Vernon Taylor

Vernon Taylor (born November 9, 1937) is an American rockabilly musician.

Taylor grew up on a farm and listened to hillbilly music as a child. At the age of fifteen he formed a group called The Nighthawks with two of his schoolmates. While they were still in high school, Curley Smith performed in town; Taylor asked Smith if The Nighthawks could play in between sets. The Nighthawks’ performance was so well-received that Smith eventually fired his backing band, The Blue Mountain Boys, and replaced them with The Nighthawks. However, when Smith was offered a steady gig in Arkansas, The Nighthawks declined to follow him, preferring to stay local in Virginia.

In 1957, Taylor was offered a spot on a Saturday night television show broadcast out of Washington, D.C., which he kept for over three years. He was offered a contract with Dot Records, and performed on American Bandstand, as well as on regional television broadcasts throughout the eastern half of the United States. In 1958 he signed with Sun Records and released a few singles produced by Jack Clement and Sam Phillips.

However, Taylor never scored a hit, and his involvement in the music industry waned over the course of the 1960s. By the end of the decade he had retired. In 1989, he was asked to play at a benefit concert for Charlie Feathers, which led to a comeback career. He has since performed in the United Kingdom and had a re-release of his Sun and Dot material on Germany‘s Eagle Records. In 1999, Run Wild Records released a 12-song CD of newly-recorded material by Vernon, titled “Daddy’s Rockin'”.