, but I’ve had it customised by changing a few of the details.
Now I’m back home, and working on the programme for the Skagen festival where I’ll be presenting the “Allan Taylor’s songwriters’ circle” for the fourth year running. This year the guest songwriters will be Emily Smith and Brian McNeil. Sometime during the weekend I’ll be playing a couple of songs with my young friend Jacob Dinesen (from Tonder) who has just released his first CD. Check us out on Youtube – we did some songs together last year in Skagen. I’m planning on making a songbook with guitar tablature and accompanying DVD with between ten and twenty songs. The German guitarist Ulli Boegershausen (who has transcribed a few of my songs) will be putting this together and writing the tablature. We plan on doing this in May of next year. |
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June 02, 2015 Good news! More tickets are available for the Brighton concert in September. The demand for tickets for Allan’s birthday weekend of concerts is such that there is a change to the venue in Brighton from The King and Queen to St. George’s Church in Kemp Town Brighton (www.stgeorgesbrighton.org). This venue has recently hosted Tom Paxton on his British tour, and has the advantage of being perfect for an acoustic style concert. Also it is bigger, which means that more tickets are now available. Please contact us at enquiries@allantaylor.com if you would like tickets for the Brighton concert. The ticket price is £15.00. |
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May 03, 2015 Bill Dinsdale has worked on Allan's original Martin 016NY and done a great job. The guitar is almost 50 years old, yet it is in great condition and sounds just wonderful. Allan played this in the early days of his life on the road, before there was such a thing as guitar pickups for acoustic guitars. The photos show him playing it at the Albert Hall when he toured with Fairport Convention, and just a day or so ago when Bill brought the guitar back. Check out Bill's website; www.billdinsdale.com. He's a very good luthier and works on all of Allan's guitars when they need adjustments.
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April 23, 2015 The last two weeks have been busy; I was in Germany for the recording of the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra – orchestral arrangements of my songs for a new CD. It was an amazing experience; the Stockfisch Records team worked to their usual high criteria for this recording. We used 120 microphones plus the highest quality recording equipment, so the end product is going to be excellent. We have decided to use a nylon string guitar rather than my usual steel string guitars for this recording. I phoned the Martin Guitar Company in America and ordered a 000C Nylon string guitar and collected it last week when I made a visit to the factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. I also ordered a special OM model which I will collect later in the year. The photos show me outside the factory, and then playing the new guitar in their “picking parlour”.
Then I had a week in New York, “hanging out and wasting time” as I might have said in one of my songs. In two weeks I’ll be in Germany and Holland for the Spring tour. The tour starts at the Venne Folk Fruehling which is always a great way to start the tour. |
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February 15, 2015 The birthday gigs at The Troubadour in London (26th and 27th September) and the Brighton gig (25th September) are almost completely sold out. I know that many of you are coming from far away, as far south as Italy and as far north as Denmark, so thanks to all of you who have responded so positively to the idea. Edit 18 February: Allan is featured on the Troubadour website homepage -go to www.troubadour.co.uk and scroll down. It’s worth noting that the Troubadour will be open during the afternoon so if you want to hang out and meet up the café area is the place; the Troubadour is a working café and restaurant so it will be possible to eat before the concert. I will be there during the afternoon in the café, and I’ll also be in the club room sound-checking and rehearsing. It’s more than forty years since I last played in the Troubadour, so I expect a lot of memories to come back once I’m there. However, I don’t want to linger in the past too much; as Tom Paxton once said to me, “Nostalgia is OK as long as you don’t stare.” As a tribute to Tom, who has been a friend for many years, I think I’ll sing his song “Leaving London”, with those special lines, “last night the Troubadour was so full they barred the door and I sang a song she knows quite well.” Thanks to all of you for making the effort to share this special occasion - I’m looking forward to meeting you all again. Allan Orchestrations For Allan's New CD Allan was recently in Italy working on the orchestration of his songs for his new CD; this will be recorded in Goettingen, Germany, with the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra, in April/May. Allan spent three days with the orchestrator/conductor Valter Sivilotti (who conducted the orchestra with Allan for the Folkest concert in July 2013), and Andrea del Favero, the director of the festival. During a break in their work schedule they arranged to meet Vlado Kreslin in Gorizia, who drove through from Ljubljana for the evening. Also at the meal was the cultural director of Gorizia, and a plan was proposed for Vlado and Allan to do four concerts with a symphony orchestra – Ljubljana, Capodistria, Gorizia and Spilimbergo. No specific dates have yet been set.
See YouTube video of Allan and Vlado in the Ljubljana concert hall, December 2011. |
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January 05, 2015 Allan’s track “All is One” (from the album of the same name) has been chosen as the lead track in a sampler in the January issue of the German magazine, Stereoplay. Various tracks of Allan’s recordings are now used to demonstrate the sound systems of many Hi-Fi companies, as well as the sound systems in Porsche, Mercedes, Audi and the Bugatti Veyron. This is confirmation of the excellent quality of the Stockfisch Studios in Northeim, Germany, where Allan records. Italy, Orchestral Arrangements Allan will be in Italy from 1st to 5th February working with the composer and conductor Valter Sivilotti on the orchestral arrangements for the new recording scheduled for April/May in Germany. Valter conducted and arranged Allan’s songs for the concert in Italy at the Folkest festival in July 2013 which was such a success that Allan’s recording company, Stockfisch Records (Northeim, Germany) decided to record the whole project in studio conditions. Original Martin 0-16 NY Guitar Allan has bought back his original Martin O-16 NY (made in 1967 and acquired in 1970) and it is currently being assessed by Bill Dinsdale In Keighley, Yorkshire. (www.billdinsdale.com). Some minor work will be necessary (new frets for example).
This is the guitar that Allan used in the early 70s; on the LPs “Sometimes” and “The Lady” and on the first tour with Fairport Convention. He continued to use this guitar alongside his first Martin D18 until 1976 when he sold it to Geoff Black. Geoff kept it, and recently contacted Allan to see if he wanted to buy it back. As Allan says, “as I’ll be celebrating my 70th birthday this year, and I’ll be starting on the “50 years on the road tour” it will be good to have the old guitar back, even though I might only use it occasionally.” |
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November 30, 2014 Many thanks to all of you who came to the concerts and made 2014 another great year. The two tours of Germany, and the tour of Denmark and Austria, were as good as they always have been; all of the touring has merely confirmed that I’m doing what I love – living the life of the travelling troubadour. The new CD, "All is One", has sold exceedingly well and has been getting some great reviews. I’m sure this has helped in the fact that most gigs were sold out. I’ve decided to take just over four months off over the Winter and Spring (apart from the York folk club in January), starting again in April with the recording of the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra for my orchestral CD. This is an incredibly exciting project which started with the concert I played in Italy in 2013 with a symphony orchestra. It’s so good to be with a record company such as Stockfisch Records, because they always show great enthusiasm for unusual ideas such as this. After the recording I’ll take a quick trip to New York for a week before getting back on the road touring again. The trip is mainly to look up some old friends and get back to Greenwich Village, but maybe there will be one concert somewhere in New York State. One piece of good news is that I’ve been asked to return to the Tonder Festival in Denmark, August 2015. I haven’t played the festival for a few years so it’s great to be going back. Just a reminder to those of you who like vinyl; my last album, “All is One” and also “In the Groove” (a compilation of some earlier tracks) are available on vinyl direct from my orders page. Last year sales of vinyl reached more than a million in the UK alone, and this is the most since the mid 90s. Sales of my vinyl releases are increasing month by month, which shows that there is move towards vinyl, especially among the younger section of the public. One defining factor is that the quality of the pressing is superb (DMM and180 gram vinyl), illustrating Stockfisch Records’ continued pursuit of excellence. These vinyl records are consistently voted by audiophiles as the highest quality records available, and are used for demonstrating High End record decks in the best Hi-Fi shops throughout Europe. So, to conclude, I hope you all have a pleasant Christmas and New Year break, and I look forward to seeing you all next year, when I’ll be “back on the road again”. Allan |
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November 19, 2014 Allan has decided to sell both of his Faith guitars (see Gear page). Each is just over one year old and in first class condition. Offers are invited over £600 or €850 each (Ed: The Faith Venus FVHG has now been sold.). Please contact Allan at enquiries@allantaylor.com
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November 06, 2014 I’m now home from the last section of the German/Danish/Netherland tour. Thanks to all of you who made this tour one of the best yet – to arrive at a gig knowing it’s already sold out (as all the gigs were) is a good feeling. We have now finalised the details of the orchestral recording. This will happen during April 2015 with the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra – www.gso-online.de/informationen/orchester in Goettingen. Unfortunately I have had to cancel the Texas gigs that fell within this time; the organisers were unable to move the dates by a week and I could not miss the orchestral recording. Many thanks to Paul Cooper for being so understanding. The aim is to have the orchestral CD ready and mixed for the 3 day gig/celebrations at The Troubadour at the end of September 2015. From recording in Germany I will go direct to New York for a week. I will be looking up some old friends from my Greenwich Village days in the 60’s and 70’s. You’ll see from the tours page that I have a few gigs in Scotland in November, with one final gig in Ellesmere Port on the 27th. After this I’ve decided to have four months free, starting again in April, 2015. |
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October 15, 2014 Hi friends. I’m home for a week mid-tour. Many thanks to Sabine in Dusseldorf for looking after my guitars and my car which I’ve left with her while I fly home to Leeds for a few days. The tour has gone really well, with the only downside being I had to make a few real long journeys driving through Germany and Denmark. It would be unfair of me to pick out any one concert as being special – they were all special in their own way. The Kanapee in Hannover is slightly different in that I play there for four nights, and each night is always sold out. I always stay in the apartment above the club so it’s great to be in the same place for four days. The Volksdorf (Kunstkate) gig was different in that I did three songs with Sibylle Milde – she’ll be making her own gig there in December, and Merle Pohlmann sang her first self-penned song. She’s only fourteen (I’ve known her since she was eight) and she’s real keen on learning the guitar. I gave her two lessons over three weeks – she learned the rolling claw-hammer technique in one hour – well done Merle. I had a great birthday treat staying with Stefan Leonard and his family, wife Imke and son Bennet, at their hotel in Hoisdorf (near Hamburg). Their gift to me was to ride on a magnificent horse at the riding school opposite the hotel. That was a great gift. My young friend Jacob Dinesen came down from Denmark with Christina and we played a few songs together. Check out YouTube – Jacob’s getting plenty of hits with his Dancing Devil song – there are also clips of us at Skagen festival.
Talking of festivals; I’ll be at Skagen again next year in July doing the Songwriter’s Circle, and I’ve also been invited to play at Tonder festival. The news about Tonder came out only a couple of months ago and it’s been great to get such positive response from some of you out there about my return to the festival. I’ve just heard that Stockfisch Records have made an arrangement with the Goettinger Symphonie Orchester to record twelve songs (from the concert I did at Folkest in Italy last year). This will be sometime in February 2015. This is a really exciting project – to hear my songs played by a symphony orchestra is a special occasion and one that rarely happens in a song-writer’s career. The arrangements done by Valter Sivilotti are really superb. Hopefully this project will be recorded and mixed ready for release in time for the Troubadour gig in September 2015. I know some of you are coming from countries throughout Europe to my birthday celebration gigs and I appreciate it. I will be back in Germany on 18th October for the last part of the tour. Tickets have sold really well on all of the remaining gigs, so if you want to come to any of the gigs, get in touch with the clubs first to make sure there are tickets left. Thanks to you all for making the gigs so enjoyable. Safe travelling, See the post below, dated October 05, 2014 for more details about Allan's September 2015 birthday celebration gigs. |
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October 05, 2014 Next year in September Allan would like to celebrate his 70th birthday with as many of you as possible. He's decided to do concerts in London at the Troubadour and also in Brighton (venue to be confirmed) around 26th September time. London The Troubadour (www.troubadour.co.uk) was the most important folk-acoustic music club of the time and it was confirmation that you were “on the way up” if you could get a gig there. Dylan played it, as did Paul Simon. Allan played the club several times in the 60s, and it’s where he first met Derroll Adams (for whom he wrote ‘Banjo Man’). Derroll appeared in Dylan’s film “Don’t Look Back” around that time in the mid-60s and in the years since then they became close friends. Tom Paxton played there and immortalised it in his song ‘Leaving London’ – “Last night the Troubadour was so full they barred the door and I sang a song she knows quite well” … Allan has very few photos from those days – if any of you have photos of him from the 60s and 70s would you please send them to us – we’d like to make a gallery of photos. Stockfisch Records are planning to film and record the concerts for release on DVD and CD. Whilst the Troubadour can theoretically accommodate 120 people Allan has been informed that this would not be all seated, and he's been told that with a tight squeeze the venue could probably accommodate up to 70 people seated. Due to the interest already shown by fans on Allan's mailing list he is is going to take the Troubadour for at least 2 nights (Saturday and Sunday) and possibly also a third night (Friday). The Troubadour will be open from mid-day so you can all meet up. The concert will start around 7:30 to 8:00pm. Allan will play two sets of one hour each – there will be songs that he wrote in those early days, songs by other writers who influenced him and songs that he's written since that will be more familiar to you. His son Barnaby Taylor will play the piano for some of the songs, and there is the chance that some of Allan's fellow musicians might join him for a song or two. The cost of tickets will be £25.00 per person (to include PayPal admin charges and postage costs) for the concert only. Food and drink will be available to purchase direct at the Troubadour. Brighton There is a possibility to also make a concert in Brighton, where Allan was born and where he first started to play the guitar and sing. The club that he played in the 60s became a restaurant/bar called Circus Circus (originally it was The Stanford Arms) and it was hoped to do a concert there. Unfortunately this has recently closed. It may be re-opening later this year under the name of Jokers and the promoter of the Brighton concert will be checking availability with the new owners once it re-opens. If it is not possible to book there, then another venue will be found. We can advise that the ticket cost will probably be £15.00 per person (to include PayPal admin charges and postage costs). If you are interested in coming to either or both of these events can you please let us know by emailing enquiries@allantaylor.com to help in our planning. |
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September 01, 2014 The Porsche Automobile Company has chosen one of Allan’s songs for their promotional booklet and CD. The song, “A Promise and a Porsche” (also known as “The Almost Man”, the song that Allan wrote and dedicated to the memory of his father) was chosen by Porsche, along with four other tracks from the Stockfisch Record Company, to demonstrate the advanced sound system designed by Burmester Audio Systems (www.burmester.de) that is fitted in the new Porsches. The CD will be given to every new Porsche owner throughout the world.
Vinyl Albums Previously, only available from Stockfisch, two high quality heavy weight vinyl albums are now available from Allan on the orders page of this website. He will also have a limited number of them with him at live performances. |
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August 02, 2014 Allan was part of a live concert-radio programme by Radio Scotland – Iain Anderson’s show on 30 July 2014. AT played a solo song and a couple with Rab Noakes. You can find the audio replay via the link: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b049fm3g - but it's only available for a limited time! Allan’s first turn is around 26 minutes in (00:26:00) and the interview with Allan and Rab plus singing is around 1 hour in (01:00:00). You can see the BBC video of Allan singing "Gently Does It" at this link: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02406xd The next chance to see Allan will be at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival on 15 and 16 August at the Acoustic Music Centre, St. Bride’s Back Room (see the tours page for more details). Tour Images Here are a few images from the last couple of months of Allan’s schedule:
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June 04, 2014 Message from Allan The Spring tour of Germany went very well – most of the gigs were sold out months before, and with a gig in Zaandam (Holland) on the way back which was excellent (well done Koen) it all worked out well. Many thanks to Linde Nijland for joining me on the last song “Leaving at Dawn”. Check out her new CD, “I am Here” which is great. www.lindenijland.nl. Venne Folk Fruehling was as good as ever – and for my concert on the Sunday it was great to perform with Santino de Bartolo and Mikis Leucker for a few songs. My old friend Tom McConville joined me for the final song “One Last Smile” which is on my new album and also on Tom’s new CD, called “Back to Scotswood” (www.tommcconville.co.uk).
All the gigs on the tour they were special in their own way; Neuwelt in Ingolstadt, Loni Uebler Haus in Nuernberg and Kulturhaus in Waldkraiburg have already booked concerts with me for May 2016. Gigs for May 2015 are already coming in. I stopped off at the Stockfisch Studios when I had a couple of day’s free mid-tour and met Tracy Cai (the Chinese representative of China Records) and Desmond Chan of Silk Road Music (the Stockfisch distributor in China). Because Stockfisch is the leading record company in High End production the Chinese contingent are keen to work with us on a few projects. One such project is for me to play a few concerts in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – details to follow as and when. The recording we had planned with a symphony orchestra was not possible in April because of various work schedules, so now we are working on the idea of recording the concert with a symphony orchestra in Bratislava, with Valter Sivilotti conducting (he also wrote all of the arrangements for the songs). My son Barnaby has recorded some of his BBC projects there and the orchestra is excellent. We are planning this for December of this year. A theatre company, Tiny Dog Productions, has asked me if they could use “Lady of Pleasure” (which I wrote in the seventies for my album “Cajun Moon”, and which was covered by Fairport Convention). As a result of this cooperation, I have written “The Wanton Way” especially for their production, which is called “Punching Jane”. This will be at The Courtyard Theatre in London throughout June. Check out www.tinydogproductions.com I’ll be in Austria for the second week of June, and then I’ll be off “the road” for a couple of weeks before I play the Skagen Festival in Denmark again (I’ll be doing the Songwriters’ Circle as usual). The rest of the year is pretty much finalised now so check the tours page for details. For next year I’ve decided to spend less time on the road, especially as 2016 will be a big year – 50 years on the road, and gigs are already coming in for 2016. Most of you will know that I'm not a facebook person but, as well as this website, Jimmy and Val (jiva) look after that side of things – and they ensure messages are passed on to me. I do like to get your emails and am always interested in hearing your stories and comments – sometimes the stories become songs. Safe travelling, |
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May 09, 2014 Allan's close friend Tom McConville has recorded Allan's song "One Last Smile" on his new album, "Back to Scotswood". To buy the CD, contact tom on his website www.tommcconville.co.uk. |
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February 17, 2014 Part one of the recent interview for Living Tradition that Allan did with Nigel Schofield can be seen on Allan's Press page - we hope to be able to provide a copy of part two, which will also be published in a later edition of the magazine. |
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January 12, 2014 Allan has been interviewed by the journalist Nigel Schofield who has also reviewed his new CD, “All is One” who writes; "...this album is a masterpiece. It’s a triumphant album from one of the great singer-songwriters that is both challenging and thoroughly satisfying". The interview will be published in two parts for The Living Tradition magazine, the first part appearing in the January/February edition. Because of the success of “All is One” Stockfisch Records will release the album on vinyl. Audiophiles will know that this will be premium quality sound, as is always the case with Stockfisch Records. Recording of Allan with Symphony Orchestra Last year in July, Allan played a concert with a symphony orchestra for the Folkest Festival in Spilimbergo, Italy, with Valter Sivilotti as orchestrator and conductor. Many people have asked for a recording of this concert, and though this is not possible, Stockfisch Records have decided to record a CD of Allan with the orchestra and Valter Sivilotti, using the same songs, plus three more. This will be done in Italy, sometime in April of this year. It is too early yet to predict a release date. |
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January 4, 2014 Great news! Allan's new album "All Is One" has been nominated for the prestigious "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik" (www.schallplattenkritik.de). His previous release, “Down the Years I Travelled” was also nominated for the Deutsche Schallplatten Preis 2012. 2014 Tours Update The German tour in May has now been finalised, and details for the Autumn 2014 German tour are nearly all complete - see the Tours page for more information. Allan says "I hope to see you 'somewhere on the road' - all the best for 2014". |
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December 23, 2013 Allan's album "All Is One" continues to receive great reviews. It has been heralded as "the best he's done for many years" - sales from the website, from Allan at gigs and from Stockfisch are going very well. Below is a copy of the advert that went into "Living Tradition" magazine. Look out for next month's "Living Tradition" - it will feature in full Allan being interviewed by Nigel Schofield. You can also read the magazine's review of the album on Allan's Press page.
Guitar Tablature Tablature for two of Allan's songs ("Lullaby In G" and "Sleep Well Little Darling") is available in Ulli Boegershausen's tablature guitar tutor book "Lullabys - Schlaflieder" - the book is available online from www.acoustic-music-books.de.
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December 14, 2013 See the orders page for the special Christmas offers - these savings will be valid for orders received up to 15 January 2014. |
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December 01, 2013 "All Is One" (Allan's latest album) is receiving very positive reviews - you can read some of them (in English and German) on the Press page where you will also find two reviews of Allan's 25 October concert in Stuhr. The album was also album Album Of The Week on Radio Scotland, with a different track being played on Iain Anderson's programme every day for a week. |
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October 20, 2013 Allan has released a new album, "All Is One" - track listing and credits are on the Discography page, and it's now available from the Orders page as well as from Allan at gigs. Some people are already saying that it is his best album yet!
More "Allan Taylor plays..." YouTube Videos? Allan is thinking of making some more video recordings of songs, where he describes how they are played etc. (as he did with "Frenchtown", "Urban Love Song", "Leaving At Dawn", "Colour To The Moon" and "I'm Going Home"). This time however, he invites you to suggest songs that you would like to know how to play, or just to have more information about. Send your suggestions to enquiries@allantaylor.com |
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October 15, 2013 Allan was in Northern Ireland last weekend for three concerts with his old friend, Finbar Furey (Finbar and his brothers recorded several of Allan’s songs). They first met in 1971 in London when The Fureys recorded Allan’s song, “Still he Sings (The Fureys called it “After night there comes the day”) on which Allan played guitar and they have periodically met since then. All of the concerts were sold out, and a good time was had by all. The occasional drink was taken!
Thanks to Eileen Creen for the photos and video of Allan and Finbar performing "It's Good To See You" - the video is on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=THXX8KWLg6c Whilst in Belfast, Allan visited his Alma Mater, The Queen’s University of Belfast, where, under the tutelage of the world renowned ethnomusicologist Professor John Blacking, Allan gained his Doctorate in 1993.
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August 31, 2013 Allan has found 5 Vinyl copies of the original pressing of "Win or Lose". The technical details are as follows:
Each disc is of pristine and virgin quality and has never been played. These are definitely the last that will ever be available in this condition and can be bought from the Items For Sale page for £120.00 each plus postage & packing. YouTube Videos Some songs have been posted on youtube from the concert of Vlado Kreslin, where Allan was the invited guest for the four concerts in Cankarjev Dom in Lubljana in December 2011. Allan joined Vlado for the song “Daleč je moj rojstni kraj” and for “Let the Music Flow” (which features on Allan’s new CD, due to be released in a few weeks).
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August 2, 2013 Allan's concert with the orchestra was a great success - a wonderful evening which will be remembered for years to come.
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July 17, 2013 For the second year Allan hosted the Songwriters Circle at the Skagen Festival in Denmark.
Photo by: Anders Mikkelsen Jacob Dinesen is a promising singer-songwriter from Tonder in Southern Jutland, Denmark. Allan first met him when he was twelve or thirteen and since then they have become friends. Jacob’s profile has been rising steadily and he has an enthusiastic following already. Allan invited him on stage for four songs with him, one of which was written by Jacob. The audience of 2000 responded so well that further concerts are being considered.
Photos by Jens Th: www.jens-th.com Allan Taylor Facebook Page www.facebook.com/allantaylormusic Jimmy and Val (jiva) tell us "We've recently set up an 'official' Allan Taylor Facebook page and will be managing it on Allan's behalf. We plan to regularly add content and look forward to making it THE place on Facebook for Allan Taylor news, events, etc... we invite Allan's friends and fans to join/like the page and post there." |
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June 23, 2013 Allan has received the orchestration for the songs he will sing with the symphony orchestra in Spilimbergo, Italy on July 27th.The event will be recorded and filmed. Spilimbergo is a beautiful small town an hour north of Venice, and this performance will almost certainly be a “one-off” – it is unlikely that it will happen again. To hear an orchestra playing Allan’s songs with him will indeed be a special and memorable occasion. The website for Folkest International Festival is www.folkest.com where you can see the program and purchase tickets - or email info@folkest.com. |
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May 20, 2013 Following his shoulder operation, Allan is enjoying being on tour again. During Allan's concert at Venne, Allan asked Tom McConville and the German multi instrumentalist Jens Komnick to join him for the occasional song.
Allan's Martin D18 Guitar Sold
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April 23, 2013 Allan has found some original and virgin vinyl pressings of “Out of Time” and “Lines". For details see the Items For Sale page. |
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April 8, 2013 Because of Allan’s shoulder problems he has been advised to use a smaller bodied guitar, so he has decided to sell his Martin D18 – the iconic Allan Taylor guitar with the double pick-guard. This guitar was custom made for him by the Martin Guitar Company in June 2007. Below is a picture of Allan playing the guitar while recording the Pier House videos - click the picture to see and hear the guitar in action - SOLD He is also selling a dulcimer built as a special order by Stefan Sobell - SOLD For details of both instruments see the new Items For Sale page. New Video Uploaded to YouTube A video of "I'm Going Home", last in the Pier House series where Allan explains the chords, tuning and techniques, has been uploaded to YouTube. See the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=d19m_KyLTcU, or by clicking the image below. For more videos, visit Allan's official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/allantaylormusic.
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March 8, 2013 Those of you who are interested in the long journey of Allan’s song “It’s good to see you” (there are now more than eighty cover versions in ten different languages) might be interested in some versions that we've found on YouTube – specifically, Frankie Miller: ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJUeHsHA-4I ) his version was a hit in the eighties, especially in Germany Don Williams: ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgKpYfGNvN0 ) recorded the song on a platinum selling album Nana Mouskouri: ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrpYD-Mi8So ) performed it as the opening song in her first concert in Athens after her self-imposed exile Memorabilia, Instruments, Richard Thompson Over the last few weeks Allan has been collating the various photos, programmes and posters he has collected from his concerts during the last 45 years on the road. He has found many unusual items; some very rare vinyl editions of his albums and some rare CD releases. In due course these will be offered for sale to collectors. Allan is also considering selling a couple of his Martin guitars and a Stefan Sobell special order dulcimer – more news to follow. One extremely interesting item for Allan was the telegram from Fairport Convention in 1969 saying “Urgent – ring Fairport”. This resulted in Fairport inviting Allan to join their British tour (first gig at The Albert Hall). After the tour they recorded a demo of Allan’s song “Sometimes” (co-written with Miles Wooton) that got Allan his first recording contract with United Artists Records. So, Allan owes a great debt to Fairport Convention and has always made public his respect for all of the members of this group. By coincidence, Richard Thompson (a founder member of the group) was playing a gig in Leeds last week (4th March) so Allan had a chance to meet up with him.
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Wild Arabia: Sand, Wind and Stars Produced and Directed by Chadden Hunter Music by Barnaby Taylor, and featuring: Paul Clarvis: Percussion BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by William Goodchild |
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February 17, 2013 Allan’s recuperation is going well. He is now playing the guitar again and is more than ready to get back “on the road”. He has been in Germany in the Stockfisch Studios finishing his new CD. All the tracks are ready to be mixed, but as yet, no release date has been finalised.
The live CD, “Hannes Wader & Allan Taylor, Old Friends in Concert” has been released by Universal Records, catalogue number 06025 3726777. Allan's double CD “Down the Years I Travelled...” has been receiving rave reviews in Germany and sales are going extremely well. | ||||||||||||
February 7, 2013 See the press page for three reviews of Allan's "Down The Years I Travelled..." double album.
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January 14, 2013 Following their May 2011 "Old Friends In Concert" tour, Allan and Hannes decided to release a live album of recordings from their gigs. The album is due for release by Universal in February this year.
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January 5, 2013 Allan's son Barnaby has written the music for the new BBC2 series, "Wild Arabia". The first programme will be shown 22 February at 9:00pm GMT. Nomination Allan's recent release "Down the Years I Travelled..." has been nominated for the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis. | ||||||||||||
December 20, 2012 News - the operation took place as scheduled, Allan's arm is in a sling, and he's feeling good! | ||||||||||||
December 5, 2012 Only two weeks away from his operation, Allan has bought a small parlour guitar which has a short scale length and very light strings that he can use during his recuperation. Many thanks to Alex Mew of Faith Guitars for his cooperation. www.faithguitars.com | ||||||||||||
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| Allan trying out the Faith Parlour guitar | ||||||||||||
November 21, 2012 | ||||||||||||
We've uploaded video number four in the 'Allan Taylor plays...' series. Here Allan explains the chords and techniques for 'Colour To The Moon'. See the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDf9J1SwLTo or by clicking the image on the right. For more videos, visit Allan's official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/allantaylormusic. | ||||||||||||
Barnaby Taylor with BBC Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios Allan's son Barnaby (www.barnabytaylor.com) is writing the music for a BBC series Wild Arabia (he previously wrote the music for the BBC series Wild China for which he won an Emmy). The first recording session was on 20 November with the BBC Concert Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London.
New Cover Versions of Allan's Songs 'Standing At The Door' has been recorded by Clonmel, a group from northern Germany, on their new CD. The Vagabones, a group from Norway have recorded 'Misty On The Water' - YouTube link: | ||||||||||||
November 18, 2012 Please note: due to tendon trouble and severe pain in both shoulders Allan has had to cancel and re-schedule all gigs planned for the remainder of 2012. Personal note from Allan I am in considerable and continuous pain with tendon trouble in both shoulders which is affecting me to the extent that I have to have an operation next month to address the problem. Being on tour since early mid-September hasn't helped I guess; picking up, shouldering, and playing the guitar have all exacerbated the condition to the point where I feel I am simply incapable - quite literally - of holding the chords on the guitar – the pain is that intense. The condition isn't treatable or reversible by simply resting and not doing anything – I have already had 10 physiotherapy sessions and two cortisone injections, all to no avail. I’m told by the consultant/surgeon that it will be some time after the operation before I’ll be able to play the guitar again, so I have decided to take four months off from touring. The operation is scheduled for December 19th. I know that this will cause inconvenience in venue programming, and disappointment for those who had planned to attend the gigs, but I hope you’ll understand my situation. I hope to be able to re-schedule these dates for sometime in 2013. Christmas Specials on CDs, BluRays/DVDs and Songbooks See the orders page for price reductions on multiple purchases - the special offer prices will be valid until 31st December 2012. 'Out of Time' sold out The 2002 re-mastered CD version of 'Out of Time' has now completely sold out, and is no longer available from the website. | ||||||||||||
November 11, 2012 Well, I made it through. This was a great tour by any standards; most gigs were sold out and the new double CD “Down the Years I Travelled ...” seems to be very popular judging by the sales, not only at gigs but also through the website. I enjoyed every gig, so thanks to all of you who came along; some, I know, travelled considerable distances so your attendance was especially appreciated. During the tour I had chance to work on the new album at the Stockfisch Studios in Northeim. Making this CD is an enjoyable experience and I’m optimistic that it will turn out to be very special. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2013. The only downside of the tour was the recurring problem with my left shoulder. During the year the problem has gradually been getting worse, and physiotherapy sessions can no longer help. I am scheduled for an operation on December 19 in Leeds. I will therefore not be making any concerts for a few months – I’m hoping to start performing again in April 2013. Once again, thanks to everyone who came to the gigs – it was your enthusiasm and enjoyment that helped me get through the tour.
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| Allan and Jacob Dinesen at Hagges, Tonder. They met 3 years ago at Tonder, when Jacob was just 14. Since then Jacob has developed into a good guitarist, singer and is writing his own songs. Allan invited him on stage to sing a couple of songs with him. | ||||||||||||
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| Allan in Leipzig, outside Nikolai church where Monday night meetings took place that eventually led to the downfall of the East German regime and gave freedom back to the people. | ||||||||||||
| Washburn Guitar Sold
Allan’s Washburn guitar has now been sold. | ||||||||||||
September 16, 2012 The double CD, “Down the Years I Travelled ...” (a collection of 20 songs from Allan’s recordings in the 80s and early 90s, plus the bonus song “Down the Years I Travelled” written especially for the project) is now available from the orders page or from Allan who will have copies for sale on his gigs. Switzerland Gigs Report The Swiss gigs in August were a success – thanks to Roland and Isabelle in Zurich for arranging the gig, and many thanks to Lisa and Freddy at Restaurant Allmend in Wengen for the use of their place for the concert. For all of the guests who came from far and near – Styria, northern Germany, Bavaria and the local Swiss – it was good to see you – Gut wieder hier zu sein!. Guitar For Sale Allan has decided to sell his old Washburn guitar: These guitars are now very rare and it’s hard to find one for sale. Please email enquiries@allantaylor.com with offers above £600. Tour News On 16th October Allan will leavethe UK for the Autumn tour, with concerts in Denmark and Germany. Check the tours page for details.
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| Allan with his Martin M38 and the studio guitar, EC00028. Recording the new CD at Stockfisch Recording Studio, Northeim, Germany. | ||||||||||||
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| Freddy and Lisa | ||||||||||||
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| Washburn Monterey Guitar | ||||||||||||
August 8, 2012 Allan will be in the Stockfisch studio in Northeim, Germany next week to record songs for a new CD. As well as the songs Allan has written, he will be recording “The Sky” by Derroll Adams, “I followed her into the West” by Tom Paxton and the translation Allan made of Santino de Bartolo’s song, “The Cloud”. The double CD “Down the Years I Travelled ...” is scheduled to be released within the next three weeks, and details will be available on the Orders page. Details of the Hannes Wader/Allan Taylor live CD are being finalised, and the CD should be released in late Autumn. |
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| Down the Years I Travelled CD Front Cover | ||||||||||||
July 22, 2012 |
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| Skagen Festival. Allan closes the festival by tradition; everyone on stage for the final song, the Skagen Festival song written by Allan, "It's good to See You". With The Dubliners, The Black Family, Cajun Roosters, Phil Cunningham, Leif Ernstsen, Bente Kure and many others. Photo by Jens Th Nielsen |
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| John Jones, Alan Prosser, AT, Tom Paxton at the "Songwriters' Circle", Skagen Festival. Photo by Jens Th Nielsen | ||||||||||||
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| Allan and Hans Graasvold | ||||||||||||
July 8, 2012 We have just heard that Ulli Boegershausen has severe problems with his shoulders and has had to cancel his concerts for the foreseeable future. He is awaiting treatment and hopefully will be back "on the road" playing again in a few months. This means that Ulli will not be able to play the concert with Allan in Wengen, Switzerland on 26th August. However, Allan will still go ahead with the concert. New Double CD Box Set is coming soon The double CD box set "Down the Years I Travelled ..." is currently being pressed and printed and will be available soon. |
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| Allan and Hans in Vienna | ||||||||||||
June 2, 2012 The concert in Wengen, Switzerland is now confirmed for 26th August. Those of you who are interested please make yourself known to Jimmy and Val (jiva). Once you have confirmed that you’d like to come to the concert, tickets will be held for you in Wengen. The concert will be in held in the same place as the previous two years’ (Restaurant Allmend), but the added bonus is that Ulli Boegershausen will play a full set before Allan’s set, and no doubt they will do some songs together at the end. A full meal will be served before the concert. |
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May 29, 2012 Allan recently recorded demo tracks for the new CD (to be recorded at the end of July/beginning of August) at Studio One. |
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| Allan at Studio One for recording the demo tracks for the new CD. | ||||||||||||
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May 7, 2012 We're pleased to let you know that the concert at the Allmend Restaurant in Wengen is to go ahead. Attached are two pictures showing the breathtaking local landscape. The link in the paragraph above takes you to a site where you can find out more about the area, accommodation, transport etc. |
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April 24, 2012 Recently Allan met up with his old friends Eddie and George Furey who were playing a concert at the Leeds City Varieties Theatre. Their friendship goes back to the late 60s and early 70s when Allan played guitar on one of their albums, recorded in London. Since then the Fureys have recorded a few of Allan's songs; "The Morning Lies Heavy", "It's Good To See You", and more. Their recent CD, which they gave to Allan at the concert, is called "Songs Through the Years" (Global Records, Dublin GBCD5001). On this CD they have recorded three of Allan's songs; "Crazy Amsterdam", "Creole Girl" and "I Don't Bring You Flowers" (original title "Now You Know"). |
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| Eddie Furey, AT, George Furey and Davey Arthur. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
April 1, 2012 Following the success of the 65th Birthday celebration concert in 2010 Allan has been asked if he would consider doing another concert at the same venue, the Restaurant Allmend. The Allmend is in a beautiful setting, with views of the Lauterbrunnen valley, Wengen village and in the distance Lake Thun and in the opposite direction there are views of the mountains Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. As this can only be reached by mountain railway, Allan will rent a train so that after the concert people can get back to Wengen village or down the valley to Lauterbrunnen. As before the restaurant will provide a meal before the concert. Allan has asked the German guitarist Ulli Boegershausen, who also played at the birthday concert, to share the concert with him. The date we are considering is Sunday, 26th Augus,t 2012 and the schedule would be as follows: YouTube You can find videos of Allan on his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/allantaylormusic, and ‘Leaving At Dawn’ has just been uploaded. In this video Allan describes the guitar tuning and chords he uses. Denmark and Germany Tours Details of the Danish and German tours this coming Autumn will soon be posted on the Tours page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
February 21, 2012 Allan played the Strib Vinter Festival last weekend, and opened the festival with a song he had written especially for the festival, entitled "Singing Just for You". He was joined on stage for this song by Anders Mikkelsen and Anders Roland. The song was a great success, and therefore plans are being made for recording this, along with the Festival farewell song by Bente Kure and Leif Ernstsen, for a special two track CD for the 25th anniversary of the festival next year. Allan has asked the German guitarist Ulli Boegershausen www.boegershausen.com
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February 28, 2012 Allan is very proud to report that his son, Barnaby Taylor has won the 2012 MAS Award for best original composition for Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice (BBC). For further news: The Restless Creatives |
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February 21, 2012 Allan played the Strib Vinter Festival last weekend, and opened the festival with a song he had written especially for the festival, entitled "Singing Just for You". He was joined on stage for this song by Anders Mikkelsen and Anders Roland. The song was a great success, and therefore plans are being made for recording this, along with the Festival farewell song by Bente Kure and Leif Ernstsen, for a special two track CD for the 25th anniversary of the festival next year. Anders Mikkelsen has translated and recorded Allan's song "Jimmy's Song". Check out his website: www.andersmikkelsen.dk The collected works double CD (from the years 1982 to 1985), Down the Years I Travelled will be released at the Venne Folk Fruehling in May, at which Allan will play his usual Sunday afternoon concert. Allan recorded the bonus track (of the same title) during the first week of February, and it is currently being mixed with the other tracks. Allan will be recording a new CD during the summer at Stockfisch Studios in Northeim, Germany. The May tour of Germany has been finalised, so for our German friends, come along and say hello. |
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| Photo by Jens Th, photo@jens-th.com (thanks Jens for the use of the photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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June 19, 2010 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. |
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May 31, 2010 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. |
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March 7, 2010 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.
March 7, 2010 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 |
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February 7, 2010 Check out Ulli Boegershausen’s You Tube page where he is playing “Back Home to You” with TABs available on request. |
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January 18, 2010 A trailer of the documentary film has now been posted on YouTube - see |
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December 23, 2009 Release of the Documentary Film about Allan's life on the road, called The Endless Highway. 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 |
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December 13, 2009 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. 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 Die Karte ueber seinem Bett nachts beschaeftigt sie ihn sehr Und der Vater sieht den Burschen in dem der Mann schon sitzt Und der Weg geht immer weiter geh ihn so lang du kannst During the tour I heard from Holger Hansen saying he wanted to buy the Martin guitar I was selling. It is now his! |
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| October 17, 2009 New Songbook Available, Allan's 65th Birthday Celebration, German Tour, Allan's Martin 000028H for Sale We Must Journey On: Songs of Allan Taylor Vol. 2 You can buy the book either at Allan's gigs or from his website Orders page.
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October 16, 2009 Barnaby was in Nairobi, Kenya, last week recording the Masai for his new project for the BBC about the Rift Valley of Africa. |
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| Barnaby Taylor with Masai | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
September 13, 2009 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. |
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August 30, 2009 |
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| August 7, 2009 The Finale at Skagen Festival, Special Event for Barnaby Taylor, New Cover of "It's Good to See You, New Review of Leaving at Dawn |
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| Allan sings his song "It's Good to See You" (The festival song) for the finale of the Skagen Folk Festival in Denmark. |
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Special event on September 22, 2009: New Review of Leaving at Dawn |
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July 25, 2009 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. |
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| Allan at the High End Exposition in Munich in front of the Stockfisch Studio backdrop explaining the finer points of English traditional folksongs to two folksong enthusiasts! |
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July 10, 2009 |
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June 24, 2009 |
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November 30, 2008 |
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October 17, 2008 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. |
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September 28, 2008 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. |
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September 5, 2008 |
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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. |
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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. |
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July 10, 2008 |
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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." |
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May 21, 2008 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. |
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May 9, 2008 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. |
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April 26, 2008 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 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. |
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| Allan at home with his Schimmel piano. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| April 26, 2008 Photos from Hans Theessink Birthday Concert |
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| Allan with Donovan and Sean Cannon of the Dubliners. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
April 17, 2008 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. Old Friends-New Roads Review OLD FRIENDS - NEW ROADS – Allan Taylor (Stockfisch SFR. 357.6047.2) -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. 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: 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. |
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March 9, 2008 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. |
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February 14, 2008 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. |
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February 9, 2008 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. |
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February 8, 2008 Allan heard this morning (8th February) that his dear friend, John Wright, died last night of a stroke. A proper tribute will follow. |
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| John Wright and Allan. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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