Blackie Taylor

Franklin · Post by **Franklin** » 25 Jun 2019 8:01 am

Very sad to hear Blackie has passed....

Mike Mantey · Post by **Mike Mantey** » 25 Jun 2019 9:16 am

I'm very sad to hear this. He will be greatly missed. He was loved by many. Prayers for the Family and Friends.

Jerry Malvern · Post by **Jerry Malvern** » 25 Jun 2019 9:22 am

So long dear friend. Go rest high on that mountain.

Skeeter Stultz · Post by **Skeeter Stultz** » 25 Jun 2019 10:31 am

I was so sorry to hear of this. Blackie was a friend to me when I needed one. He gave me a very big compliment one night. R.I P. friend. You will be missed.

Steve Leal · Post by **Steve Leal** » 25 Jun 2019 3:03 pm

Very sorry to hear this. God bless you and your family.

I loved visiting Blackie back when I started playing. He was a true teacher at heart.

Richard Ingley · Post by **Richard Ingley** » 26 Jun 2019 5:10 pm

Albert Talley and all the officers of the Texas Steel Guitar Association wish to express our sympathy. We appreciate all Blackie has done for the steel guitar community and always attending the TSGA Jamboree. Our best to all the family. We appreciate and love you.

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 27 Jun 2019 2:28 pm

Blackie was a great guy! I had the pleasure of knowing him for almost 50 years. Always gave me good advice, lent me a helping hand and also turned me onto the steel guitar world at large. Here we are having a chat at the SWSGA show last January. Hard to believe we'll never talk again.
R.I.P. my friend

Mike Sigler · Post by **Mike Sigler** » 28 Jun 2019 5:10 am

Blackie was one of my dearest friends, I will awaite our reunion in heaven someday soon !
God bless, and prayers for the family.
Mike

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 28 Jun 2019 9:56 pm

LJ Eiffert wrote:I know how well I knew him, Mr.Taylor. I know I'm the only one who would call him by his real name, O'Fay. What an honor to be his friend of many,many years & to pick with him on many sessions & gigs. <> R.I.P. my dear ole friend Mr.Blackie Taylor = O'Fay .... May God our Father bless his Family with joy in his honest way of life. The Eiffert Family

Only Blackie could make a post by LJ intelligible...

David Wright · Post by **David Wright** » 1 Jul 2019 3:50 am

Very sad news, Prayers for the family...

Ross Shafer · Post by **Ross Shafer** » 1 Jul 2019 9:37 am

RIP Blackie!

Michael Breid · Post by **Michael Breid** » 1 Jul 2019 6:18 pm

I met Blackie Taylor a few times. Gave me some good tips on playing and tuning. RIP my friend.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 10 Jul 2019 4:53 pm

I'm very sad to hear of Blackie's passing! We'd been friends since the sixties, have played together, I've worked for him as a guitar teacher and occasional guitar repairman (when he couldn't find anyone else) and a host of other situations. He hired me to play bass with a couple of guest steel players at his shop (including the Big E, Bill Stafford, and a couple of others on steel shows.

The last time I saw him was on my last trip to SoCal a couple of years ago when I visited his store in Riverside. Blackie was the kind of guy who helped out musician's by extending them credit on instrument purchases when they couldn't get it anywhere else. One time years back I was playing a club in Stanton, Ca. which got broken into one night and my amp was stolen. Blackie brought an amp to the club for me and let me pay it off a few bucks a week. I know for a fact that he'd done that for many others.

Leo, If I remember right it wasn't O'Fay..... His first name was Fay and his middle initial was O... Fay O. Tayler. I used to tease him about his name being Fay O. because a Spanish word for "Ugly" is "Feo" which is prounounced Fay O........

Blackie was unique with his 12 string A6th tuning. With his A and B pedals he'd lower it to E9th for some of the commercial Mooney licks he did so well.

Some of you old SoCal guys might remember his notorious motor home which was "Party Central" on occasion for various reasons. RIP Blackie old friend, you were always there when needed and I'll never forget you......JH in Va.

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 10 Jul 2019 5:09 pm

Jerry Hayes wrote: Blackie was unique with his 12 string A6th tuning. With his A and B pedals he'd lower it to E9th for some of the commercial Mooney licks he did so well.

Finally I got an answer to my question I had asked on the forum some time back.

My first hands-on experience with a PSG, to even see one up close and personal, was with one of the 12-strings in Blackie's Riverside store. My first lesson ever.

I've got it on Hi-8 video tape BTW with Blackie sitting next to me while I fumbled with the picks and grips.

I was awful! Blackie said nothing, patience was his.

He told me to start off pressing the AB pedals down and start from there.

Was this only because it was a 12?

Thanks Jerry for posting this and sorry for your/our loss!

Pat Moore · Post by **Pat Moore** » 10 Jul 2019 7:21 pm

Sad news. I only met him a couple times when he added a knee lever to my new
ShoBud Pro II back in 1977. I remembered him all my life. Was even telling a friend about him a couple of weeks ago.
R.I.P. Blackie ðŸŽ¶ðŸ™ðŸŽ¶

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 15 Jul 2019 6:46 am

Hey Jerry. Fay O Taylor is right. But,I would always call him O Fay.... R.I.P. Blackie.

Chance Wilson · Post by **Chance Wilson** » 24 Jul 2019 9:32 pm

Once he told me: "I'm on the Zoo Tour-Eagles, Elks, Moose and Lion's clubs". I was getting worried because he hadn't been around the last couple of times I tried to check in. Thanks for geeking out on oddball antiques with me over the years-RIP!

Rick Jackson · Post by **Rick Jackson** » 25 Jul 2019 7:01 am

The last time I saw Blackie we sat and I asked him about his early years growing up in Arkansas and his steel guitar journey. You could tell Blackie was enjoying retelling all of the stories about the late 40's and early 50's country music scene in LA. He was my friend for many years and I will truly miss him.

bruce fischer · Post by **bruce fischer** » 26 Jul 2019 12:26 pm

RIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dom Franco · Post by **Dom Franco** » 31 Jul 2019 12:08 pm

So sorry to hear this... I took a few lessons from him many years ago, Bought a few steel guitars and accessories over the decades.
It was always great to see him each time and talk STEEL...

Praying for his family and loved ones now as we will all surely miss him here on this earth.

We will all one day walk thru the Valley of the Shadow of Dead strings and I hope we can join him playing our steel guitars in Heaven.

Guy DeVillez · Post by **Guy DeVillez** » 6 Feb 2020 8:29 am

I met Blackie about 20 years ago when I started collecting slide bars. I was pretty shocked to see the vacuum cleaner store sharing space with the steel guitars. He welcomed me warmly, and we talked most of the afternoon about R.C. Allen, he had played with him in clubs in El Monte, and Dicky Stubbs, he would take the gigs that Dicky was not able to. RIP Mr. Taylor.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 6 Feb 2020 9:03 am

Somewhere around 1982, I called Blackie and set up an appointment for a lesson. He thought I wanted him to teach me how to play, mbut when I got to his store,m said "Teacjh me how to take this thing apart."

Blackie was surprised, and amused, but he did what I asked. He showed me how to remove the cross rods and bell cranks and place the pull rods in the bell cranks etc.

I miss him.