The legendary dobro player and Grammy winner, Robert Arthur "Tut" Taylor, Sr. passed away today (April 9th, 2015)
His daughter in law, Kerri Taylor, spoke for the family saying:
The Taylor family … along with the Bluegrass community … has lost a great man today. My father-in-law, The Flatpickin’ Dobro Man, Tut Taylor, has joined the love of his life, Lee, in heaven. I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with him over the last few years. I loved listening to his jokes and those of you who knew Tut know how he loved to tell jokes! It wasn’t necessarily the joke I enjoyed but watching and listening to him tell it was great. I remember the first time I met the entire family he showed a slideshow of the family growing up. We all had some good laughs going through those pictures. And the food and the card games ….. Tut truly loved life! I am amazed at the talent Tut had in all the paintings he did and music he played. I was greatly honored when he gave me one of his slide bars and asked me to photograph his hand as he played his music. He sure did love to play! God Bless you Tut Taylor. You will be greatly missed! I’m sure there is some pickin’ going on up there in heaven and everyone is tapping along.
Taylor played banjo and mandolin as a child, and began playing dobro at age 14, learning to use the instrument with a distinctive flat-picking style.
At the Grammy Awards of 1995, he was presented with the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album for his work on THE GREAT DOBRO SESSIONS with Jerry Douglas.
About the time of the second World War, a young Tut Taylor, who didn't know any better, taught himself to play a dobro with a flatpick. The resulting sound was fresh and unique, and it became Tut's trademark. Folks called him the "flatpickin' dobro man".
Through the years he became one of bluegrass music's most appreciated musicians for his contributions to the music, both on and off the stage.
In the 1960s, Tut was a member of the "FOLKSWINGERS", a group that also featured a pre-stardom Glen Campbell and The Dillards. Later in that decade he was a member of John Hartford's Aero Plain Band.
Tut was a Nashville fixture and often a rich source of historical information on the formative years of Bluegrass Music. Tut was front and just off of center as a member of Roy Acuff's band on the last performance of the "Grand Ol' Opry" at the Ryman Auditorium before the show and broadcast was moved to Opryland.
According to Norman Blake who played with Tut in the AERO PLAIN BAND, "Tut has always been there, right in the middle of things"
Fans can still listen or download free MP3 files of Tut's early reel to reel and cassette archive recordings from the Official Tut Taylor Website. The Collection spans almost 60 years of Jam sessions, shows and private picking events. This is all provided by: the "Steam Powered Preservation Society"
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