BOBBY TAYLOR & THE VANCOUVERS

Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers were the Canadian soul band who spawned comedian Tommy Chong and whose leader discovered the Jackson 5.

Robert Edward Taylor was born in Washington, D.C., on February 18, 1934. He grew up in the nation’s capital. As a young man, he moved to New York City and performed doo-wop with singers who later joined Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers and Little Anthony & The Imperials. In 1958, Taylor sang with the Four Pharaohs, who enjoyed some local hits in the Columbus, Ohio, area.

While in San Francisco in the early ‘60s, Taylor met Little Daddy & The Bachelors. The group comprised Tommie Melton (vocals), Tommy Chong (guitar), Bernie Sneed (piano), Wes Henderson (bass), and Floyd Sneed (drums). While in Calgary, they had called themselves the Calgary Shades in reference to the fact that the band was interracial. Chong was half Chinese, while the other members were Black, White, and Aboriginal. Taylor, meanwhile, was of African-American, Puerto Rican, and Native American descent.

Little Daddy & The Bachelors released a single, “Too Much Monkey Business” / “Junior’s Jerk.” In 1962, Chong and Melton opened a dance hall called the Blues Palace in Vancouver, British Columbia. Though Little Daddy & The Bachelors had built a following, things soured when they followed Chong’s suggestion that they change their name to “Four Niggers and a Chink.” They subsequently went with “Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers.”

In 1965, Flo Ballard and Mary Wilson of the Supremes heard the band—whose repertoire consisted mainly of Motown covers—in Vancouver, and alerted the label’s CEO, Berry Gordy, Jr. Gordy brought the Vancouvers to Motown’s Detroit headquarters and signed them to his Gordy Records imprint. By this time, the group’s line-up had changed as the Vancouvers had merged with another local band, the Good Shepherds. They now consisted of Taylor, Henderson and Chong, along with Eddie Patterson (guitar), Robbie King (organ), and Duris Maxwell A/K/A Ted Lewis (drums).

Despite Taylor’s later claims, Jimi Hendrix never played with the Vancouvers. He and Taylor knew each other from their early days in Seattle-Tacoma, and Hendrix later jammed with the Vancouvers on stage in Europe. But that was it.

The group’s self-titled debut LP came out in 1968 and produced the hit single, “Does Your Mama Know About Me?” Tommy Chong co-wrote the ballad, which hit #5 on the Billboard Soul chart and #29 pop.

In July 1968, the Vancouvers played the Regal Theater in Chicago. Taylor was highly impressed with their opening act, a young family group called the Jackson 5. He personally brought them to Detroit and arranged an audition with Motown executive Suzanne de Passe. She and Berry Gordy were similarly impressed with the Jackson 5, who were signed to Motown within the year.

The Vancouvers had two subsequent chart singles in 1968 and later performed behind their fellow Motown artist, Chris Clark. Tommy Chong and Wes Henderson were fired by Clark and Motown producer Johnny Bristol for missing a gig to apply for Green cards. The band broke up shortly after. Chong later teamed up with Cheech Marin, with whom he became a comedy legend.

When Motown signed the Jackson 5 in March 1969, Taylor was their first producer. He was behind the lion’s share of their debut album, the misleadingly titled Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. (Berry Gordy later moved the group to California and took personal control of their sound.) As a solo artist, Taylor was moved to Motown’s V.I.P. subsidiary, but his singles failed to sell. By 1971, he had left Motown over a financial dispute. Taylor would successfully sue the label for a substantial amount of money.

He moved to England and started an offshoot group, Bobby Taylor & The New Vancouvers, who recorded a 1990 album for Ian Levine’s Morocity label. However, his later musical efforts were stymied by throat cancer, which Taylor had treated by various holistic doctors.

By 2014, Bobby Taylor had moved to Hong Kong. He died there of cancer on July 22, 2017, at the age of 83.

Charted singles:

“Does Your Mama Know About Me?” (1968) R&B #5, Pop #29
“I Am Your Man” (1968) R&B #40, Pop #85
“Malinda” (1968) R&B #16, Pop #48
“Why Play Games” (Bobby Taylor solo, 1973) R&B #83