Taylor, Tut

TUT TAYLOR

  • Born in Possum Trot, Georgia. Lived in Milledgeville, Georgia. Moved to Nashville in 1970.
  • Real name: Robert Arthur Taylor. He was nicknamed “Tut” by his parents when he was a child.
  • He was a studio musician, sideman, graphic artist and luthier, an acoustic music icon around Nashville for more than four decades.
  • He was best known as a Dobro™ player, and was often called the “flat-picking Dobro man” because he used a flat pick rather than finger picks on the instrument.
  • 1962, recorded an album called “12 String Dobro” with Glen Campbell and the Folkswingers.
  • 1963, appeared on the Kentucky Colonels “Appalachian Swing” album featuring Clarence White.
  • 1964, released “Dobro County” album.
  • After moving to Nashville in 1970, he co-founded GTR Guitars with George Gruhn and Randy Wood (which later became Gruhn Guitars). He also owned Grammar Guitars and co-founded Rich and Taylor Banjo company.
  • He was also a sign painter and luthier. He did some custom work for Gibson in Nashville.
  • 1971, appeared on John Hartford’s landmark “Aereoplane” album.
  • 1972, released Friar Tut album (recently reissued by Rounder Records).
  • 1975, released Dobrolic Plectral Society album (Tacoma Records).
  • 1995, won a Grammy award for his part on the Jerry Douglas album The Great Dobro Sessions (Sugar Hill Records).
  • 1998, released Flash Flood album (Tutlee Records).
  • 2007, released Shacktown Road album with Norman and Nancy Blake (no label)
  • 2010, Jerry Douglas released Southern Filibuster: a Tribute to Tut Taylor (E1 Entertainment).
  • 2015, died at the age of 91.