Motown’s first white singer and songwriter was so underrated…
OBITUARY by Ian Woolley
R. Dean Taylor
The Canadian singer and songwriter auditioned and signed for Berry Gordy’s record label in 1964. At the time he was the first white artist on their books.
He become part of what was known as ‘The Motown Clan’ when their writers Holland, Dozier, and Holland left the company.
Richard Dean Taylor became a star in his own right when Gotta See Jane made the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1968.
In the 70’s he had hits with Indiana Wants Me which topped the US and Canadian charts in 1971 and There’s A Ghost In My House. Both records gave him a top-three hit in the UK charts. With the latter a re-release of his 1966 song which he co-wrote with Holland-Dozier-Holland.
His wife Janee confirmed his death adding that he had been briefly hospitalized a year ago with COVID-19. He passed away on January 7th, 2022 at the age of 82.