Dr. Feelgood

Description

With 'Dr. Feelgood' Bear Family presents a long overdue album: the first CD compilation with all recordings of 'King Size' Taylor for Polydor (as The Shakers) and Ariola (as King Size Taylor & The Dominoes).

Especially here in Germany, King Size Taylor was known in the early sixties as a regular guest in Hamburg's Star-Club. In the Hanseatic city he had more than 250 performances between 1962 and 1964 and recorded exclusively in Germany during this time. Due to the creation of legends around the young Beatles, King Size Taylor also ran under the popular label 'Beat'. But on closer inspection Taylor was and always remained the real rocker from the British Isles.

After his first musical attempts in a skiffle band (1957), the guitarist and singer, who was born in Liverpool on November 12, 1939, soon after founded a rock 'n' roll formation, which performed under King Size Taylor And The Dominos from 1960 onwards and moved to Hamburg in 1962. Ariola released live recordings from the Star-Club. A somewhat later album, 'Let's Do The Slop, Twist, Madison, Hully Gully ...' was released by the German Polydor company - under the pseudonym The Shakers. Single releases were issued in Great Britain as well, including Money, Whole Lotta Lovin' and Hippy Hippy Shake. Like the other numbers on the LPs, these songs were cover versions of the hottest rock and R&B originals of the time. After the band broke up, Taylor went back to England, where he was unable to continue the great success of his days in Hamburg.

In addition to the recordings for Ariola and Polydor, the CD on Bear Family contains four rare, previously little known recordings from 1958, which were recorded in the living room of a band member in Liverpool at the time and are of astonishingly good quality. The liner notes in the thick 36-page booklet were written by Ashley Wood, an acknowledged expert on the British rock 'n' roll scene. Edward 'Ted' Taylor was recently interviewed by him. We hope you enjoy these top-class recordings and great British rock of the early sixties.