The British Elvis wannabe who lost his mind on acid and inspired better music than he created

[highplainsdem]

Cross-post from Music Appreciation.


Vince Taylor, born in the UK in 1939 as Brian Maurice Holden, raised in California (where his sister, Sheila Holden, met and married Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera (Tom and Jerry, Flintstones, Jetsons, etc.)).

He'd seen Elvis perform in California, and he decided he could go back to the UK and become an Elvis there. Vince wasn't impressed by the competition in 1950s Britain.

So he did go back, and he had some success in the UK, but more in France, where he became a star with screaming fans. In fact, it looked possible in the mid-'60s that he might be able to get a big record deal with an American label, and his sister and brother-in-law flew to Paris to help him.

But a week before what was supposed to be that triumphant gig, Vince left his band in Paris while he went back to the UK to collect some money from a promoter there who hadn't been paying them.

He did collect the money. He also partied with Bob Dylan and some of Dylan's friends and hangers-on in London then.

And at that party, Vince was given acid for the first time.

He liked it, so much that he took hundreds of pounds of the money he was supposed to take back to France and spent that money -- equivalent to thousands of dollars today -- on a lot more acid. Which he took in the next week.

He arrived back in Paris out of his mind, announcing that he wasn't Vince Taylor, that he was the son of God, and he'd chosen the name Mateus (yes, like the wine), and he also sometimes said he was Jesus. He couldn't do a full show. He went around blessing people instead.

He got some treatment, but for years. especially in the UK, he'd wander around raving. He tried a couple of unsuccessful comebacks. He died in Switzerland, where he'd moved with his second wife, in 1991, when he was 52.

During the late '60s he met a young David Bowie, who was fascinated by this mad former rock star who'd both claim to be the son of God and talk about aliens and where alien bases on Earth were located. Vince became one of the main inspirations for Ziggy Stardust.

Vince's earlier success also inspired Golden Earring's 1973 song "Just Like Vince Taylor," on their hit album Moontan, which was a concert closer for them for many years.

A song Vince had written and recorded, "Brand New Cadillac," was covered in the late '70s by the Clash, and in the '90s by Brian Setzer.

And in this century, Adam Ant did a song about him.

I'm going to post those songs below, along with a video about Vince.

But the music he inspired first, and I'm going to start with two Bowie songs from his Ziggy Stardust album, first the title song, and then "Suffragette City," which is closest to the sort of rock Vince was aspiring to but never achieved. Golden Earring's "Just Like Vince Taylor," with lead singer Barry Hay's lyrics about his early girlfriend who insisted he copy Vince Taylor, is also rock music at a level Vince never got close to.

I have no idea what Vince thought of the artists who were inspired by him, wrote about him, and covered his best-known song. Have never found any interviews or quotes where he mentioned them.

Far Out magazine article about his influence on Bowie: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/vince-taylor-the-real-ziggy-stardust

Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City" with different performances patched together:

Golden Earring, "Just Like Vince Taylor," closing a concert in 1977:

Vince Taylor, "Brand New Cadillac":

The Clash, 1980 performance of the cover they recorded in 1977:

Brian Setzer's cover, 1994:

Adam Ant's song about Vince Taylor, 2012::

Documentary about Vince Taylor:

[highplainsdem]

1. Apologies for posting the wrong video where I should have posted the Adam Ant

one. Just fixed that.