Morgan Taylor is a children’s performer who has brought children into the world with his fantastical songs and hand-drawn animation. gustafer yellow goldA saffron-colored explorer from the sun who shared a house with an eel and enjoyed the music of a rock band made up of bees.
His death in hospital was due to sepsis, said his wife, Rachel Roshak. was
First in his native Ohio, then in New York City from 1999, Mr. Taylor struggled in relative obscurity as a guitarist and sound engineer for minor rock bands for years. Occasionally, he would record funny songs he had written for his own amusement. About 20 years ago, his wife, a singer-songwriter, suggested she write a children’s book.
“Over the years, writing song after song, I happened to build this whole universe out of these scattered pieces,” he told the Philadelphia Daily in 2011. talking to the news.
In particular, “I’m From the Sun” inspired Taylor to create Gustafer Yellowgold, introduced on CD and DVD in 2005, both called “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World”. He developed a stage show to accompany that release, singing songs from the record while an animated video he created played on the screen.
Taylor said his Gustafer songs and stories, two of which were Grammy-nominated albums, are “about the rollercoaster of childhood.”
Even though it was aimed at younger children, Mr. Taylor was nothing like Rafi or the Wiggles. His songs had a rock sensibility, which he hoped would not disgust his parents.
In 2011, he said, “It’s really for adults, and for those who enjoy humor, absurdity, and good pop music.”
He has performed Gustafer shows around the country, including Symphony Space in Manhattan, which Darren Critz, director of the performing arts program, was always happy to book.
“Through Gustafer Yellow Gold, Morgan’s music reflected everything parents could dream of seeing in their children’s lives: joy, love of life,” Critz said in an email. , creativity, surprise, and even a hint of rebellion.” “All of it encouraged children to be who they are and never stop growing into who they wanted to be. Rather than words of encouragement that inevitably trigger infant-style eye rolls.” What a wonderful gift it is for parents to be able to share these ideals with their children through music.”
Mr. Taylor released a series of Gustafer CDs and DVDs over the years, which became more ambitious as it went on. His fourth release, ‘Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock’ (2011), was the first to have a narrative thread (Gustafer searches for the toe of the longest sock in the universe) that runs through all 10 songs. .
“It’s easy for me to make something weird and funny,” he told Ohio’s Dayton Daily News that year. I thought it was important to have, and it was a good challenge for me because it’s easy to be silly, but I wanted it to be silly and linear.”
Mr. Taylor’s songs were full of colorful word juxtapositions. One was called “Wisconsin Poncho”, the other his “Melter Swelter”. For example, the song and video “Gravy Insane” tells the story of a family of bats who are good at making gravy and have to set up an impromptu gravy stand on the roadside when their gravy truck is jackknifed. (“Bats don’t drive,” the lyrics explain) and the spilled cargo drew crowds.
“Gravy Insane” was included in Gustafer’s 2015 release “Dark Pie Concerns” and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album. “Brighter Side” released in 2017 is also nominated.
Morgan Andrew Taylor was born on September 5, 1969, near Dayton, Kettering, Ohio, to Gordon and Elizabeth (Young) Taylor.and his memorial service Some of the stories told about him at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton on 18 August referred to his ability as a child to convincingly imitate different sounds. . His version of the school bell at the end of the period was so accurate that he sometimes used it to dismiss classes early, leaving other classes focused in the hallway like Mr. Taylor. Any teacher he sacrificed was left puzzled as to why not and his classmates were sent on their way.
He graduated from Kettering High School and attended a local college for a while, but never completed a degree. More formative than his classroom learning, he said, was discovering Shakespeare in 1988 with his Minnesota rock band Tripp.
“I was completely blown away and obsessed with their music,” he told the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2011. The reason he arrived at the creature a few years later when he unfolded Gustafer’s origin story is because of its infatuation. Earth by landing on Lake Minnesota.
After playing with bands in Ohio, Mr. Taylor moved to New York in 1999. He found work as a sound engineer in his room living in his lower east club, introducing local musicians. Ms. Roshak would occasionally perform there and, as Ms. Taylor told her New York Times in 2006, one night, “She stayed after the gig and we talked. Suddenly the sun came up.” , we were kissing. Street corner.”
They got married in 2004. In addition to his wife, he has two sons, Harvey and Ridley. his mother; brother, Grant; and his sister Ann Wiseman.
Mr. Taylor developed Gustafer Yellow Gold into a modest franchise that included his own plush toys. He also had a radio show at his WKNY in Kingston, New York. podcast About Trip Shakespeare.
Jim Manson, the group’s bassist, paid tribute to Taylor in a statement.
“He made the reality of growing up less scary for all of us,” he said, “parents and children alike.”