Taj Mahal

At 81 years old, Taj Mahal physical status not available right now. We will update Taj Mahal's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Career

Mahal moved to Santa Monica, California, in 1964, where they formed Rising Sons with fellow blues rock guitarists Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid, resulting in a contract with Columbia Records shortly after. On Mahal's first four albums, Jesse Ed Davis, a Kiowa boy from Oklahoma, joined Taj Mahal and played guitar and piano. The group was one of the first interracial bands of the period, and it may have hampered their commercial success. However, Rising Sons bassist Gary Marker later recalled that the band's members were stuck in a creative impasse and were unable to reconcile their personal and cultural differences, even with veteran producer Terry Melcher's assistance. They made enough songs for a full album, but they only had a single album before the band disbanded out. Legacy Records also had The Rising Sons of Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder appear on the CD in 1992, as well as other items from that period. Mahal was also working with others such as Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Muddy Waters during this period.

Mahal stayed with Columbia for his solo career, debuting the self-titled Taj Mahal and The Natch'l Blues in 1968. On Side 2 of Columbia/CBS sampler album "The Rock Machine Turns You On," his song "Statesboro Blues" was included, providing a major boost to his career right away. Jesse Ed Davis, a session musician, appeared at Giant Step/Dead Folks at Home in 1969. He and Cooder appeared with the Rolling Stones during their time together, with whom he appeared at various times in his career. He appeared in the film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968. Columbia's total number of twelve albums from the late 1960s to the 1970s. His 1970s work was particularly important, because West Indian and Caribbean music, jazz, and reggae were all incorporated into the mix. In 1972, he performed in and wrote the film score for the film Sounder, which starred Cicely Tyson. In the sequel, Part 2, Sounder, he reprised his role as composer and returned as composer.

Mahal left Columbia and signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1976, releasing three albums with them. One of these was another film score for 1977's Brothers; the album bore the same name. He had trouble finding another record deal after being with Warner Bros., this being the heyday of heavy metal and disco music.

Stalled in his work, he migrated to Kauai, Hawaii, in 1981, and soon formed the Hula Blues Band. The band soon began playing regularly and touring, with a group of guys getting together for fishing and a good time. He maintained a low public profile in Hawaii for the majority of the 1980s before naming Taj in 1988 for Gramavision. This was a comeback of sorts for him, with him appearing on both Gramavision and Hannibal Records at the same time.

Mahal became involved in the non-profit Music Maker Relief Foundation in the 1990s. He was still on the Foundation's advisory board as of 2019.

He appeared on the Private Music label in the 1990s, releasing albums full of blues, pop, R&B, and rock. He performed collaborative projects with Eric Clapton and Etta James.

Mumtaz Mahal, his first American blues fusing Indian stringed instruments, was accompanied by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on Mohan veena and N. Ravikiran, a fretless lute.

Willie Nile, Willie Nile, Rob Hyman, Garth Hudson, and the Chieftains performed on the Americana album Largo based on Anton Dvok's music in 1998.

At the Grammy Awards in 1997, he received Best Contemporary Blues Album for Sethor Blues, followed by another Grammy for Shoutin' in Key in 2000. He performed the theme song to the children's television show Peep and the Big Wide World, which premiered in 2004.

Mahal appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot and Riot in honor of Nigerian afrobeat singer Fela Kuti. Paul Heck's album was highly praised, and all funds from the album were donated to AIDS charities.

Taj Mahal appeared on 'hedfoneresonance,' on Olmecha Supreme's 2006 album. Deva Mahal, a Wellington-based group led by Mahal's son Imon Starr (Ahmen Mahal), also featured Deva Mahal on vocals.

Mahal collaborated with Keb' Mo' to produce TajMo, a joint album that debuted on May 5, 2017. Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, Sheila E., and Lizz Wright have all appeared on the album, as well as six original compositions and five covers from artists and bands like John Mayer and The Who.

Mahal appeared in Byrds founding member Gene Clark's 'The Byrd Who Flew Alone', directed by Four Suns Productions in 2013. Clark and Mahal had been mates for many years.

Mahal appeared in the award-winning documentary film The American Epic Sessions, directed by Bernard MacMahon, capturing Charley Patton's "High Water Everywhere" on the first electrical sound recording device from the 1920s. Mahal appeared on American Epic, a accompanying documentary film about the 1920s rural recording artists who had a major influence on American music and personally, as well as Gandhi.

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