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Johnnie Taylor

During a recording career that spanned nearly half a century, Johnnie Taylor covered more genres of African-American music than any other major artist.Despite Johnnie Taylor's awesome run of hit records, he remains somewhat of an enigma, perhaps the most underrated recording artist of all time. Never-the-less, this singing sensation has been one of the most versatile and durable recording artists of the era. During his career, Taylor scored 11 top 40 hits on the Billboard pop chart. With a career than embraced Gospel, Pop, Blues, Do Wop, Memphis Soul, and even Disco, Taylor proved he could handle any piece of music. Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas on May 5, 1938, and reared in nearby West Memphis. Inspired equally by gospel and blues (the legendary bluesman Junior Parker as his neighbor), Taylor first recorded in the early fifties as part of the Five Echoes, a Do-wop group that had one release on the Chance label in Chicago. However, he didn't receive any real recognition of "Somewhere To Lay My Head." Taylor's lead singing was strikingly close to Sam Cooke, so it wasn't surprising that he took Cooke's place in the Soul Stirrers in 1957. During the next two years, Taylor would make a number of fine recordings with that group, but he eventually left to pursue a short career as a preacher. In the interim, Sam Cooke had formed the Sar label as a sideline to his own successful recording career. Ironically, Cooke recruited Taylor for the label with the intention of making him a Pop / R&B attraction. Taylor would score with "Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day" in 1962, but his recording career bogged down temporarily when SAR's operations were suspended after the tragic death of Sam Cooke. In 1966 Taylor signed on with Stax Records in Memphis, scoring with the bluesy "I Had A Dream" and "I've Got To Love Somebody’s Baby." Two years later, Taylor's style easily adapted to the demands of modern Soul with his recording of "Who’s Making Love" which shot to the top of the R&B charts. The record sold more than two million singles, and established Taylor as one of the nation's premier Soul attractions. For the next seven years, Taylor's name rarely left the bestseller list. His first million seller was followed by such classics as "Take Care Of Your Homework" "Jody’s Got Your Girl" "Steal Away" and "Cheaper To Keep Her" to name a few.

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Album Review

Johnnie Taylor: Taylored in Silk

Read "Taylored in Silk" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Concord Music Group begins a Stax Remasters series with the release of The Staples Singers' Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (1972), Booker T and the MGs' McLemore Avenue (1970) and Johnnie Taylor Taylored in Silk (1973). The Taylor's disc is most notable for sharpening the definition of “Memphis Soul." Johnnie Taylor today is best known for his 1976 Columbia single, “Disco Lady." But it was long before then that Taylor began to leave his footprint on American music. ...

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Recording

Stax Reissues Johnnie Taylor's Live Album, "'Live at the Summit Club," Recorded in South L.A. Club at Time of Wattstax

Stax Reissues Johnnie Taylor's Live Album, "'Live at the Summit Club," Recorded in South L.A. Club at Time of Wattstax

Source: conqueroo

Recorded in 1972, the album accents the soul great's blues side

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Johnnie Taylor, one of the greatest soul singers who ever lived, was at the peak of his game on September 23, 1972, when he sang to an effusive crowd at the now-defunct Summit Club in South Los Angeles. The show was captured on tape and will be reissued February 20 by Stax Records as Johnnie Taylor: Live at the Summit Club.

The live album, produced ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Taylored in Silk

Concord Music Group
2011

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