Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?

Subject: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 01 Dec 98 - 12:05 AM

The best one-man-show of Woody's persona, music and writings I ever saw was done in Chicago in the mid to late 1970s by Tom Taylor!

Does anybody know where he might be now---what he's doing.

Thanks,

Art

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 01 Dec 98 - 10:30 PM

Did he? Would he?

(Sorry, I don't know where he.)

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: northfolk
Date: 03 Dec 98 - 10:30 PM

Also Don't know...saw Woody Guthrie, a life, Neil Woodward a fine folk singer/songwriter and Woody translator from Michigan, did the score I think, at the Attic Theater, circa a while back(mind is really the first thing to go) this posting reminded me of that play...it was a fine event...great working class culture, too little of it around.

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Oct 02 - 01:28 AM

Hey, Art - many thanks for the kind words. Nice to know someone remembers. I'm a high school theatre teacher in Texas, and still write and perform, though I no longer do WG. Warmest regards, Tom T

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 27 Oct 02 - 01:48 AM

Hi Tom,

I don't know if you will remember, but back around 1977 you and Marjorie Guthrie did a radio program with me at WFDU-FM in Teaneck, NJ.   It was actually the first interview and special program that I ever produced, and it was a pivotal moment for me. I was so inspired by Marjorie and interviewing the two of you that I began to really focus on folk music and radio.   So many years later, I am still on WFDU-FM hosting a folk show.

A very-belated "thank you" for coming on the program. You really captured Woody's music and more importantly - his spirit.   I don't think anyone has come close to presenting Woody in such a fashion.   Did you ever record any of your one-man shows? I would love to hear it again.

By the way, if you would like a copy of that interview, please get in touch - [e-mail]

Thanks again!

Ron Olesko
WFDU-FM

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Oct 02 - 03:23 PM

Tom - My e-mail address is [e-mail] . I would love to get a copy of the interview to you. It sounds great after all these years!

Ron

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 28 Oct 02 - 03:42 PM

I saw that show. I still have good memories of watching Tom. Good luck to you, and don't you think it's time to do it again?

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 28 Oct 02 - 11:27 PM

Whew, It's been four years since I started this thread. Pretty fascinating to have Tom see it after all the water that's been through the lock. Tom--------Glad you're going good. Your show elicited the man in a way that made you seem to morph into Woody while we were watching. Your voice, slowly, took on aspects of Woody's in a way that made a big impact----one I'm still carrying around with me.

All the best to you, sir.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: GUEST,Tex
Date: 20 Oct 06 - 07:11 PM

He's here in Texas, just north of Austin.

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: GUEST,Andy in Philly
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 04:31 PM

Hi,

Thanks for this post. I still have fond and strong memories of Tom's show. Thanks Tom.

Are there any recordings of this fine performance?
I second the motion for a revival.

Andy

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Fan O' Woody Guthrie
Date: 20 Nov 09 - 03:36 AM

If y'all are interested there's a One Man Show that's been going on just recently played by a young man named Rob Tepper. On the site it says that the show is written by Rob and a man by the name of Corey Brandenstein... I found some info on the show at...

http://www.dustbowlproductions.com

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: GUEST,Heather
Date: 08 Jul 15 - 12:50 PM

Wow I know this post was a long time ago but I just met him by chance he is in Belton Tx

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: Megan L
Date: 08 Jul 15 - 01:52 PM

Thank you Heather. sadly the originator of this thread Art Thieme passed away a short time ago.

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: GUEST,Tom Gavin
Date: 15 Oct 17 - 11:40 AM

I grew up next door to Tom(my) Taylor, his sister Terry and his mom Pauline and last knew he was in Texas as has been shown. Funny, but I saw his show years after we got out of college in Washington, D.C. but lost track of him. Just happened to be listening to some old albums, one of which was Woody Guthrie which brought me to this.

Tom, if you happen to see this, my email is [e-mail] and would love to hear from you. I'm retired, living in NC and spend a lot of time playing my banjo.

Tom Gavin

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 17 Oct 17 - 10:28 PM

A little digging turned up this nice article from the Temple Daily Telegram website. Although the article is a little over 5 years old, it seems to fill in some of the gaps about Tom Taylor and his Woody Guthrie show.

Temple Daily Telegram article

******************************************************

Two men with Bell County roots bound for, and by, glory

By Patricia Benoit TDT Jul 16, 2012

Tom Taylor rambled around in search of singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, the Dust Bowl troubador. Along the way, Taylor discovered himself and what makes life worth living.

The prolific poet of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Guthrie became the voice of a generation as he sang about rejection and being down and out, but he led a troubled life. In his lifetime, Guthrie wrote perhaps a thousand songs. Taylor hasn't written that many, but he has the soul-satisfying contentment Guthrie never found.

This weekend marked the 100th birthday of Woody Guthrie, born July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Okla., and grew up in Pampa.

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (1912–1967) was the son of Charles Edward and Nora Belle Tanner Guthrie. Charles was the son of Jeremiah Pearsall Guthrie. Locals can take a little credit for him, because Guthrie's father, Charley, and grandfather, Jerry P., hailed from west Bell County. In an interesting musical twist, Taylor helped perpetuate Guthrie's image and life just after his death.

The Guthries hailed from Crossville, a loosely organized farming community straddling the Bell and Coryell county lines, now part of Fort Hood and about three miles from the present location of Metroplex Medical Center in Killeen.

The settlement began in 1872 - probably about the time the Guthries moved to Bell County. Crossville also provided area farmers with a general store, grist mill, cotton gin and one-room school. Ample water from a small branch of the eastern Clear Creek made Crossville a handy stopover for travelers.

Grandfather Jerry P. Guthrie was prosperous enough to send Charley to Salado College, where he graduated. Charley managed to parlay his education into a job briefly as a Bell County clerk in the 1890s. When the railroads arrived in the early 1880s, Crossville dwindled and many moved on to Copperas Cove and Killeen. Jerry P. moved his family, including Charley, north to Indian Territory in 1897. Charley and his wife and two young children in 1907 moved to Okemah, where Woody was born.

In his memoirs, Guthrie recalled his father was a gifted musician who learned songs from Mexican immigrants, black workers and his Scot-Irish ancestors who all converged in 19th-century Bell County. That mixed musical heritage helped shape and inspire the young Woody.

About the time Guthrie died of Huntington's disease, Taylor was working on his master's from the University of Texas at Austin in speech and drama. He discovered Woody Guthrie's material almost by happenstance, looking for a thesis topic. Guthrie's voice on a taped interview was a revelation, he said.

Several rewrites later, his one-man show evolved into a full-blown success. From academia to Austin performance venues, Taylor's one-man show took off. From there, he was invited to Scotland, and the show moved on to London, where it garnered glowing reviews.

For the next decade, Taylor became an inveterate wanderer as he and Guthrie cohabitated on stage. His travels with Guthrie garnered him praise, notoriety and friendships with the singer's close pals Will Geer and Burl Ives. Taylor also performed in the White House at the invitation of President Jimmy Carter. Guthrie's widow as well as his children and grandchildren also were special fans and supporters of his performance.

For a decade, Taylor toured 300 days a year throughout the United States and overseas as his wife and two young children stayed back in Temple.

Taylor admitted that not all of Guthrie's life was good. "He was terribly irresponsible with family but he had special moments with his children. He had a great spirit," he said. "There's no denying his genius. In some ways I loved him, but as I grew as a father, we moved apart."

Then, in 1980, as Lily Tomlin produced the Guthrie show in Beverly Hills, Taylor hit a personal crisis as the long months on the road took a heavy toll.

"I had to go home," Taylor said. "I told my manager, ‘Thanks for the ride, but it's not worth my family.' I can't be the husband and father I need to be."

He returned to Bell County to reconnect with his roots and to those he loved. He got "a real job" and never regretted his decision.

Nevertheless, Guthrie's spirit might have lingered, because Taylor embarked on a productive creative period, writing and composing on his own. He found his true calling as a storyteller.

Nowadays, Taylor is retired and selective about his gigs, devoting himself to youth and church groups. He and buddy Scott Brookshire - whose nom de guerre is Century Man - perform locally as Bubba's Bible and Tire. And, he has just returned from a recent two-week performance tour in Israel with a group of other entertainers and raconteurs.

For Taylor, Guthrie's life reveals an important life lesson: "Take care of your family and your land; be a hard worker and fight against those things that would destroy that."

Subject: RE: Tom Taylor ? Did Woody---Where is he?
From: GUEST,David Guthrie
Date: 17 Feb 19 - 01:27 AM

Tom Taylor lives in Belton, Texas. I see him most every Wednesday morning at a local mens Bible study Iron Sharpening Iron.