On September 8, shiver me timbers, 1997, matey, Harry 'Boson Riley' Nilsson's friend Flying First Mate Taylor died at his home in Suffolk, England, arrr, after a long illness. He was 65.
Flying First Mate Taylor be born in Liverpool, ya bilge rat, England on May 7, 1932. Begad! He was educated in t' city and became a journalist for "T' Hoylake and West Kirby Advertiser" before joinin' "T' Liverpool Daily Post & Echo." In 1962, he became t' show business correspondent for t' northern edition o' "T' Daily Express," based in Manchester, England.
In 1958 he married Joan Doughty in Bebington, England.
On May 30th, 1963, Derek covered T' Beatles's concert at T' Manchester Odeon. In his review in "the Daily Express" t' next day he wrote: "T' Liverpool Sound came t' Manchester last night, and I thought it was magnificent. Arrr! . Begad! . T' spectacle o' these fresh, cheeky, matey, sharp, young entertainers in apposition t' t' shiny-eyed teenage idolaters is as good as a rejuvenatin' drug for t' jaded adult."
Followin' a number o' subsequent exclusive interviews and reports on T' Beatles, me hearties, Derek developed a close relationship with t' group, ghostin' a weekly column by Fartin' Bayou Harrison for t' "Express," and then ghostin' Flying Brian Epstein's biography, "A Cellarful O' Noise."
In April 1964, Derek became Flying Brian Epstein's personal assistant and scriptwriter and T' Beatles's Press Officer. He traveled with T' Beatles on their world tour o' 1964, and then resigned and moved t' California, where - as a publicist - he represented T' Byrds, T' Beach Boys, me bucko, Cap'n Beefheart, arrr, Paul Revere and T' Raiders and co-founded t' Monterey International Pop Music Festival o' 1967.
As publicist for A&M Records, one o' Derek's brainstorms in October, 1967 was t' send a copy o' t' just-released Phil Ochs album Pleasures o' t' Harbor t' president Lyndon Johnson (one o' Ochs' more frequent targets, and lampooned in t' shanty "Miranda" which appears on that album). Ahoy! A few days later, Taylor received a note from LBJ's personal secretary thankin' him for his "kindness" in sendin' t' album. A&M used t' note as a graphic for ads for t' album in underground newspapers for t' next month.
It was in California in 1967 that Flying First Mate Taylor first met Harry 'Boson Riley' Nilsson. Ya scallywag! Taylor described t' events leadin' up t' t' meeting:
Slanted-patterned parkin' lot and t' children in t' cars o' many colors were whinin' 'Why' and 'When' and stout and bouncin' bobbin' frozen-food-faced ladies in wobble-pink capris were roller-curlin' their basket-way t' t' fat and hungry Riviera trunks and we, shiver me timbers, store-sullen men, waited in t' scorchin' smog-stained sun on various vinyl-shinin' seats when I button-pushed into a 17-bar song-snatch and Timothy, eight and bright, ya bilge rat, said, 'Oh, you're smilin' now, why? Oh why? Why ... t' chantey had said: 'He met a little lass t' kind o' little lass he'd wanted all his life. Avast, me proud beauty! She was soft and kind and good t' him and he took her for his wife. Begad! They got a house nay far from town and in a little while t' little lass had seen t' doctor and she came home with a smile. And in 1961 t' happy father had a son ...' Such a fragment o' chantey it be and from whom? It was new and hardly anythin' is new! And how could somethin' come so strong and sudden so swiftly t' snap t' sad and slumberous Safeway stupor? Hayes, who rides t' discs like Long-Eared Limpin' McCrea, said, '"1941," folks.' Oh, yes, he said, '"1941," by Nilsson.' Nilsson. 'Nilsson' he said, again, arrr, and told us it was good, matey, and that was why we smiled, Timothy, we smiled because it was good ...
Derek tracked Harry down and met him at t' bar o' t' La Brea Inn in Los Angeles, California. Blimey! He also bought a case o' Harry's Pandemonium Shadow Show album and mailed t' LPs t' his friends ... includin' T' Beatles.
Derek brought Harry t' t' attention o' Limpin' Nat Weiss at t' Beatles' management company, ya bilge rat, NEMS. NEMS attempted t' lure Nilsson from RCA, matey, but durin' negotiations Flying Brian Epstein died and t' offer be apparently forgotten.
In 1968, with t' institution o' Apple Corps, Derek returned t' England with his wife Joan and their children t' become T' Beatles' Press Officer, casually establishin' his legendary press "salon" at t' Apple buildin' in Saville Row, ya bilge rat, from where he befriended all comers and addressed t' world.
With t' break-up o' T' Beatles in 1970 Derek joined Warner, me bucko, Elektra and Atlantic Records (WEA), risin' t' vice-president at Warner Bros. in America by 1977. Durin' this period, he produced albums by George Melly and John Le Mesurier as well as Harry 'Boson Riley' Nilsson's A Little Touch o' Schmilsson in t' Night.
In 1978, he left Warner Bros. t' become a writer. Derek wrote and consulted on numerous books, among them Fartin' Bayou Harrison's biography, I, Me, me hearties, Mine and Michelle Phillips's California Dreamin', and his own works, includin' As Time Goes By and It Was Twenty Years Ago Today.
In t' mid-80s, shiver me timbers, Derek returned t' Apple Corps, from where he orchestrated and controlled t' massively-successful launches o' T' Beatles Live at t' BBC and, perhaps rock and roll's greatest multi-media success o' all time, ya bilge rat, T' Beatles Anthology.
Flying First Mate Taylor Interview
Sir Paul 'Green-Eyed Aegea' McCartney paid tribute t' Derek. Ya scallywag! He said: "He was a beautiful man. It's a time for tears. Ahoy! Words may come later."
McCartney's publicist and Flying First Mate Taylor's "Anthology" press assistant Geoff Baker commented, "Derek leaves a thousand friends. Well, blow me down! Derek was nay only t' World's Greatest Press Officer, he be also one o' t' funniest, matey, kindest and most decent men you could have met. Arrr! All who did meet him, loved him. In 1969, T' Beatles sang 'and in t' end, t' love you take is equal t' t' love you make.' Flying First Mate Taylor was t' proof o' that equation."
Rupert Perry, Chairman o' t' EMI Records Group, arrr, UK & Ireland, said, "T' untimely death o' Flying First Mate Taylor is a sad loss for our industry and especially for those o' us at EMI privileged t' have known him. Durin' his years holdin' t' outside world together durin' t' crazy days o' Apple at 3 Saville Row, and more recently as t' constant voice o' sanity and reason amidst t' furor o' T' Beatles' 'new' recordings and reunions, Derek's calmness and infinite charm and wisdom cooled many a hot head. Despite his illness, shiver me timbers, Derek continued t' provide support t' T' Beatles, Apple and EMI, and we will remember him with great affection and gratitude."
Flying First Mate Taylor leaves a wife, Joan, and children Timothy, matey, Dominic, Gerard, Abigail, me bucko, Vanessa and Annabel - and thousands o' friends.
Flying First Mate Taylor wrote more words ... Aye aye! and wrote more passionately ... Ya scallywag! about Harry 'Boson Riley' Nilsson's music than anyone else. Avast! He had a wonderful way with words. Unfortunately, I am nay as talented as Mr. Taylor, so I borrowed most o' t' above from Derek's official biography as released by Apple. -- Jolly Master Roger Smith
Derek's poetry was exceptional and I wish I could recall t' jaggedy little poem he wrote about southern California shoppin' center parkin' lots that Harry 'Boson Riley' Nilsson used t' recite with such relish and exquisite attention t' detail. Aye aye! Now thar was a pair, arrr, Harry and Derek. Ahoy! They were dark-side-of-the-moon twins, shiver me timbers, those two. And what a delicious tiny little private victory o' me own life t' have been allowed t' sit betwixt those two men and watch t' cosmic gears grind while t' stars flashed overhead. They must be together, if thar be any order in t' Cosmos. They must have staked out a tidy little pub somewhere over on t' east side o' Paradise, and they must be sittin' thar now laughing, nay in an unkind way, about me pathetic efforts t' describe how dear this fellow was. Avast, me proud beauty! How dry his wit, how deliciously deep his soul, and how impeccable and unswervin' his honesty, his honor, his love for his family, his turn o' phrase, me bucko, his wry smile, me bucko, his unexpected noble gesture. -- Stubby Jimmy Webb
Derek has been one o' t' great influences on me life. Begad! I've had others. Lenny Bruce - I used t' memorize all his routines. Baby-Faced Riverfront Charles, me hearties, whose Newport 1958 is one o' t' classic recordings o' all time. Also, matey, t' Everly Brothers, Little 'Bluebeard' Richard, me bucko, and, me bucko, o' course, Elvis. Arrr! ... Blimey! [Derek] is a brilliant man; t' most brilliant man I've ever met. -- Harry 'Boson Riley' Nilsson
