Matt Taylor - Always Land On Your Feet (1983)

(Australian 1973-75, 1983)
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Matt Taylor was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1948. He grew up in a working-class family in the suburb of Spring Hill. His father, who had emigrated from Liverpool, was a tram-driver.
Taylor began listening to blues records in high school, and taught himself the guitar and harmonica. In February 1966 he joined the Bay City Union, one of Australia’s first electric blues bands. They moved to Melbourne in December 1966 and achieved some success playing in dance halls and clubs. They recorded a single "Mo’reen" and "Mary Mary" released on the Festival label in 1968. Among the other members of this band was Glenn Wheatley, who was also their manager.
The Bay City Union broke up in May 1968. Taylor joined the Wild Cherries in October 1968, but left the following month. During 1969 and 1970, he played with progressive heavy rock / blues bands Horse and Genesis.

.From September 1970 to October 1971, Taylor was the front-man for the blues band Chain, which had a hit single ("Black and Blue") and album ("Toward the Blues") during this period. He then quit the music industry and went to live on a commune led by Fred and Mary Robinson at Beechworth.
In 1973, he returned to the music scene as a solo artist, releasing three albums over the next three years, and scoring a major hit with the single "I Remember When I Was Young". He was one of the first artists to record for Mushroom Records, and was managed by Michael Gudinski.
1975 was a bummer of year for Matt however. His second album Music, released earlier in the year didn't sell well and the negative response prompted Matt to drop out and travel to to Balingup, Western Australia, in 1975, to re-join the space freak, cum guru, cum whatever - Fred Robinson on a new commune. Midway through 75, Matt returned to civilisation and produced his third album 'Old, New & Intuitive' which also failed to achieve much sales response.
In August, a single from the same album was released - "Somebody Stole My Hair" and when that also failed Matt went back to the commune but was eventually expelled after serious disagreements emerged between Taylor and Robinson.

He then formed a new band, Western Flyer, with a more country-flavoured sound. Western Flyer produced two albums and had some success between 1977 and 1979.
Since 1976, Taylor has lived in Perth, Western Australia. He has continued to tour and record with various line-ups of Chain, as well as releasing two solo albums and touring as a solo artist.
Matt Taylor continues to front Chain in his entertaining laconic style, and collectively the band has the relaxed cohesion that comes from a lifetime of playing.
They are still as original as ever and are credited with establishing ‘Oz Blues’ as a bonafide stylistic variation of its American father.

Matt Taylor and Chain are a great live act and the experience of seeing and hearing Chain is something anyone interested in the roots of blues in Australia should have…. In fact, it is really a ‘must’!
Chain is honoured at each year’s ‘Australian Blues Festival’ (Goulburn, New South Wales) with the presenting of ‘Chain Awards’ to the various winning performers, albums and producers.
‘Toward the Blues’ is still on general release and probably the longest permanently available rock/blues album in Australia.
Recent albums are ‘The First Thirty Years’, a live recording, and ’Sweet Honey’ which is another totally original offering.
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In 1995, he toured Germany and England as well as classic blues terrain in the southern states of the US. Matt Taylor still plays nationally solo and with Chain. To many he's Australia's finest harmonic player and a songwriter with a great history of story-telling.
Taylor has played with a wide range of Australian artists, including: Phil Manning, Dave Hole, Lucky Oceans, Broderick Smith, Lobby Loyde and Greg Lawrie. He has supported major American blues artists like B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, and the great Albert Collins, who is on record as stating:

~ 'Matt plays the blues, but it's like no other blues I've ever heard in my life'. ~
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In May 2010, Taylor was inducted into the WAM Hall of Fame [extracts from Wikipedia, RAM Magazine #22, Jan 1976 and Phil Manning's Website]
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This album is similar in many ways to his debut album in that it features no nonsense, good ol' rhythm and blues, some slow and some up tempo tracks - but there is one significant difference. In the last track on the album entitled "Bo Diddley On 33", Matt introduces straight dialogue into his music, where he 'tells a story' and has continued this approach with his music ever since. In this last track, Matt talks about how all the great musicians like Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, Tom Rush and even George Thorogood have taken the signature riff developed by Bo Diddley back in the 50's, to pen their own songs.
Overall, this album is a joy to listen to and attests to the notion that Taylor's solo career was as fruitful and successful musically, as the time he spent with his band 'Chain'.
This post consists of FLACs ripped from vinyl and includes full album artwork for both LP and CD, along with label scans.
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Track Listing
01. Always Land on Your Feet (3:35)
02. Runaround (3:50)
03. Feelings (5:36)
04. Talk To Me (3:50)
05. The Visit (2:54)
06. 21st Century Blues (4:12)
07. Kitchen Magacian (4:57)
08. Bompa 2 (3:35)
09. Bo Diddley on 33 (7:05)
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Band Members:
Matt Taylor - Harmonica & Vocals
Chris Finnen - Guitar
Roy Daniel - Bass
Paul Keane - Drums
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Matt Taylor Link (227Mb)  New Link 14/010/2023

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