by Richard Skelly » Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:04 am
Bobby Taylor passed away in July 2017, aged 83, in Hong Kong of all places. Way back in time, the American ex-pat wisely blended with Alberta and BC players—from Little Daddy & The Bachelors and The Good Shepherds respectively—to form The Vancouvers.
The group was spotted by members of The Supremes relaxing at at The Elegant Parlour after a Vancouver concert. They encouraged Taylor And Co. to relocate to Hitsville Detroit. Their biggest hit—Does Your Mama Know About Me—was written by band co-guitarist (and later famous funnyman) Tommy Chong and future Motown staffer Tom Baird (RIP) who had been in The Classics before they morphed into The Collectors.
Just as The Supremes discovered The Vancouvers, it was Bobby who—by most accounts—gave the Jackson 5 their big break. The Jackson siblings opened for The Vancouvers at a Chicago theatre in 1968. Taylor arranged a Jacksons audition with Berry Gordy’s assistant. Once signed, however, the Jackson 5 were told to buy into a background story that Diana Ross found them toiling in obscurity.
Later in 1968, Bobby Taylor strove to replace David Ruffin in The Temptations...but lost out to Dennis Edwards (who died Feb. 1, 2018). Interestingly, The Temptations first recorded Fading Away in 1966. Co-written by Smokey Robinson, Fading Away was later covered by Hall & Oates, many years after Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers gave it a whirl.