Lynne Taylor

Lynne Taylor was a founding member of The Rooftop Singers: the other members being Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe. Though Lynne was jazz-orientated, she had created a tape in which she overdubbed one of Erik's own albums (True religion) with her own vocals. Erik was impressed by that tape so Lynne was an obvious choice for the group. The trio were an American progressive folk singing group in the early 1960s, best known for the hit "Walk Right In". Even though the Rooftop Singers were a trio, the real star here, at least in the sense that she sets them apart from scores of other guitar picking folkies, is Lynne Taylor. Too many contemporary folk singers sang with an eagerness that had little specific connection to the material actually being sung. In contradistinction,Taylor's cool voice (she'd previously sung with big bands in nightclubs) complemented the complexities of the songs' arrangements. A buried gem in the Rooftop Singers' repertoire is their version of "Ha Ha Thisaway" where Taylor is the only singer, pairing her cool voice with the song's deep feeling. A public domain play song for children, one that Leadbelly introduced to the New York folk scene that later produced the Rooftop Singers. Taylor's smart vocals transform a simple kids folk song into a fatalistic proto-feminist lament. Prior to joining the trio Taylor had been working in East Coast nightclubs since her teens. She had appeared on bills with Frank Sinatra, Sophie Tucker, and Martin & Lewis, and had played the Village Vanguard in New York for 28 weeks, later singing with Benny Goodman and as feature jazz vocalist in The Buddy Rich Band. You can hear echoes of her jazz apprenticeship in The Rooftop Singer's rendition of Duke Ellington's 'It Don't Mean A Thing'. Taylor recorded as a solo artist for Coral. Lynne Taylor married Skip Weshner (1927-1997) a famous radio DJ prominently involved in early 1960s New York folk scene. After the group's hit single "Walk Right In" in early 1963, Skip and Lynne moved to California. Taylor died in 1982.