Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes
Encyclopedia
Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes were a British
rock and roll
band, formed in Liverpool
in the late 1950s. One of the first beat groups in the Merseyside
area, they were a locally popular and influential group who were contemporaries and rivals of The Beatles
, and featured Cilla Black
as a singer before her solo career, but had little commercial success except in Germany
.
group called the Sinners. The original members were Arthur Baker (vocals), George Watson (guitar), Charlie Flynn (guitar), Sam Hardie (piano) and Cliff Roberts (drums). The following year, Ted "Kingsize" Taylor (b. Edward W. Taylor, 12 November 1939, in Crosby
, Liverpool
, Lancashire
) - so called for his 6' 5" height - joined as lead vocalist and guitarist. Over the next two years, Baker, Watson and Flynn all left, and the group was completed by Bobby Thompson (bass and vocals) - with whom Taylor had played in another skiffle group, the James Boys - and John Kennedy (rhythm guitar), with Geoff Bethell often standing in for Hardie on piano. The band played local clubs, and Taylor developed a reputation as one of the best rock and roll singers in the Liverpool area as well as being noted for his vivid chequered jackets.
By summer 1960, the group were being billed as Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. They first performed at the Cavern Club in January 1961, when they featured 17 year old singer Cilla White
, who was mistakenly renamed Cilla Black later that year by Bill Harry
in an article in his magazine Mersey Beat
. Soon after that appearance, Kennedy and Roberts left the band to join another group, Ian and the Zodiacs, and were replaced by John Frankland (rhythm guitar) and Dave Lovelady (drums). At the beginning of 1962, the band were placed sixth in a Mersey Beat readers' poll, topped by the Beatles. Cilla Black sang regularly with the group until 1962.
In early 1962, Ken Shalliker replaced Bobby Thompson on bass for several months when Thompson temporarily joined Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In the summer, the band (without Cilla Black) went to Hamburg
, where they began making regular appearances at the Star-Club
. Dave Lovelady left later in the year, and was replaced briefly by Brian Redman and then by Gibson Kemp, after Ringo Starr
turned down the opportunity to join having been offered more money to join the Beatles. In December 1962, Taylor recorded several performances by The Beatles at the Star-Club, on reel-to-reel tape
; the recordings were eventually released in 1977 as Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962
, after legal proceedings over their ownership were resolved.
Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes were signed by Decca Records
in Germany, and also recorded there for the Philips
and Ariola
labels. They added saxophonist Howie Casey
in 1963; later that year, Sam Hardie left to join Tony Sheridan
's band, and was replaced by a second sax player, Dave Woods. In 1963 they recorded an album, Live At The Star Club for Ariola, with whom they had a recording contract, but were also persuaded to make a separate album for Polydor
. The album, Let's Do the Slop, Twist, Madison, Hully Gully..., was released under the pseudonym of The Shakers. Three singles from the album - "Money
", "Whole Lotta Lovin'", and "Hippy Hippy Shake
" - were released by Polydor in the UK. All the recordings by Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes were covers of rock and roll and rhythm and blues
songs by other artists; they wrote no songs themselves. Their biggest success in Germany was a version of Solomon Burke
's "Stupidity", also released on the Decca label in the UK. While in Germany, they also performed regularly in Kiel
and Berlin
, and acted as backing group for Alex Harvey
, before returning to the UK to back Chuck Berry
and Carl Perkins
on tour in 1964. They also appeared on the British TV show Ready Steady Go!
.
- remaining in the UK to work. Taylor returned with his German wife to Hamburg, where he played lead guitar for the Griff Parry Five before forming a new version of Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes with Baz Davies, Mamoud Hari, Kenny Rees and Cliff Roberts. After recording a solo single for Decca in London in 1964, "Somebody's Always Tryin'", with Jimmy Page
on guitar, he gave up the music business and returned to Crosby
on Merseyside
. There, and later at Birkdale
, he ran a family butcher
's business for over thirty years until his retirement.
Thompson joined Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers
, and then The Rockin' Berries
in 1965. Frankland and Kemp formed a new group, The Eyes, with future actor Lewis Collins
, before Kemp formed the trio Paddy, Klaus & Gibson, with Paddy Chambers and Klaus Voormann
; he later worked in A&R
. Taylor reunited with Hardie, Davies, Frankland and others for occasional performances from the 1990s onwards.
In 1999, Bear Family Records
issued the complete Ariola recordings by Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. Taylor returned to live in Germany in 2006, and continued to perform with a band called The Brotherhood of Rock 'n' Soul.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band, formed in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in the late 1950s. One of the first beat groups in the Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
area, they were a locally popular and influential group who were contemporaries and rivals of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, and featured Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
as a singer before her solo career, but had little commercial success except in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Career
The Dominoes were originally formed in north Liverpool, in 1957, from a school skiffleSkiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
group called the Sinners. The original members were Arthur Baker (vocals), George Watson (guitar), Charlie Flynn (guitar), Sam Hardie (piano) and Cliff Roberts (drums). The following year, Ted "Kingsize" Taylor (b. Edward W. Taylor, 12 November 1939, in Crosby
Crosby
- Geography :Canada*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the town of Markham, OntarioEngland*Crosby, Cumbria*Crosby, Lincolnshire*Crosby, Merseyside**Crosby...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
) - so called for his 6' 5" height - joined as lead vocalist and guitarist. Over the next two years, Baker, Watson and Flynn all left, and the group was completed by Bobby Thompson (bass and vocals) - with whom Taylor had played in another skiffle group, the James Boys - and John Kennedy (rhythm guitar), with Geoff Bethell often standing in for Hardie on piano. The band played local clubs, and Taylor developed a reputation as one of the best rock and roll singers in the Liverpool area as well as being noted for his vivid chequered jackets.
By summer 1960, the group were being billed as Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. They first performed at the Cavern Club in January 1961, when they featured 17 year old singer Cilla White
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
, who was mistakenly renamed Cilla Black later that year by Bill Harry
Bill Harry
Bill Harry is the creator of Mersey Beat, an important newspaper of the early 1960s, which focused on the Liverpool music scene...
in an article in his magazine Mersey Beat
Mersey Beat
Mersey Beat was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College...
. Soon after that appearance, Kennedy and Roberts left the band to join another group, Ian and the Zodiacs, and were replaced by John Frankland (rhythm guitar) and Dave Lovelady (drums). At the beginning of 1962, the band were placed sixth in a Mersey Beat readers' poll, topped by the Beatles. Cilla Black sang regularly with the group until 1962.
In early 1962, Ken Shalliker replaced Bobby Thompson on bass for several months when Thompson temporarily joined Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In the summer, the band (without Cilla Black) went to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, where they began making regular appearances at the Star-Club
Star-Club
The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany that opened Friday 13 April 1962 and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the sixties, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 31 December 1969 and the building it occupied was...
. Dave Lovelady left later in the year, and was replaced briefly by Brian Redman and then by Gibson Kemp, after Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
turned down the opportunity to join having been offered more money to join the Beatles. In December 1962, Taylor recorded several performances by The Beatles at the Star-Club, on reel-to-reel tape
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording
Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette....
; the recordings were eventually released in 1977 as Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962
Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962
Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 is a double album featuring live performances by The Beatles, recorded in late December 1962 at the Star-Club during their final Hamburg residency...
, after legal proceedings over their ownership were resolved.
Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes were signed by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in Germany, and also recorded there for the Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
and Ariola
Ariola Records
Ariola Records is a German record label. As of the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of BMG which in turn has since become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment...
labels. They added saxophonist Howie Casey
Howie Casey
Howard William "Howie" Casey is a British rhythm and blues and rock saxophonist. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as a member of Derry and the Seniors, the first rock and roll band from Liverpool to play clubs in Germany, and later, as leader of the renamed Howie Casey and the...
in 1963; later that year, Sam Hardie left to join Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...
's band, and was replaced by a second sax player, Dave Woods. In 1963 they recorded an album, Live At The Star Club for Ariola, with whom they had a recording contract, but were also persuaded to make a separate album for Polydor
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
. The album, Let's Do the Slop, Twist, Madison, Hully Gully..., was released under the pseudonym of The Shakers. Three singles from the album - "Money
Money (That's What I Want)
"Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....
", "Whole Lotta Lovin'", and "Hippy Hippy Shake
Hippy Hippy Shake
Hippy Hippy Shake is a song written and recorded by Chan Romero in 1959. That same year, the song reached number three in Australia.A cover version by Italian rocker Little Tony appeared in the same year and found moderate success in the United Kingdom and Italy.A version by UK-based band The...
" - were released by Polydor in the UK. All the recordings by Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes were covers of rock and roll and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
songs by other artists; they wrote no songs themselves. Their biggest success in Germany was a version of Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
's "Stupidity", also released on the Decca label in the UK. While in Germany, they also performed regularly in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and acted as backing group for Alex Harvey
Alex Harvey (musician)
Alex Harvey was a Scottish rock musician. With The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the 1970s glam rock era.-Biography:...
, before returning to the UK to back Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
and Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
on tour in 1964. They also appeared on the British TV show Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
.
Later activities
The original Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes split up at the end of 1964, with the Dominoes - Frankland, Casey, Thompson and Kemp, with singer Paddy ChambersPaddy Chambers
Paddy Chambers was an English lead guitarist and vocalist from the Merseybeat era.With an early 1960s band of his, Steve Bennett and the Syndicate, Patrick John Chambers appeared at The 2i's Coffee Bar in 1961...
- remaining in the UK to work. Taylor returned with his German wife to Hamburg, where he played lead guitar for the Griff Parry Five before forming a new version of Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes with Baz Davies, Mamoud Hari, Kenny Rees and Cliff Roberts. After recording a solo single for Decca in London in 1964, "Somebody's Always Tryin'", with Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
on guitar, he gave up the music business and returned to Crosby
Crosby, Merseyside
Crosby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Lancashire it is situated north of Bootle, south of Southport, Formby and west of Netherton-History:...
on Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
. There, and later at Birkdale
Birkdale
Birkdale is a village and district in the southern part of the conurbation of the town of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The village is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from...
, he ran a family butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
's business for over thirty years until his retirement.
Thompson joined Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers
Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers
Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers were a 1960s British rhythm and blues, soul and beat group who had two Top 10 hits with "One Way Love" and "Got to Get You into My Life" ....
, and then The Rockin' Berries
The Rockin' Berries
The Rockin' Berries are a pop group from Birmingham, England, who had several hit records in the UK in the 1960s. A version of the group, emphasising comedy routines as well as music, continues to perform to the present day.-History:...
in 1965. Frankland and Kemp formed a new group, The Eyes, with future actor Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins is an English actor best known for his tough-guy role as Bodie in The Professionals. He was educated at Bidston Primary and Grange School in Birkenhead. He started out as a ladies' hairdresser before playing drums and guitar in pop groups. He had a number of other jobs before...
, before Kemp formed the trio Paddy, Klaus & Gibson, with Paddy Chambers and Klaus Voormann
Klaus Voormann
Klaus Voormann is a German Grammy Award-winning artist, noted musician, and record producer. He designed artwork for many bands including The Beatles, The Bee Gees, Wet Wet Wet and Turbonegro. His most notable work as a producer was his work with the band Trio, including their worldwide hit "Da Da...
; he later worked in A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
. Taylor reunited with Hardie, Davies, Frankland and others for occasional performances from the 1990s onwards.
In 1999, Bear Family Records
Bear Family Records
Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...
issued the complete Ariola recordings by Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. Taylor returned to live in Germany in 2006, and continued to perform with a band called The Brotherhood of Rock 'n' Soul.