Showing posts with label Derek Taylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Derek Taylor. Show all posts

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Derek Taylor

Derek Taylor, official press secretary for the Beatles, was born on May 7, 1932 and died on September 8, 1997. His career began as a journalist, and he wrote for the Liverpool Daily Post, the Sunday Dispatch, and the News Chronicle.

Taylor's path to becoming one of the Beatles inner circle is a classic study in coincidence. As a national journalist, Taylor was assigned to write a review of a Beatles concert, with editors expecting Taylor to produce an article that would satirize the alleged silly teenage infatuation with the Beatles and other rock groups gaining notoriety in Great Britain at the time. Taylor loved the Beatles' music, however, and he soon became a trusted friend within the group.

Taylor's editors decided to capitalize on his friendship with the Fab Four by running a column that would supposedly be written by one of the Beatles (with Taylor secretly designated as the ghostwriter). Harrison was chosen as the "Beatles columnist," but Harrison's interest in Taylor's columns led to a close collaboration between the journalist and the Beatle.

Brian Epstein was so impressed with Derek Taylor and his work that he hired the writer to handle all of the Beatles press releases in 1964 (and to serve as media liaison in general). He was kept busy during the Beatles first tour of America in 1964. For a brief time in 1964, he also became Brien Epstein's personal assistant. Additionally, he interviewed Epstein and worked as developmental editor for Epstein's autobiography, titled A Cellarful of Noise.

Taylor resigned these positions in the summer of 1964, choosing to move to California with a growing family, where he started a public relations company in 1965. He handled such notable groups as the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and Paul Revere and the Raiders.

In 1968, Taylor returned to England to work as press secretary for the Beatles' Apple Corps, Ltd. After leaving Apple, he worked for UK conglomerate WEA Records which, through the Kinney Corporation, marketed U.S. record labels such as Warner Brothers, Atlantic Records, and Elektra. During this phase of his career, Taylor worked with such luminaries as Carley Simon, Yes, America, and Neil Young. He also worked briefly in the late 1960s for A&M records in the United States.

His 1973 memoir is titled As Time Goes By. Working again as a developmental editor in 1980, he helped George Harrison on his autobiography I Me Mine.

In the 1980s, Taylor worked for Harrison's production company, called Handmade Films. He also worked on books with various Hollywood celebrities. He also penned a second memoir in 1983, titled Fifty Years Adrift (in an Open Necked Shirt).

Taylor's name is referred to in "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and in "Give Peace a Chance." Harrison also wrote a song about Taylor and his wife, called "Blue Jay Way." The fiends Harrison was waiting for one foggy night in Los Angeles were the Taylors, and Harrison quickly wrote the song while anticipating their arrival. Taylor was also one of the organizers of the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival.

At the time of his death in 1997, he was once again working for Apple, where he served as marketing director while various Beatles projects were being planned, including the release of the Beatles catalog on CD, Live at the BBC, and The Beatles Anthology series and CD set.

He was survived by his wife and six children.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

Give Peace a Chance

"Give Peace a Chance" is associated with many interesting Beatles facts, a perfect example being that the song was the first solo single to be released while the Beatles were still together. It was a Lennon composition credited to the songwriting team of Lennon-McCartney. (The McCartney credit was later removed with the issue of Lennon's posthumous Live in New York City, an LP recorded with the his Elephant's Memory Band.)

Released on July 4 and 7, 1969 in the UK and U.S. respectively, the song was recorded on June 1, 1969 on a four-speed tape recorder at the Lennons' bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal Canada, the first bed-in having been held in Amsterdam. The song was rehearsed for several days in the hotel room, and the subsequent recording session was attended by Tommy Smothers, Petula Clark, Timothy Leary, Dick Gregory, Allen Ginsberg, Murray the K, Al Capp, Derek Taylor, and others. Lennon could not always recall the exact lyrics to the last verse and switched them frequently when performing the song.

"Give Peace a Chance" was the A Side of the single, with "Remember Love" as the B Side. The song was also issued on The John Lennon Collection, Shaved Fish, Lennon, and the soundtrack for The U.S. vs. John Lennon.

Like "Imagine," the song quickly became an anthem for peace and was used for many charitable and political events, including the demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Vietnam Memorial Day on October 16, 1969. The song was performed by a host of celebrities on that occasion, including Pete Seeger and Peter, Paul, and Mary. It has also been included in the soundtracks for countless films.

The song has been covered by hundreds of artists. Some include: Paul McCartney (live), Ringo Starr (live), John Frusciante, Lenny Kravitz, Sean Ono Lennon, Bonnie Raitt, Steven Van Zandt, Tom Petty, Cindi Lauper, Bruce Hornsby, Peter Gabriel, MC Hammer, LL Cool J, and Michael McDonald. Lennon friend Elton John used the song as the B Side to his single "The Club at the End of the Street."

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