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Taj Mahal
Background information
Birth name	Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
Born	May 17, 1942 (1942-05-17) (age 65) New York City, New York United States
Genre(s)	Blues
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Banjo, Bass, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Slide guitar, Resonator guitar, Kazoo, Fife
Years active	1964-present
Associated acts	Rising Sons
Website	tajblues.com

Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, better known by the stage name Taj Mahal (born May 17, 1942), is an American blues musician.

Taj Mahal was born in Harlem, in New York City, but grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father was a jazz pianist/composer/arranger of Jamaican descent, while his mother was a African American schoolteacher from South Carolina who sang gospel. His grandfather married a St. Kitts woman. His sister was Carole Fredericks. In his song titled "Ain't It Funky Now", he talks about his past and where he grew up.

In the early 1960s he studied agriculture and animal husbandry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and graduated in 1964. (The same university also gave him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 2006.) While there he formed Taj Mahal & the Elektras; using a stage name of the Taj Mahal was inspired by a dream.

After college, he moved to Los Angeles and formed the group Rising Sons with Ry Cooder in 1964. The group signed with Columbia Records and released one single and recorded another album which was not released by Columbia until 1992. Taj, frustrated with the mixed reaction to his music quit the group and went solo. Still with Columbia, he released a well-received, self-titled album in 1968, and based on its success released a second album, Natch'l Blues that same year. The two record set Giant Step, released in 1969 firmly established Taj as an American blues artist, with its title track becoming a cult favorite still popular with today's audiences. Taj and guitarist Jesse Ed Davis are also known for their performance in 1968 on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.

His music blends various sources: blues, reggae, Cajun, gospel, bluegrass, Hawaiian (in fact, Taj lived for many years on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i), African and Caribbean musical traditions. While keeping true to their roots, he adds his own special touch. He also plays an assortment of musical instruments.

He has received two Grammy Awards in the category Best Contemporary Blues Album, the first in 1997 for Señor Blues, and again in 2000 for Shoutin' In Key.

He has performed on various movie soundtracks including Sounder and Blues Brothers 2000 in which he also appeared. He also appeared briefly in the motion pictures Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (as the gatekeeper), Six Days Seven Nights (as the singer at a resort hotel), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (as the leader of a swing band performing at a party), Outside Ozona and The Song Catcher. He can also be heard singing the theme song and playing the acoustic guitar soundtrack on the children's cartoon Peep and the Big Wide World. In addition, he wrote and performed the title theme song to the Star Wars spinoff cartoon series, Ewoks. He is also the composer of famous song She Caught The Katy (along with Yank Rachel) which is the first song performed by Jake Blues (John Belushi) at the beginning of the movie The Blues Brothers.

In 2006, he appeared as a guest musician on the Ladysmith Black Mambazo album Long Walk to Freedom, playing an electric guitar backing for "Mbube" ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight").

On February 8, 2006, Taj Mahal was designated the "official Blues Artist" of Massachusetts by Chapter 19 of the Acts of 2006.^[1] On December 16, 2006, he appeared with his band, Taj Mahal Trio, at the 18th Annual Warren Haynes Xmas Jam in Asheville, NC. The appearance was recorded for an upcoming DVD which is to be released in early 2007.

In 2006, Taj Mahal moved from Hawaii to Berkeley, California (which he calls "Yupsterella"), where he had lived during the peak of his career in the 1970s.^[2]

• 1968 - Taj Mahal
• 1968 - The Natch'l Blues
• 1969 - Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home

Taj Mahal

Giant Step/ de ole folks at Home. 1969.

Giant Step. Side One : 1.Ain 't Gwine Whisle Dixie. (Anymo') (Taj Mahal/Jesse Ed Davis/Gary Gilmore) (1:02) 2.Take A Giant Step.(Carol King/Jerry Coffin/Garth Hiudson) (4:16) 3.Give Your Woman What She Wants.(Taj Mahal/Joe Hirshorn) (2:27) 4.Good Morning Little School Girl. (John Lee Williams/ Garth Hudson) (3:42) 5.You 're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond. (Garth Hudson/ Blind Willie Johnson) (4:54) Side Two : 1.Six Day 's On The Road. (Carl Montgomery/ Garth Hudson/Earl Green) (3:01) 2.Farther On Down The road. (You Will Accompany Me) (Taj Mahal/ Garth Hudson) (4:37) 3.Keep Your Hands off Her. (Huddie Ledbetter/Gurth Hudson) (2:16) 4.Bacon Fat. (Robert Johnson/Garth Hudson) (6:46)

- Personnel - Giant Step : Taj Mahal – Vocals, Harmonica, Banjo, Mississippi National Steel – Bodied Guitar, Acoustic Jesse Edwin Davis – Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Organ. Gary Gilmore – Electric Bass. Chuck “ Brother Budwel – Drumas.

Engineering - Jerry Hochmann, Brian Ross-Myring

De Ole Foks At Home. Side Threeporation 1.Linin' Track. (Huddie Ledbetter/Garth Hudson) (1:39) 2.Country Blues No.1. (Taj Mahal/Gart Hudson) (2:37) 3.Wild Ox Moan. Garth Hudson/Vera Hall/ Ruby Pickens/Tartt) (2:46) 4.Light Train Blues. (Taj Mahal/Gart Hudson) (3:19) 5.A Little Soulful Tune. (Taj Mahal/Gart Hudson) (2:38) 6.Candy Man. (Gary Davis/Garth Hudson) (2:55) 7.Cluck Old Man. (Tradd. Garth Hudson) (2:30) Side Four. 1.Coloured Arstocracy. (Ttadd. Gart Hudson) 2:02) 2.Blind Boy Rag. (Taj Mahal/Gart Hudson) (4:08) 3.Stagger Lee. (Garth Hudson/Lloyd Price/Harold Logan) (3:20) 4.Cajun Tune. (Taj Mahal/Gart Hudson) (1:55) 5.Fishing Blues. (Gart Hudson/Jerry Williams/Henry Thomas) (3:05) 6.Annie 's Lover. (Taj Mahal/Gart Hudson) (3:34)

- Personnel - De Ole Foks At Home. Taj Mahal – Vocals, Harmonica, Guitar, Banjo, Jive. Engineering – Chris Hinshaw Produced by David Rubinson for Fillmore Corporation.

• 1971 - The Real Thing
• 1971 - Happy Just To Be Like I Am
• 1972 - Recycling The Blues & Other Related Stuff
• 1973 - Oooh So Good 'n Blues
• 1974 - Mo' Roots
• 1975 - Music Keeps Me Together
• 1976 - Satisfied 'N Tickled Too
• 1976 - Music Fa' Ya (Musica Para Ti)
• 1977 - Brothers (Soundtrack)
• 1977 - Evolution (The Latest)
• 1983 - Take A Giant Step
• 1986 - Taj
• 1991 - Mule Bone
• 1991 - Like Never Before
• 1993 - Dancing The Blues
• 1993 - An Evening of Acoustic Music
• 1993 - The Source by Ali Farka Touré (World Circuit WCD030 / Hannibal 1375)
• 1995 - Mumtaz Mahal (with V.M. Bhatt and N. Ravikiran)
• 1996 - Phantom Blues
• 1997 - Señor Blues
• 1998 - Sacred Island (with The Hula Blues Band)
• 1999 - Kulanjan (with Toumani Diabaté)
• 2000 - Shoutin' In Key
• 2003 - Hanapepe Dream
• 2003 - Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - Taj Mahal
• 2003 - Blues with Feeling
• 2004 : Musicmakers with Taj Mahal (Music Maker 49)
• 2004 : Etta Baker with Taj Mahal (Music Maker 50)
• 2005 - Mkutano Meets The Culture Musical Club Of Zanzibar
• 2005 - The Essential Taj Mahal

1. ^ An Act Designating Taj Mahal as the Official Blues Artist of the Commonwealth
2. ^ Joel Selvin. "Taj Mahal cools his heels in Berkeley again", San Francisco Chronicle, November 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.