JOHNNIE TAYLOR: A Bad Motherfucker
pickwick33
8,946 Posts
No, not LITTLE JOHNNY Taylor (of "Part-Time Love"/"Everybody Knows About My Good Thing" fame)...[/b]
...but JOHNNIE Taylor, the Stax guy who gave us "Who's Making Love"...[/b]
As many hits as this man had, Taylor (who died in 2000) is one of the most underrated soul singers ever. When Tyrone Davis sang about slipping around and doing wrong, he always sounded stone guilty about it, but Taylor seemed PROUD to be the back-door man, referring to himself in the third person and doing that mean cackle. Even though he continually warned his male listeners to guard their women against that wife-sitter "Jody," he was just a little too knowing about it, as if he were the cat who paved Jody's way. Earlier today I was listening to Live At The Summit Club, a new Taylor album from Stax that basically contains tracks from his live show documented in the movie Wattstax. His ego is on full display here, bantering with the crowd and a band that doesn't seem to have had much rehearsal, but he still sounds on top of the situation. Here are ten good reasons why my man JT deserves his own thread:"Doing My Own Thing""Last Two Dollars""Cheaper To Keep Her""Just Because""Who's Making Love""Everything's Out In The Open""Keep On Loving You""I Could Never Be President""Love Depression""Lover Boy"...and I could think of ten more good songs he did, but that would be overkill.So why does Johnnie Taylor deserve a respect thread? Hey, "Just Because"...
...but JOHNNIE Taylor, the Stax guy who gave us "Who's Making Love"...[/b]As many hits as this man had, Taylor (who died in 2000) is one of the most underrated soul singers ever. When Tyrone Davis sang about slipping around and doing wrong, he always sounded stone guilty about it, but Taylor seemed PROUD to be the back-door man, referring to himself in the third person and doing that mean cackle. Even though he continually warned his male listeners to guard their women against that wife-sitter "Jody," he was just a little too knowing about it, as if he were the cat who paved Jody's way. Earlier today I was listening to Live At The Summit Club, a new Taylor album from Stax that basically contains tracks from his live show documented in the movie Wattstax. His ego is on full display here, bantering with the crowd and a band that doesn't seem to have had much rehearsal, but he still sounds on top of the situation. Here are ten good reasons why my man JT deserves his own thread:"Doing My Own Thing""Last Two Dollars""Cheaper To Keep Her""Just Because""Who's Making Love""Everything's Out In The Open""Keep On Loving You""I Could Never Be President""Love Depression""Lover Boy"...and I could think of ten more good songs he did, but that would be overkill.So why does Johnnie Taylor deserve a respect thread? Hey, "Just Because"...
Comments
Somebody really needs to sell me this album.
THESE LAST TWO DOLLARS, I'M NOT GONNA LOSE
THESE LAST TWO DOLLARS
I'M NOT GONNA LOSE
ONE'S GOING FOR MY BUS FARE...
OTHER'S GOING TO THE JUKEBOX
TO HEAR ME SOME BLUES
I believe I owe my copy to the poor judgment and/or deficient digging skillz of the one Terry Clubbup, as I pulled it over Christmas from the new arrivals bin of a store that he arrived at about five minutes before me.
Whoa... didn't know about this.
Gotta be
of the year.
I would gladly pay $18.99 for a factory fresh-and-clean MALACO company
CD, rather than waste my money on some old filthy album, such as you have.
appreciated, such an underrated singer. how cool is this poster?!
Could somebody PLEASE post this?
'It's September' was the first JT song I heard, and I was sold right there. Fantastic tune. The next one that knocked me out was 'Testify,' which was on heavy rotation in my dorm room for about a year after I first heard it.
One of the better later-period Stax joints. Its not really "raw" as the title says, actually is pretty tight. The closing cut "You Can't Win with a Losing Hand" smokes!
'It's September' was the first JT song I heard, and I was sold right there. Fantastic tune.
Like I've mentioned on the board before, there were three distinct phases to JT's Stax years: the early blues years (represented on Wanted: One Soul Singer); the "Who's Making Love" phase, where he sang all these hard uptempo songs about sneaking around (1968-71); and then there was the final, underrated phase (1972-75), where producer Don Davis slowed down the tempo, added the occasional string section, toned down the "back-door-man" schtick, and JT finally eased up on all that screaming. Just like Wilson Pickett over at Atlantic, Taylor could roll with all sorts of musical changes.
Also...those mid-period JT joints (from the '68-'71 era) all sound like leftover Sam & Dave songs that Sam & Dave never cut. Really, can't you see them doing "Who's Making Love," "Take Care Of Your Homework," "Hijackin' Love," "I Could Never Be President" or "Love Bones?"
I was listening to Boy Meets Girl on Stax this weekend. His tracks really stand out for me on that comp. So soulful...
Woah yeah, I never thought about it like that. I can imagine exactly how S&D would do 'Who's Making Love.' But I think you could make that statement about most of the Stax shouters. They could just as easily be, say, Eddie Floyd leftovers.
also "i need a freak" may be my favorite "soul singer does dirty disco song" ever...
there's a line in there about how after gets her, he's "gonna leave such a mess"... awesome...