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I was born in Washington D.C. I hold dual citizenship, because my dad was a North American native. My mom was Puerto Rican.
	In those days in the United States, if you had dark skin, they didn’t care what you were.
	I was in the States until I was 14. I went to Korea. I was in the US army. I was in the war because my mom told a little black lie and said I was 17.
	I was in San Antonio, Texas after I got out of the army. The policeman pulled me over, put me in a car and took me straight to jail. Said it was vagrancy. In Texas, in that part of town, you weren’t supposed to be in that vicinity after 7pm. You had to be on your side of town.
	I was in jail for six months for no reason. I wasn’t allowed to use the phone. My family didn’t know I was there. I was not going to tell my parents that I was in jail.
Being a musician was all I wanted to do.
	I guess you could call me a whiz kid. I’ve been singing since I was three years old.
	I moved from San Antonio to San Jose, California. That’s where my main career started.
	I went to the college there. I majored in music and minored in law. I finished it in two years. I went to San Francisco and got my Masters from the University of California, Berkeley.
	I don’t think I’ve ever made it big. Everyone calls me a legend—this and that. People are just starting to recognize me now.
	I had number one songs; I wrote number one songs. But see, Motown [Records] held me back because I didn’t take no shit from nobody.
	To me, James Brown couldn’t dance. At one show, this kid was dancing. I said, “What’s the name of these kids?” They were the Jackson 5. I said, “There are seven of them!”
	I met Tommy Chong [comedian,half of Cheech and Chong] in San Francisco. He was broke. I got him a job in a band that was horrible. Tommy went back to Vancouver. He called me and said, “I got this club now, and I would really love for you to come and make this band good.”
	The way I got into Motown [Records] was this: The Supremes came to Vancouver. Our club was the only club that was open at midnight.
	The Supremes came to our club. Mary Wilson asked if she could use our phone. She went up to the office with their road manager. Came back down and said, “[Founder of Motown] Berry Gordy Jr. is coming here tomorrow and he’s gonna sign you guys.”
	I said, “Get the shit outta here.”
	The next night, Diana Ross finally came down to the club. She wouldn’t come the first night—she was too good.
	That’s why I don’t like her right to this day. Because she’s a bitch.
	So The Supremes got me signed. Motown took too long. So I said, “I’m not sitting around waiting. I don’t give a shit about Motown.”
	So we took off. Our first stop was Seattle. We worked our way down the coast, back to San Jose where it all started for me. And we made money.
	The original name of my group was  “Four N*****s and a C***k.” I’m telling you the god’s truth. Martin Luther King came on to the scene and said, “You boys know that we’re trying to stop people from saying that word.”
	So we changed it to “Four Colored Fellas and a Chinese Lad.”
	I taught this young Chinese guy in Vancouver. He always called me boss. He said, “Come on, boss, you wanna go to Beijing with me?” I said, “Where all of the Commies are?”
	He said, “Will you bring your dumb ass on?” I said “two weeks.” Eight and a half years later I was still there.
I had a music studio in Beijing. It’s no longer there. The whole company left because of what the police did—asking me for money. The reason that I left Beijing was so they couldn’t trump me there.
	I’ve played for the Queen of England five times. I’ve played for De Gaulle. I want to perform for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
	Somebody brought Lady Gaga to the Venetian. Who brought that person over here? She didn’t fill up the place. I filled it up when I played with the Temps. What the hell is that about?
	I think there are a couple of things that are important in life. Happiness and freedom—you can’t get better than that. You can always make money—anybody can.
	My birthday is in February. I’ll be 80. You tell me if I’m gonna retire. They’re gonna carry me off the stage.

	See Bobby Taylor at the the Jazz Family Fest 2014. Jan 10-11, 8pm, at Grappa’s Cellar, Shop LG9 & B4A, Jardine House, 1 Connaught Place, Central. Tickets $600 from venue.


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Bobby Taylor

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Motown legend Bobby Taylor was the The Jackson 5’s first producer, and his band Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers had a Billboard top 30 hit with “Does Your Mama Know About Me.” The 79-year-old moved to Hong Kong four and a half years ago, and continues to perform around town. He tells Andrea Lo his story.
