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January 14, 2022 1:24 pm  #1


R. Dean Taylor

Over the past week, I've been seeing news of R. Dean Taylor's passing reported on various websites. I think that all of these reports ultimately trace back to a Facebook posting by Chuck Brucato, which stated:
My dear friend and producer at Motown Records...
R.Dean Taylor passed away this morning.
He will be missed.

Brucato was a member of the band Rustix, which did an album for the Rare Earth label that was produced by Taylor. There's a post at https://soulfuldetroit.com/showthread.php?28923-Rest-in-peace-R-Dean-Taylor that states that Taylor and Brucato have been friends ever since then. It also says that Taylor "was not known to want to have people knowing what he was up to for years", and so that could certainly explain the lack of any other reports of his passing. This posting also mentions that there is a website for Taylor at https://www.rdeantaylor.com/ ... it doesn't have any information about Taylor's passing, but it has "c. 2006" on the home page and it looks like the site may not be actively maintained. 

 

January 14, 2022 10:54 pm  #2


Re: R. Dean Taylor

It's ironic that earlier I finally decided to post what I knew about Taylor's passing even though I hadn't wanted to do so without seeing another source ... I just wasn't sure if and when one was going to be forthcoming. However, Taylor's wife is cited in the following article, so we have that confirmation now.
https://bestclassicbands.com/r-dean-taylor-obituary-indiana-wants-me-1-13-22/

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January 15, 2022 9:34 am  #3


Re: R. Dean Taylor

The guy had a really good track record given the limited number of singles he released. In Toronto, Gotta See Jane was his only #1 on the CHUM Chart as Indiana Wants Me peaked at #4. I also liked his next single Ain't It A Sad Thing, one of the first eco-conscious songs that I remember hearing. (Canned Heat's Alan Wilson was also an environmentalist). I recall picking up Taylor's album I Think Therefore I Am, at a corner milk store as a 99 cent cut-out; it had all three singles so it was a pretty good deal. I read on Wikipedia that Gotta See Jane was first released in '68 and charted only in the Netherlands and the UK. They claim the song was re-recorded in 1971. I can't find an audio file of the original anywhere; I'd be curious to see if there really were two versions and if the original sounded any different (i.e. no car sound effects) 

 

January 15, 2022 9:50 am  #4


Re: R. Dean Taylor


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January 15, 2022 10:07 am  #5


Re: R. Dean Taylor

And for those who might also be interested in hearing the version that went to #1 on CHUM ... 

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January 15, 2022 10:07 am  #6


Re: R. Dean Taylor

Lorne wrote:


I saw this and a couple of other YouTube entries that claimed to be the original single, but I'm a little skeptical because Discogs shows the original as being 2:59 in length, a full 10 seconds shorter than this.
 

 

January 16, 2022 9:52 am  #7


Re: R. Dean Taylor

Roman, I believe Discogs lists the time given on the label, regardless of what the record actually plays. Both my long and short stock 45s of Indiana Wants Me have labels that show 3:35 on them, when the shorter version is about 30 seconds shorter.

Last edited by StereoTom (January 16, 2022 9:53 am)


Tom Diehl
 

January 16, 2022 10:17 am  #8


Re: R. Dean Taylor

StereoTom wrote:

Roman, I believe Discogs lists the time given on the label, regardless of what the record actually plays. Both my long and short stock 45s of Indiana Wants Me have labels that show 3:35 on them, when the shorter version is about 30 seconds shorter.

I guess you can't always trust what's on the label. I re-listened to the two versions that Lorne posted and, yeah, I'd have to agree that one is from '68 and the other is the updated 'hit'. What threw me off is Wikipedia saying that the latter version was 're-recorded', when it seems it was actually just remixed.
 

 

January 16, 2022 10:26 am  #9


Re: R. Dean Taylor

My friend Marion Rodrigues will be doing a tribute to R. Dean on her Soul Xplosion show today between Noon -3 p.m. on G98.7 She'll also be doing an interview that I set up for her with Toronto blues belter Samantha Martin. It's a terrific show featuring old and new blues, soul and jazz, and there's a streaming link below.
https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/CKFG

 

Last edited by Roman (January 16, 2022 10:45 am)

 

January 16, 2022 10:52 am  #10


Re: R. Dean Taylor

StereoTom wrote:

Roman, I believe Discogs lists the time given on the label, regardless of what the record actually plays. Both my long and short stock 45s of Indiana Wants Me have labels that show 3:35 on them, when the shorter version is about 30 seconds shorter.

geez, i hope y'all are bothered to listen at them songs while you're busy timing 'em out  8^}

 

 

January 23, 2022 11:57 am  #11


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