Marc Taynor (CHEFS D’ORCHESTRES)
46 Rue de Buzenval, 75020 Paris, France

There weren’t many Hillbilly orchestras operating in France during the 1950s and 60s, so the cowboy outfit fronted by Wild West bandleader Marc Taynor was one of the more memorable (if not incongruous) footnotes in Paris’ musical history. Every cowboy needs a sidekick and riding alongside Taylor was the pigtailed Basque singer Elise Rubio aka ‘La Bombe’, known by her stage name Alicia Ruby. Like his cowgirl partner, our cowboy Marc Taynor was not originally from the United States, in fact he was a proud Frenchman, Marcel Poincignon. As a writer and performer he rode many a popular novelty wave, cue such titles as Boing Boing (from the comedy film Comment réussir en amour, 1962) and Rugby Rock, no Frenchman could resist a combination of Rock n Roll and Rugby in the 1960s. Behind his many pseudonyms (Ben Azim, Ian Boutouk, Mister Sax) was a talented musician who played the violin, saxophone, clarinet, and was an equally accomplished songwriter. His musical journey started at the age of 6 after hearing Yehudi Menuhin play at the Salle Pleyel. As a teenager Poincignon worked as a musician on the Bordeaux-Panama and Le Havre-New York ocean liners. Back on dry land he led his own band at the cabarets La Coupole and Bacara, but as WW2 broke out he fought for the motherland. After a brave retreat at Dunkirk he moved from England to Africa, and ultimately returned home to work with trumpeter Philippe Brun. With the end of war and a love for all things American being on trend, he changed his name to Marc Taynor. He played with many of the top names in Paris at the time (Émile Prud’homme, Tony Murena, Gus Viseur and even the great Django Reinhardt) and his orchestra boasted the talents of even more Paris musicians: Marcel Azzola, Freddy Vander, Didi Duprat, Jack Irsa and André Salvador (Henri Salvador’s older brother).

Find out where Marc Taynor lived on Walk 54 – Buzenval