
Photo: AnatolyPm · CC BY-SA 3.0 · credits
Melvin Taylor
Person · male · United States · Jackson · born 1959 · recording since 1987
American electric blues guitarist
Timeline
1950s
1980s
· Debut release
Debut release: Plays the Blues for You
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1990s
2010s
Biography
Biography
Melvin Taylor (born March 13, 1959) is an American electric blues guitarist, based in Chicago.
Career
Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He moved to Chicago with his parents in 1962.
He joined the Transistors, a popular music group. He switched his focus to blues music when the group disbanded in the early 1980s. He found work playing in clubs on the West Side of Chicago, often at Rosa's Lounge.
During the 1980s he joined Pinetop Perkins and the Legendary Blues Band in a year-long European tour. He has returned to Europe several times with his own group, which has opened for B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Santana.
Taylor's recordings include two albums for Isabel Records, a French record label, Blues on the Run
Blues on the RunSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Traveling Man2Lowdown Dirty Shame3Escape4Cold Cold Feeling5Just Like a Woman6Chitlins Con Carne (1982) and Plays the Blues for You (1984). Recordings in the United States include Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band (1995), with John Snyder, released by Evidence Music, and Dirty Pool (1997). Taylor's Beyond the Burning Guitar was recorded in Misty Creek Studios, in Fairfax, Virginia. He also recorded a cover of the Skylar Grey–Eminem song "Love the Way You Lie", with the rapper, Matt Christian, at Misty Creek Studios.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 6 | 80.8th |
| Recording span (years) | 26 | 58.1th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (5 release groups · 4 studio albums)
Albums · 4
1987 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 38:28
1Talking to Anna Mae, Part 14:132T.V. Mama3:153I'll Play the Blues for You5:174Born to Lose3:015Tribute to Wes3:276Cadillac Assembly Line5:187Voodoo Daddy6:308Talking to Anna Mae, Part 24:119Groovin' in Paris3:161994 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 6 tracks
1Traveling Man2Lowdown Dirty Shame3Escape4Cold Cold Feeling5Just Like a Woman6Chitlins Con Carne2010 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 24 tracks · 1:28:57
Disc 11Dueling Guitars of Rio Terra3:442Steppers 13:203Passionate3:524Melvin Meets Beethoven's Fifth2:085Steppers 24:086Strollin'4:547Next Phase3:068The Hook Up4:079Early Riser3:5210Rock In Blues4:0511The Mann4:0012Feelin' Good4:07Disc 21Focused On You4:002Movin' On3:283Escape3:264Talking To Anna Mae3:535Tribute To Wes3:596Groovin' In Paris3:387Look Out2:008Sweet Blues3:409Just Like That3:5810Pure Attraction4:0411In The Night3:2012Straight Up4:082012 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 40:01
1Back in Action4:022Do What I Do3:573Spanish Flavor4:174In Transit3:495Sunrise3:556Remembering the Blues4:017So Long Blues4:088Positive Funk4:029That's My Blues3:5910Smooth Situation3:51
EP · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Taylor MadeSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 6 tracks1Whenever I See You 2Blue Moon 3Heartache 4Beneath the Sunset 5Do Your Thing 6Time Out | 2013 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Melvin Taylor head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 6 | 80.8th |
| Recording span (years) | 26 | 58.1th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band(band) | — | present | eponymous,original |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melvin_Taylor_0333.pngaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/1d7e5d38-bb29-4aad-9f97-fe7b70ec27cediscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/1d7e5d38-bb29-4aad-9f97-fe7b70ec27cecore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q743232genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q743232seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Taylorbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Taylor
Why this artist is in the database
- List of blues musicians — rank #94
| 1959 | | Mississippi | Electric blues |
Tier rule: genre canon: blues
Image: AnatolyPm · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q743232 · MusicBrainz: 1d7e5d38-bb29-4aad-9f97-fe7b70ec27ce
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