Rockabilly pioneer Vernon Taylor, a Sun Records artist, dies at 88

Vernon Taylor, a 1950s rockabilly musician whose brief run with Sun Records later made him a cult favorite among genre devotees, has died at 88.

Mr. Taylor, born Vernon Walton Alderton, died July 12 after a long battle with dementia, according to an obituary published by Osborne Funeral Home in Williamsport, Maryland. He was born on a farm in Layhill, Maryland, outside Washington, and grew up the youngest of four children in a Baptist family.

At 15, Mr. Taylor formed his first band, The Nighthawks, with two high school classmates. The group’s early break came playing between sets for musician Curley Smith, according to a career retrospective published following his death. Taylor biographies say the Nighthawks went on to host a Saturday night television show on Washington’s WTTG from 1957 to 1960.

Mr. Taylor signed with Dot Records in 1957, releasing two singles that failed to chart. A performance on “American Bandstand” caught the attention of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, according to Mr. Taylor’s Sun Records biography, which led to a deal that produced “Today Is A Blue Day,” produced by Sun Records’ Jack Clement and Phillips. The single, along with a follow-up in 1959, went unnoticed commercially at the time but has since been embraced by rockabilly enthusiasts.

After his music career stalled, Mr. Taylor took a job in printing while continuing to record on the side. A 1989 benefit concert for rockabilly artist Charlie Feathers sparked a comeback that included U.K. tours and reissues of his Sun and Dot material overseas. In 1999, Run Wild Records released “Daddy’s Rockin’,” a 12-song collection of new material. He retired from printing at 79 due to struggles with anxiety and dementia, according to his obituary.

Mr. Taylor is survived by his wife of more than 57 years, Brenda Alderton, three children and five grandchildren.

Tributes poured in following news of his death. Musician Kevin Booth recalled sharing a stage with Mr. Taylor and country singer Ronnie Dove, writing that “he was a very nice man and a great performer.”

The retro group The Fabulous Hubcaps, whom Mr. Taylor inducted into the Southern Legends Entertainment and Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2005, closed their own tribute with a simple send-off: “Rock on friend …. Rock on.”