Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor:  Back Home Someday

CD REVIEW
By Sonny Boy Lee

Jeff Taylor's third CD, Back Home Someday, jumps right in with the first cut, "King of Your World," and never lets up. As with all tracks, this song is an original, but the absence of covers is only one component that makes this CD a winner. Taylor's tight lyrics were written by a man who has something different to say and who says it well, backing up his words with excellent arrangements and musicianship.

Paul Hefti’s horn arrangements stand out on "The Sun Don’t Shine." If you can’t feel the power in this horn section, you got a hole in your soul. They remind me of listening many long years ago to Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm in East St. Louis.

Mr. Taylor tackles his blues ballad, "Still Got a Long Way to Go," with ease and conviction. The horns evoke shades of Ray Charles — lots of soul and taste. "Shreveport Station" extols the virtues of "...jumping and jivin’ to the baddest band alive." Sounds to me like Taylor must be talking about his own kickass band.

Back Home Someday is a balanced collection of fast and slow blues and even includes one acoustic number, "Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right." The CD closes with the in-your-face, get down and testify title track.

Taylor has opened for headliners such as Etta James and appeared at the House of Blues and B.B. King's Club in Los Angeles. This latest CD received significant airplay on the West Coast and in Spain, Germany, Italy, Canada and Australia, but has struggled for airwaves in the rest of the United States. Taylor woefully admits on his MP3 website that he just "can't compete with Britney Spears."

When I hear a CD this damn good, it’s only appropriate to mention that it was produced by Byl Carruthers; recorded at Track Studios, Sonora Recorders and Foxfire Studios around L.A.; and mastered at Ocean View Digital in Santa Monica.

Purchase Back Home Someday or listen to cuts in wav format at Jeff Taylor's official web site. Sample cuts are also available in MP3 format here. CDs are also available directly from the artist for $12, shipping included, by writing to Jeff Taylor at P.O. Box 435, La Canada, CA 91012.

Jeff Taylor:  Back Home Someday

CD review courtesy of
Sonny Boy Lee's "Ain't Nothin' but the Blues!"

Jeff Taylor photo Copyright © 1998-2004 Bryan K.
CD Review Copyright © 2000-2004 Sonny Boy Lee.
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