Motown legend Bobby Taylor brings power of music to ASU

Bobby Taylor closes his eyes and remembers the night he discovered Michael Jackson.

It was at Chicago’s Regal Theater, July 1968. The Jackson 5 — sharing the bill with Taylor and his group, the Vancouvers — sang only two songs, but that’s all it took.

“Michael was up there singing his heart out, spinning around like James Brown,” Taylor said. “He was probably 8 at the time, but he was fully developed as a professional singer. I’ve never seen anything like him before or since.”

Taylor will recount that story and others in a community conversation about his life and music when ASU’s Project Humanities hosts “An Evening with Bobby Taylor” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at the ASU Memorial Union. It coincides with a trip that will allow the 82-year-old Taylor to produce “Humanity,” a musical plea for tolerance, peace, empathy and creativity.

“Humanity” was written and initially performed by the late Dick Wagner — known for collaborations with Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss and Lou Reed. 

“We are extremely fortunate and excited to have Mr. Bobby Taylor, a true music icon, celebrate our shared humanity,” said Neal Lester, founding director of ASU’s Project Humanities and Foundation Professor of English. “We are now able to compete the work begun by Dick Wagner.”

The project started a few years ago when Lester sought to commission a song that could promote the power of music as a way of bringing people together. Wagner wrote and recorded a demo shortly after meeting Lester for lunch in spring 2014. But the man known as "the Maestro of Rock" died months later after years of declining health, and the song went unfinished.

For his part, Lester wouldn’t give up on the work. At the insistence of Wagner's manager, Susan Michelson, Lester reached out to Taylor, who agreed to produce the song — even if it meant he would have to travel from Hong Kong, where he has lived for the past decade. An honorarium by the Puffin West Foundation helped make it happen.   

“The man could write,” Taylor said of Wagner. “He was a genius, and it is my honor to do this for him.” 

Aside from discovering the boy who would grow up to become the King of Pop, Taylor has worked with Jimi Hendrix, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, the Temptations and the Drifters. He also fronted Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, a Canadian band that charted a handful of soul and R&B songs.

This week, Taylor will lead a group of about 20 singers and musicians — including three members of ASU’s Gospel Choir — at an unassuming studio in Phoenix to record “Humanity.”

Taylor hopes to hone Wagner's work, in a way that's similar to how he honed the Jackson 5.

After their 1968 show in Chicago, Taylor packed the young artists and their father, Joe, into his car and drove them to his Detroit home.

They lived with Taylor for several weeks while he rehearsed them for an audition for Motown founder Berry Gordy, who was initially resistant to the idea. “I ain’t signing no kids,” Taylor recalled Gordy telling him.

Once Gordy saw the Jackson 5, he changed his mind. The rest is history.

Taylor became the Jackson 5’s main producer and songwriter. Their partnership yielded hits including ”I Want You Back/ABC,” “The Love You Save,” “I’ll Be There,” “Rockin’ Robin” and Jackson’s 1972 solo “Ben.”

Today, Taylor produces records and mentors young artists. He continues to perform live at international festivals, clubs, TV and film.

As for “Humanity,” Lester hopes to debut it soon. “Stay tuned,” he said. “There will be a reveal in the spring."

___

To RSVP or register for "An Evening with Bobby Taylor," go here. Admission is free and open to the public. 

For more information, call 480-727-7030 or visit https://humanities.asu.edu/

___ 

Top image: Producer Bobby Taylor listens as musicians play "Humanity" in Phoenix on Monday. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now