Mary Taylor was a hard-working songwriter and performer who struggled to establish herself in the changing world of mid-'60s Nashville, when beehives were still in style, and countrypolitan was coming in. Signed to Capitol Records and later to Dot, she released a handful of singles for each label, and penned several songs covered by other artists... Taylor's first big breakthrough was in 1965 when Jody Miller recorded her song "Queen Of The House," a feminist-themed answer song/parody based on Roger Miller's "King Of The Road," which became a Top Five hit on the Country charts. Around this time, Taylor was booked on a long-running package tour, performing with established stars such as Roy Clark and Hank Thompson. She also made appearances on several TV shows, eventually following Clark and landing a spot on Hee-Haw for a season or two... Even with all this exposure, Taylor never quite clicked as a solo star, recording only singles for Capitol and later plugging away at Dot for three years before getting to record her lone LP. Around the same time, Taylor married fellow songwriter John Salisbury and moved to Nashville around 1971; Taylor later retired to Coffeyville, Kansas, down by the Oklahoma border.

Mary Taylor "Mary Taylor's Very First Album" (Dot Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Joe Allison)
This was Mary Taylor's first -- and only -- full album, recorded after years of plugging away under the radar. Despite the humiliatingly banal title, this record was long overdue, and it would be nice to hear it re-released sometime, along with her earlier singles. This album seems to have been cobbled together from various studio sessions and what must have originally been demo recordings (the sound quality on the sessions run by Billy Mize is rather muffled, although the rest of the album is not...) On several songs, Taylor's quite perky and fun, though at times the production sounds a little indifferent... Among the highlights, is one track that made me laugh out loud: in the middle of a so-so rendition of "Flowers On The Wall," she stops cold and instructs the band, "give me an 'A'," then segues into "Hava Nagila," which is as hilarious and absurd as it sounds. And was there ever an album #2? Alas, apparently not.

Mary Taylor (Capitol Records, 1964) (# 5107) (7")
A: "He's Comin' Home" (c: Bare, Williams, Mary Taylor)
B: "Little Bobby Bear" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)

Mary Taylor (Capitol Records, 1964) (# 5210) (7")
A: "Johnny's Not The Only Boy" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "Please Don't Tell Them About Me" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)

Mary Taylor (Capitol Records, 196-?) (# 5372) (7")
A: "He Believes Me" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "If You Think You Feel Lonesome" (c: Roger Miller)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)

Mary Taylor (Capitol Records, 196-?) (# 5484) (7")
A: "Finders Keepers" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "Before He Was Yours, He Was Mine" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)

Mary Taylor & Roy Clark (Capitol Records, 1966) (# 5664) (7")
A: "Hey Sweet Thing" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "If You Want It, Come Get It" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Marvin Hughes)
I would rate this one as a misfire: both sides are basically attempts to drum up a sort of go-go-delic, swingin' pop sound, but it just sounds phony and artificial. Plus, I don't really feel much chemistry between Taylor and Clark... I mean, good for him helping her with her career, but the songs just don't work that well.

Mary Taylor (Capitol Records, 1966) (# 5582) (7")
A: "Today Is Not The Day" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "I'm Gonna Slip Around On You" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)

Mary Taylor (Capitol Records, 1966) (# 5776) (7")
A: "Don't Waste Your Time" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "We Fooled 'Em Again" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)
"Don't Waste Your Time" has a strong girl-group feel while "We Fooled 'Em" is an earthy cheatin' song with some super-twangy guitar... I wonder if the picker was Roy Clark, who she was on tour with (along with Hank Thompson) circa 1966-67... Hmmmm... Meanwhile, a plug in Billboard mentions her doing a gig up in Reno, Nevada with Jerry Naylor, so she was keeping busy. This was the first of three charting singles for Mary Taylor, though ironically the last one she cut for Capitol. Her switch to Dot Records seemed like a good move, and part of an uphill swing in her career, culminating in a full album coming out in '71, but after that, things suddenly stopped, possibly as a result of her marrying songwriter John Salisbury and "settling down." Bummer.

Mary Taylor (Dot Records, 196-?) (# 45-17104) (7")
A: "If I Don't Like The Way You Love Me" (c: Mary Taylor)
B: "It Takes So Many" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Joe Allison)
Two more Taylor originals, one an uptempo, semi-feminist novelty number in which she says she'll just look for greener pastures if her lover lets her down; the flip side is a little drippy (and has an odd arrangement with a harpsichord at its center) though Taylor does a great job sounding like Patsy Cline... Worth a spin, particularly for the chicken-picking guitar on "If I Don't Like The Way You Love Me."

Mary Taylor (Dot Records, 1968) (# 45-17168) (7")
A: "Feed Me One More Lie" (c: Dallas Frazier)
B: "I'll Be Better Off" (c: Hank Cochran & Dave Kirby)
(Produced by Joe Allison)

Mary Taylor (Dot Records, 1969) (# 45-17225) (7")
A: "Alexander" (c: Buddy Mize)
B: "The Bridge I Tried To Burn" (c: Mary Taylor)
(Produced by Joe Allison)

Mary Taylor (Dot Records, 1969) (# 45-17303) (7")
A: "Everything But" (c: Kris Kristofferson)
B: "Back Porch Heart" (c: Dallas Frazier & A. L. Owens)
(Produced by Joe Allison)

Mary Taylor (Dot Records, 1970) (# 45-17356) (7")
A: "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl" (c: Hank Thompson & Chuck Harding)
B: "He Used Me" (c: Jim Weatherly)
(Produced by Buddy Mize)
Sadly, this one's a bit of a dud, though the heavy rock/blues arrangement and her snarling vocal on the A-side, "Honky Tonk Girl" is pretty unusual and has strong campy appeal. (Alas, it is not a cover of the old Johnny Horton song, which might have been fun. More disappointing is the flip side, Jim Weatherly's "He Used Me," which has a provocative theme (for mainstream country music at the time) but is a slow-moving, even leaden, song, including her vocals. Seems like they were really trying to toss stuff at the wall and see what would stick, an approach that doesn't always work.

Mary Taylor (Dot Records, 1971) (# DOA-17376) (7")
A: "Room For One More Heartache" (c: Buddy Mize & Billy Mize)
B: "Hangin' On" (c: Buddy Mize & Ira Allen)
(Produced by Buddy Mize)

• Alas, Mary Taylor's website marytaylorlive.com went dark sometime after 2017.

Hick Music Index