Considering that she’s been a blues sensation since she was discovered at the age of 15, it only goes to figure that how Joanne Shaw Taylor started out was legendary.
By now, Taylor's fans know that when a friend of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics spotted her performing at a small-town fundraiser, she was signed to a recording contract with Stewart's "supergroup" the next day.
Some of the advice Stewart shared with the very young Taylor was that there was a particular reason that “Hotel California” is usually singled out as one of the absolute best guitar solos in recorded history.
“'It’s not because people remember 'Hotel California' because of its great guitar solo,' he would tell me. 'It’s because it’s a great song. You can include the best solo in the world, but if it’s not a good song, why would anyone ever hear it?'”
The moral of the story? Be more than just a really good guitar player.
Indeed, Joanne Shaw Taylor is revered as one of the best rhythm and blues singer/songwriters on the planet. She’s been singled out, on multiple occasions, as the Best Female Vocalist at the British Blue Awards and her recordings – she just released her eleventh studio album – have been at the top of the Billboard Blues charts for years. Sure, her solo guitar licks are legendary, but Taylor is known for some of the best lyrics in modern blues/rock.
Our favorite Joanne Shaw Taylor story dates back to when she was 13 and her father took her to what would be her first live concert – BB King – in their hometown of Birmingham, England. It was tradition, at the end of many of his concerts, that King would hand out guitar picks to a select few fans. And since she was such a massive fan of King, Taylor’s dad encouraged her to make her way to the stage to see if she might get one of those precious picks.
“By the time I legged it down there, he was about to leave. But he turned around, spotted me and reached out to shake my hand. And I remember my tiny little hand being engulfed by these giant man hands. I said, ‘Mr. King, my name is Joanne Shaw Taylor and I love the Blues. I’m gonna be a blueswoman. May I please have a guitar pick?’ But he didn’t have any more. He said, ‘Well, you can have this.’ He took his necklace off and put it around my neck. I felt almost as if I had been chosen. I know that sounds a bit obnoxious, but what I mean to say is … well, as a kid, I was made to feel as if I could possibly do something big someday. It was such an incredible experience.”
Just as her new album, titled, “The Trouble With Love,” is being released (and climbing the charts) Taylor is on a global tour – currently making its way across the American West. And just prior to her appearance, Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the Egyptian Theater in Boise, Taylor visited with George Prentice to talk about some of those almost-mythical moments in her childhood, her most recent inspiration for tackling the many facets of “love” in her new album, and why, to this day, she still hasn’t made good on a promise to herself: to buy a cowboy hat.
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Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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