Chicago bluesman loses car in trumped up arrest

CONTACT: Larry Taylor at 773-266-9993 or 278-9525
Larry’s manager. Bonni McKeown bonni (at) larrytaylorbluesnsoul.com 773-209-4712

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPT. 18, 2006

Chicago West Side blues singer and drummer Larry Taylor, 50, faces a trial on Sept. 28 for what he has protested are trumped-up charges. Taylor, whose given name is Larry Hill, is the stepson of the late Eddie Taylor Sr., guitarist with Jimmy Reed. He was charged Aug. 10 at 10 a.m. with “trespassing in a vehicle” even though he was driving his own car at the time, he said. Police apparently left the car unlocked and the keys in it, he said. The car was stolen, apparently by neighborhood gang members. He was told by officials at the police pound at 708 N. Sacramento that the car was wrecked in an accident on Aug. 16. He is pursuing the matter with his insurance company, State Farm.

Taylor said he believes the arrest was political harassment. “It might be because I’ve filed two civil rights suits against the police 15 years ago. It might be because I spoke out in a French magazine (Arvern Blues Society ABS magazine winter 2005) last year about the low pay for blues musicians in Chicago tourist clubs. It might be because I am a Muslim. That’s been my religion since 1972. We are supposed to have freedom of religion in this country. I go to a Sunni mosque sometimes to say the prayers, and in 2004 we found out the FBI was bugging the mosque. Since the Patriot Act came out, they are following some people around who have attended services. Maybe this is part of that,” he said.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley did not strongly oppose the Patriot Act, (
www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0926-04.htm ) and civil liberties supporters believe that it has given Chicago police department a freer rein for brutality and corruption. Four officers were charged with a host of crimes, including armed violence, home invasion, residential burglary and aggravated kidnapping of people they were arresting, according to a report in the Sept. 8, 2006 Chicago Tribune. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, black leaders were often saddled with traffic violations and misdemeanor charges that hampered their work.

Taylor added, “ I feel like they are trying to keep me from moving about and making a living. I don’t like things that the government of this country is doing right now, especially to African Americans. I’m not in favor of a violent response even though our problems are getting worse. I only want the government to be fair. Liberty and justice for all. And for me to be left alone to play my music and support my family.”

On Thurs. Aug. 10 there was a terrorist alert regarding a U.S.-British airline threat. Taylor said some of the police officers looked at him and made remarks about Iraq.
He said he was allowed no phone call during his arrest. He was jailed at the 15th District police station at Madison and Waller Streets for 10 hours before being released on a $1000 bond pending his court appearance.

Taylor said he has filed a legal protest against the city police regarding false arrest, racial profiling, malicious prosecution, and damages to his vehicle, which was a total loss after the incident. Taylor said the arrest occurred on Thomas Street, a block from his home in the Austin neighborhood, as he was on his way to make a final payment on his rent-to-own 1995 Chevy Cavalier.

Taylor is asking friends, blues fans and reporters to attend the trial on Thursday Sept. 28, at the city police and court building at 5555 W. Grand Ave., Branch 23-2. The court session begins at 9 a.m. He is also asking for more opportunities to play for private and community parties. Chicago tourist clubs have declined to hire him since 2005, when he took a stand for better musician wages.

“Everyone on earth gets the blues sometimes; that’s why blues music relates to everyone,” Taylor said in an article in Big City Rhythm and Blues magazine for Aug. /Sept. 2006. The magazine was published a week before his arrest. “But our everyday life is extremely hard, and race relations seem like they were better in the 1950s-70s than now. The city is very divided, and there is systematic discrimination against African American men. It seems like they are trying to trip us up and put us in prison. Each day when we go out the door we may not make it back to our families,” he said.

Larry Taylor and his band appeared at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library July 14 in the Chicago Blues Archives "Speaking of the Blues" series. His website, including excerpts of his music, is www.larrytaylorbluesnsoul.com