50 Years on the Road Allan Taylor

• 1Introduction02:10
• 2The Endless Highway04:38
• 3Chimes at Midnight04:35
• 4New York in the Seventies08:42
• 5Like I Used to Do04:35
• 6My Father's Room03:42
• 7Kerouac's Dream04:33
• 8Midnight Call05:10
• 9The Merlin Café05:07
• 10The Meadow04:51
• 11Golden Island04:55
• 12Frenchtown05:51
• 13Los Compañeros05:43
• 14It's Good to See You05:43
• Total Runtime01:10:15

Info for 50 Years on the Road

The song poet, singer/songwriter, guitarist, doctor of musicology and philosopher Allan Taylor from London has been touring the world with his songs for 50 years. His voice is incomparably warm and deep, his guitar playing puristic and yet so full and expressive, and his wonderful song lyrics always have depth and exude a touch of wistfulness. A great artist, unpretentious, straightforward and timeless, who in 50 years along the endless highway has sharpened his eye for people, collected their stories and turned them into songs that are as sensitive as they are powerful.

On the occasion of the concert series 50 Years On The Road, this beautiful concert was recorded in the Bürgersaal, Northeim.

Allan Taylor, song poet, singer and songwriter, PhD in musicology and philosophy. He is one of the greats of his genre, a travelling troubadour who lives for the endless country road, people and their stories. At 16, he leaves school and his British hometown of Brighton. With no money, only his guitar and a lot of idealism, he moves to London to realise his dream in the lively beat and folk scene of the sixties. He had his first gigs in the trendy club "The Troubadour", where Bob Dylan and Paul Simon also played. This is also where he meets his later mentor and friend, the American folk legend Derroll Adams. He went on to New York, to the stages of the legendary clubs of Greenwich Village, such as The Gaslight, Gerde's and The Bitter End, and to his first record deal with United Artists. In the mid-seventies, Allan Taylor returned to London. A contract with the Chrysalis record company launched his worldwide career. For the album "The Traveller", released in 1978, he received the "Grand Prix du Disque de Montreux" for the best European album. Many albums followed, a total of 18 to date. There are no less than 200 cover versions of Allan Taylor's songs by numerous renowned artists in ten languages. One of the best known in Germany is "Gut wieder hier zu sein", Hannes Wader's interpretation of "It's good to see you". The folker magazine named AIIan Taylor's album "Hotels & Dreamers" Album of the Year in 2004. For the philosopher, whose academic work as well as most of his songs and lyrics were largely written while travelling in hotel rooms, bars and restaurants, this is almost proof of his closeness to real life. The album "All Is One", released in 2013, has been described several times by the international music press as a masterpiece and Allan Taylor's best album. Stockfisch Records has also produced it for music lovers as a high-quality vinyl edition. An artist at the height of his creative powers, with the maturity and composure that no longer needs to prove anything to anyone. The unity of voice and guitar playing to subtle song lyrics have become Allan Taylor's unmistakable trademark. The nineteenth album is being planned as a live recording for April 2015. After the successful collaboration with the Italian concert director Valter Sivilotti and his orchestra in 2013, Stockfisch Records decided to record and produce some of Allan Taylor's songs together with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra. In May 2015, the "50 Years on the Road" tour starts, with which Allan Taylor will return to many stations of his creative work until 2016 - among others to London, Brighton, New York and of course Germany. A great, exceptional artist, unpretentious, straightforward and timeless, who in 50 years along the endless highway has sharpened his eye for people, collected their stories and turned them into songs that are as sensitive as they are powerful. "Sit back and enjoy the journey."

Allan Taylor, vocals, guitar

Allan Taylor
is one of the last of the traveling troubadours who came through the social and artistic revolution of the nineteen sixties and carved out a career as a solo singer-songwriter. Born in Brighton, England in 1945 he experienced the Beatnik times, the Skiffle days, the Mods and Rockers and the early Hippy days, all played out on Brighton Beach. At the age of twenty one he left home and became part of the vibrant folk music of London, playing all of the major folk clubs of the time (for example, the famous Troubadour Club) and then to Greenwich Village, New York, playing legendary clubs such as Gerde’s, The Gaslight, The Bitter End, The Mercer Arts Center. He embraced the issues, images and emotions of his time and used these experiences as the basis of his songs. Signed to the international record company United Artists and recording in London, Nashville and Los Angeles his albums were released world-wide. By the mid-seventies he returned to Europe to live and then started on the second part of his career, having now established his modus operandi – collecting the stories for his songs in the bars and cafes of Europe and throughout the rest of the world.

For more than forty-five years Allan Taylor has travelled the world performing at festivals, concert halls and clubs. He is considered to be one of the foremost singer-songwriters and guitarists in his genre, with more than one hundred recorded versions of his songs by Artists in ten different languages. One song in particular, “It’s good to see you” was a hit in many countries, and to date, there are eighty cover versions of this song. Looking back as well as forward, few people can convey with such eloquence their life experiences. His songs are written from a lifetime of traveling; always the observer passing through, each song is a vignette of life, like a story told over a drink in a bar. He writes his songs in cafes, bars and hotel rooms throughout the world, songs for the lost and lonely, for the unsung heroes of life, for those marginalized by society – they all find a place in his songs. Each song has an integrity that tells you it comes from something real; characters come to life as people you know and places become as familiar as if you had been there.

Allan is considered to be one of the music scene’s great guitarists, creating during his stage performance a distinctive rich and mellow sound, and with a voice that speaks of a life-time of travel he can make each song a vignette of life, like a story told over a drink in a bar. His songs have an integrity that tell you they come from something real, where characters come to life as people you know and places become as familiar as if you had been there. When this happens, you know it’s an Allan Taylor concert.

Allan Taylor is also a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy and Music, having written his thesis for the Queen’s University of Belfast.

Booklet for 50 Years on the Road