Larry Taylor (born Samuel Taylor, 26 June 1942, New York) is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He is the younger brother of the long-time drummer for The Ventures, Mel Taylor.
Taylor played with Canned Heat from 1967 to 1970, and appeared with them at various festivals including the Monterey International Pop Festival and Woodstock.
His band nickname was 'The Mole'. In addition to playing bass, he also played lead guitar occasionally. An example of this can be heard on the track "Down In the Gutter, But Free", on the album, Hallelujah.
In 1969, due to a dispute with Taylor, Henry Vestine left the band. Guitarist Harvey Mandel filled the void as the band's lead guitarist.
In 1970, when John Mayall moved to Los Angeles, Taylor and Mandel quit Canned Heat to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.
In 1974, Taylor became part of The Hollywood Fats Band led by Mike "Hollywood Fats" Mann. The two of them joined Canned Heat for a King Biscuit Flower Hour concert in 1979. 1988 Taylor recorded "Reheated" again with Canned Heat. Eventually he toured and recorded with his former band a few more times until 1999.
Recently, Larry Taylor has become a leading exponent and practitioner of the acoustic upright bass in the contemporary blues scene. He is quite prominently seen with his upright bass in the live blues film, Lightning in a Bottle.
Taylor has played on many Tom Waits albums and is the bass player in his touring band.
In 2007, Taylor and Harvey Mandel reunited with Fito de la Parra and the rest of the current Canned Heat line-up to perform certain shows on tour. Taylor, Mandel, and Fito were all part of the classic Woodstock line-up.
This entry is from 
© MMX