Larry Tagg is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician, songwriter and producer; a retired high school English and

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

teacher; and also an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

. He was co-leader of the band Bourgeois Tagg in the 1980s with

Brent Bourgeois Brent Thomas Bourgeois (born June 16, 1958) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and producer. He was co-leader of the band Bourgeois Tagg with Larry Tagg, and has released several solo albums. His later work has been classified in the gen ...

and has released two solo albums. After Bourgeois Tagg broke up, Tagg worked as a staff songwriter for

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. Tagg has also published a number of works on Civil War history. Tagg is the older brother of musician

Eric Tagg Eric Tagg (born January 9, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was previously a member of Dutch music groups Beehive and Rainbow Train. He is also notable for being the songwriter, bassist and vocalist in guitarist Lee Riteno ...

Early life and education

Born in

Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the United States that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is ho ...

, Tagg grew up in Illinois and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. As a high school senior in 1969 he attended a concert by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, walked backstage, and talked with drummer

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

.Backpage author bio in ''The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln'' (2009), unnumbered last page He graduated from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

with a degree in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and was awarded a teaching assistantship at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

but left after one semester.

Bourgeois Tagg

Tagg moved with

to California's

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

, and in the late 1970s they played in a

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

band called Uncle Rainbow, which included members from Texas and other parts of the South. In 1984, they moved to Sacramento and formed Bourgeois Tagg with guitarist

Lyle Workman Lyle Dean Workman is an American guitarist, composer, session and touring musician, and music producer. His music has been widely distributed since his debut on the eponymous '' Bourgeois Tagg'' album in 1986, and is known for his work as compos ...

, drummer

Michael Urbano Michael Urbano (born March 19, 1966 in Sacramento, California, USA) is a musician, programmer, and record producer. Career One of Urbano's first gigs was as a member of Bourgeois Tagg, a 1980s band that was fronted by Brent Bourgeois and Larry ...

, and keyboardist Scott Moon. Bourgeois played keyboards, Tagg played bass, and they both shared lead vocal duties. They released a self-titled debut album in 1986, which produced a hit single "Mutual Surrender (What a Wonderful World)." The following year, they released their second album, ''Yoyo'', which was produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

, and had another hit, "I Don't Mind at All," which reached the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' chart. During this period Bourgeois struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol. When fellow musician and drinking buddy

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

began going to church, Bourgeois followed and became a Christian. Latent conflicts became exacerbated by Bourgeois' trend toward Christian lyrics and the band split in 1989 while working on a third album. The band members appear on Rundgren's 1989 album ''

Nearly Human ''Nearly Human'' is a 1989 album by the rock musician Todd Rundgren, released by Warner Bros. Records. It was his first release in four years, although he had been active as a producer in the intervening years. Many of the album's songs deal with l ...

'', and they toured as part of Rundgren's backing band. Tagg also played as part of

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

touring band.

Staff songwriter

During the 1990s Tagg worked as a staff songwriter for

. Some songs he wrote were recorded by

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", "Two Tickets to Parad ...

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started play ...

, Jenni Muldaur and others.

Solo recordings

Tagg released two solo albums: 1995's ''With a Skeleton Crew'' and 1997's ''Rover''. All five members of Bourgeois Tagg appeared on ''With a Skeleton Crew'', with all but Scott Moon playing on the track "1/2 Yes, 1/2 No." Tagg has said that the song was written for the third Bourgeois Tagg album that never materialized, so with Lyle Workman's help, he recorded the song himself.

High school teacher

By the mid-1990s Tagg had a family, and no longer wanted to remain on the road. He became an English and drama teacher, and lead teacher of the arts academy, at Hiram W. Johnson High School in Sacramento. He began writing in his spare time and has written numerous books on

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. He taught English, literature, and creative writing at

C.K. McClatchy High School C. K. McClatchy High School, also known as simply McClatchy High School, is a high school in the Sacramento City Unified School District. It is located in the Land Park area of Sacramento, California. Established in 1937, it is the oldest oper ...

in Sacramento, CA until retiring in 2017 to conduct more research on Lincoln.

Historian

Tagg has written a number of books on Civil War history: * ''The Generals of Gettysburg: The Leaders of America's Greatest Battle'', Savas Publishing 1998 (paperback

Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...

2004) Described by a reviewer as "a thumbnail sketch biography of each of the infantry commanders who took part in the battle, from the brigade level up. ...should find a home on the bookshelves of those readers whose special interest is Gettysburg." * ''The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln: The Story of America's Most Reviled President'',

Savas Beatie Theodore P. Savas is a licensed attorney, former adjunct college instructor, entrepreneur, award-winning author, and publisher. He is the co-founder and majority partner of Savas Beatie, an award-winning independent book trade publishing company ...

2009 (paperback Savas Beatie 2012 under new title ''The Battles that Made Abraham Lincoln: How Lincoln Mastered his Enemies to Win the Civil War, Free the Slaves, and Preserve the Union'') * ''The Generals of Shiloh: Character In Leadership, April 6–7, 1862'',

2017

References

External links

Author Larry Tagg with Great Insight on Abraham Lincoln
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tagg, Larry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Record producers from Illinois American rock singers Historians of the United States Historians of the American Civil War 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers