BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000)[1] was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco. Biography
Early years
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Johnnie Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas. As a child, he grew up in West Memphis, Arkansas and performed in gospel groups as a youngster. As an adult, he had one release, "Somewhere to Lay My Head", on Chicago's Chance Records label in the 1950s, as part of the gospel group Highway QCs, which had been founded by a young Sam Cooke. His singing was strikingly close to that of Sam Cooke, and he was hired to take Cooke's place in the latter's gospel group, the Soul Stirrers, in 1957.
A few years later, after Cooke had established his independent SAR Records, Taylor signed on as one of the label's first acts and recorded "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day" in 1962. However, SAR Records quickly became defunct after Cooke's death in 1964.
In 1966, Taylor moved to Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was dubbed "The Philosopher of Soul". While there he recorded with the label's house band, Booker T. & the MGs. His hits included "I Had a Dream", "I've Got to Love Somebody's Baby" (both written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter) and most notably "Who's Making Love", which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1968. "Who's Making Love" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[2]
During his tenure at Stax, he became an R&B star, with over a dozen chart successes, such as "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone", which reached No. 23 on the Hot 100 chart, "Cheaper to Keep Her" (Mack Rice) and record producer Don Davis's penned "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)", which reached No. 11 on the Hot 100 chart. "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)" also sold in excess of one million units, and was awarded gold disc status by the R.I.A.A. in October 1973.[2] Taylor, along with Isaac Hayes and The Staple Singers was one of the label's flagship artists. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973.[3]
Columbia Records
After Stax folded in 1975, Taylor switched to Columbia Records, where he made his best known hit, "Disco Lady", in 1976. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the U.S. It peaked at #25 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1976.[4] "Disco Lady" was the first certified platinum single (two million copies sold) by the RIAA.
Malaco Records[edit]
After a brief stint at Beverly Glen Records, Taylor signed with Malaco Records after the label's founder Tommy Couch and producing partner Wolf Stephenson heard him sing at blues singer Z. Z. Hill's funeral in the spring of 1984.
Backed by members of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as well as in-house veterans like former Stax keyboardist Carson Whitsett and guitarist/bandleader Bernard Jenkins, Malaco gave Taylor the type of recording freedom that Stax had given him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, enabling him to record ten albums for the label in his sixteen-year stint.
In 1996, Taylor's eighth album for Malaco, Good Love!, reached number one on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart (#15 R&B), and was the biggest record in Malaco's history. With this success, Malaco recorded a live video of Taylor at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas in the summer of 1997. The club portion of the "Good Love" video was recorded at 1001 Nightclub in Jackson, Mississippi.
Taylor's final song was "Soul Heaven", in which he dreamed of being at a concert featuring deceased soul music icons Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and MGs drummer Al Jackson, Jr., among others.
Radio
In the 1980s Johnnie Taylor was a DJ on KKDA-FM, a Dallas/Fort Worth radio station. The station's format is mostly R&B and Soul oldies and their on-the-air personalities are often local R&B, Soul, blues, and jazz musicians. Mr. Taylor was billed as "The Wailer, Johnnie Taylor".
Death
Taylor died of a heart attack at Charlton Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas, on May 31, 2000, aged 66.[5] Stax billed Johnnie Taylor as "The Philosopher of Soul". He was also known as "the Blues Wailer". He was buried beside his mother, Ida Mae Taylor, at Forrest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.
Awards
Taylor was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999.
Musical influence
In 2004, the UK's Shapeshifters sampled Taylor's 1982 "What About My Love?", for their #1 hit single, "Lola's Theme".
Discography
Albums (incomplete)
- Wanted: One Soul Singer - Stax 715 (1967)
- Who's Making Love... - Stax 2005 (1968)
- Raw Blues - Stax 2008 (1968)
- Rare Stamps - Stax 2012 (1968)
- The Johnnie Taylor Philosophy Continues - Stax 2023 (1969)
- One Step Beyond - Stax 2030 (1971)
- Taylored in Silk - Stax 3014 (1973)
- Super Taylor - Stax 5509 (1974)[6]
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop[7] | US R&B[8] | UK[9] | ||
| 1963 | "Baby, We've Got Love" | 98 | *[10] | - |
| 1966 | "I Had A Dream" | - | 19 | - |
| "I Got To Love Somebody's Baby" | - | 15 | - | |
| 1967 | "Somebody's Sleeping In My Bed" | 95 | 33 | - |
| 1968 | "Next Time" | - | 34 | - |
| "I Ain't Particular" | - | 45 | - | |
| "Who's Making Love" | 5 | 1 | - | |
| 1969 | "Take Care of Your Homework" | 20 | 2 | - |
| "Testify (I Wonna)" | 36 | 4 | - | |
| "I Could Never Be President" | 48 | 10 | - | |
| "Love Bones" | 43 | 4 | - | |
| 1970 | "Steal Away" | 37 | 3 | - |
| "I Am Somebody Part II" | 39 | 4 | - | |
| 1971 | "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" | 28 | 1 | - |
| "I Don't Wanna Lose You" | 86 | 13 | - | |
| "Hijackin' Love" | 64 | 10 | - | |
| 1972 | "Standing In For Jody" | 74 | 12 | - |
| "Doing My Own Thing (Part I)" | - | 16 | - | |
| "Stop Doggin' Me" | - | 13 | - | |
| 1973 | "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)" | 11 | 1 | - |
| "Cheaper To Keep Her" | 15 | 2 | - | |
| 1974 | "We're Getting Careless With Our Love" | 34 | 5 | - |
| "I've Been Born Again" | 78 | 13 | - | |
| "It's September" | - | 26 | - | |
| 1975 | "Try Me Tonight" | - | 51 | - |
| 1976 | "Disco Lady" | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| "Somebody's Gettin' It" | 33 | 5 | - | |
| 1977 | "Love Is Better In The A.M. (Part 1)" | 77 | 3 | - |
| "Your Love Is Rated X" | - | 17 | - | |
| "Disco 9000" | 86 | 24 | - | |
| 1978 | "Keep On Dancing" | - | 32 | - |
| "Ever Ready" | - | 84 | - | |
| 1979 | "(Ooh-Wee) She's Killing Me" / "Play Something Pretty" | - | 37 79 | - |
| 1980 | "I Got This Thing For Your Love" | - | 77 | - |
| 1982 | "What About My Love" | - | 24 | - |
| 1983 | "I'm So Proud" | - | 55 | - |
| 1984 | "Lady, My Whole World Is You" | - | 74 | - |
| 1987 | "Don't Make Me Late" | - | 74 | - |
| 1990 | "Still Crazy For You" | - | 60 |                                                                     |
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