Ed Sheeran Discovers Allan Taylor's Album in New York
When Ed Sheeran recently expressed admiration for an obscure album he found in a second-hand record store in New York, it came as a surprise to Allan Taylor, the English singer-songwriter who originally released it nearly 50 years ago.
Sheeran's endorsement also brought a welcome recognition to Taylor's work.
After purchasing a copy of Allan Taylor's 1978 LP The Traveller, Sheeran may have identified a kindred spirit in Taylor, who began his career performing in pubs and bars, often sleeping on floors and sofas with little more than his guitar. This was decades before Sheeran followed a similar path.
Taylor toured internationally and signed major record deals, yet unlike Sheeran, mainstream success largely eluded him.
"Everything I did wrong, he did right," Taylor says ruefully.
Despite this, the 80-year-old artist has had a fulfilling career.
He performed at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Fairport Convention, spent time in New York with Bob Marley, and has been covered by numerous artists. He is highly respected within the folk music scene and has garnered recognition in Europe.
Based in Leeds, Taylor had planned to conclude his career with a series of farewell concerts at folk clubs during the summer, but health issues forced him to cancel these engagements.
Just as he was preparing for retirement, Taylor received unexpected renewed attention when Sheeran posted a glowing review of his long-forgotten LP.
"Been buying random vinyl at record stores, coming across some gems,"the star wrote on Instagram in April.
"Allan Taylor - The Traveller I found in a record store in Williamsburg, and I love it. Can't find it anywhere online, so feels like a special vinyl in the collection."
Sheeran's post was unexpected.
"I find it flattering that someone of his stature has seen something in what I do as being interesting,"Taylor responds.
While The Traveller had previously been available unofficially on YouTube, it was released on Spotify for the first time following Sheeran's endorsement.
The two artists have since spoken extensively by phone.
"I found him remarkably down-to-earth, friendly and very interesting as a songwriter,"Taylor says.
"He says he wants to drop by for a cup of tea."
Allan Taylor's Early Life and Musical Journey
During their conversations, Taylor shared details about his eventful life.
Born in Brighton, he left his family, girlfriend, and apprenticeship as a telephone engineer in 1966 at age 21 to seek adventure in Europe.
"I had that foreboding of what life was going to be, and I was getting pretty good on the guitar, so I sold my birthday presents to raise the money to go to Sweden."
The trip taught him to rely on his musical talents and resourcefulness to survive on the road.
"We were stuck once in Stockholm at 11 o'clock at night and the person we were staying with never showed up. There were nowhere to stay.
"If you sleep in the street you're going to die because it's freezing cold in Stockholm in November. So I just went into a bar and started playing.
"Eventually, someone said, 'Do you want a drink?' And you get talking. 'Do you need a place to stay?' 'Yeah.'"
After returning to the UK, Taylor continued pursuing music.
"I had a van, I used to sleep in the back of the van, wandered through Ireland, never had any money, just was living from day to day."
At one point, he received a telegram from members of Fairport Convention, one of the leading folk bands, inviting him to support them at the Royal Albert Hall and join their tour.
"That was bizarre, to be playing to a club of 25 people and then suddenly walking out alone on a stage in front of 5,000 at the Albert Hall."
Supporting Fairport Convention led to a contract offer from a major US record label.
"I screwed that up,"he reflects.
"I didn't get a lawyer. I lost thousands. But it did open doors."
Taylor moved to New York and became involved in the Greenwich Village folk scene. However, his LPs made little commercial impact, and he exited the deal before signing as a songwriter with Island Records.
While in New York, Island Records' founder Chris Blackwell asked Taylor to look after a reggae band visiting the city.
"Bob Marley and the Wailers were smoking a lot of dope, so they weren't that organised, so Chris Blackwell asked me if I would look after them for a couple of weeks to make sure they'd get to the gigs, which I did."
Taylor later signed with another major label as frontman of the band Cajun Moon.
"I signed that contract under financial pressure because I was just running out of money. And again, I should have got a lawyer."
Both the contract and the band ended when Taylor developed vocal cord nodules, requiring three months of silence.
The Traveller and Its Legacy
Reflecting on his career, Taylor wrote his next album, The Traveller.
The title track's chorus reflects his pursuit of success:
"Running for the money / Running for the fame / Lost where he was going / And forgot his name."
"If the objective is money and fame, then if you lose, you lose your identity.
Whereas if you stick to your beliefs, you fail on your terms but you don't fail on anyone else's terms. Which was what I decided to do."
Though The Traveller did not chart, it won Best Folk Album at the Montreux Jazz Festival awards. Taylor began receiving more bookings in Europe, including a tour of British army barracks in Germany.
Most performances were poorly received.
"If you're a soldier and you're driving a tank all day, the last thing you wanted was some introspective soul-searching song that I was writing,"he says.
However, one concert open to locals as well as soldiers was well received.
"They were really into what I was doing. I don't know how it clicked, but it did click with them."
Finding His Voice
Although Taylor had been writing and performing for years, his travels around Europe helped him find his distinctive voice in the early 1980s.
He recalls a defining moment:
"I found my voice at about two o'clock in the morning in a bar in Brussels."
After a gig, he observed the bartender, a joker trying to get drinks, and street ladies.
"I just sat there and I thought, everyone's got a story here, and all I had to do is write it down. Which is what I did and called it Win or Lose, and that was the start of my own way."
Taylor's dramatic and poignant storytelling blended European influences with folk and country, creating a sound that marked a significant change.
His vocal tone matured, gaining depth and wisdom that placed him alongside artists like Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash.
He re-recorded the title track from The Traveller and the standout song "Cold Hard Town" on his 1996 album Looking For You, with a mellower style considered by some to be an improvement.
If Sheeran has yet to explore Taylor's later work, it remains a possibility.
One song, "It's Good To See You," from The Traveller, has been covered over 100 times by artists including US country star Don Williams, Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, and German folk veteran Hannes Wader.
This helped raise Taylor's profile in northern Europe. Currently, Warsaw, Bonn, and Berlin are the cities with his highest monthly Spotify listeners.
Legacy and Recognition
Taylor considers himself among the last generation of troubadours who experienced and wrote about the "romance of the road" during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
"There's not many of us left who can remember what happened or what we did and what it was like, and I think young people are interested,"Taylor says.
"I think that's why Ed is interested."
