Ted Taylor? (soul/blues-R)

mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
edited April 2011 in Strut Central
I picked up a copy of Ted Taylor's "Taylor Made" at Johnny's story the other week and I'm really struck at the similarities in singing and production to Syl Johnson. Anyone familiar with his other LPs and if they're similarly worth copping?

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  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    For that sounding stuff, the early 70s Paula/Ronn stuff is the only ones. From memory there is one, maybe two other LPs from that era & they are all reasonably interchangable. The two strongest are the one you got & "You Can Dig It".

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    I love Ted, but for me its all about the Okeh stuff




  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Ted had a long and varied career, on a multitude of labels (OKeh, Ronn, Ebb, Duke, Top Rank, Atco, his own Solpudgits), from his first solo single in '57 until his death thirty years later.

    He's generally consistent across the board. Even that LP he did for the Alarm label in '76 was good. Although I've heard bad things about Keeping My Head Above Water, his 1978 long-player on MCA...

    For that sounding stuff, the early 70s Paula/Ronn stuff is the only ones. From memory there is one, maybe two other LPs from that era & they are all reasonably interchangable. The two strongest are the one you got & "You Can Dig It".

    There was a third one on Ronn called Shades Of Blue, which was made up of earlier tracks he recorded for the Ebb label. They were recorded in the fifties and sound like it, so expect an "R&B" record rather than a "soul" record, if you get my meaning. Still worth copping, though.

    There are also quite a few Ronn 45's that never made the LP's - they shouldn't be slept on either. Usually common and cheap.

    Also out there: The Super Taylors, which has Ted duetting with his Ronn labelmate Little Johnny Taylor on a few tracks. They were supposed to have done an entire LP, but for some reason it didn't work out that way and the remainder of the LP was fleshed out with songs from both artists' earlier albums. But the tracks that they do sing on together are really good, particularly "Cry It Out Baby."

  • BurnsBurns 2,227 Posts
    mannybolone said:
    I picked up a copy of Ted Taylor's "Taylor Made" at Johnny's story the other week and I'm really struck at the similarities in singing and production to Syl Johnson. Anyone familiar with his other LPs and if they're similarly worth copping?

    I love that "Taylor Made" lp. "Houston Town" and "Only the Lonely Knows" are such great cuts on there. They get multiple plays from me.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Burns said:
    mannybolone said:
    I picked up a copy of Ted Taylor's "Taylor Made" at Johnny's story the other week and I'm really struck at the similarities in singing and production to Syl Johnson. Anyone familiar with his other LPs and if they're similarly worth copping?

    I love that "Taylor Made" lp. "Houston Town" and "Only the Lonely Knows" are such great cuts on there. They get multiple plays from me.

    "Houston Town" is great though "I Feel a Chill" has become the constant rotation cut for me.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    My fave Ted Taylor track is "I'm Just A Crumb In Your Bread Box."

    "You said that you loved me and you wanted to be my bride
    But like the crumbs on the table, you swept poor me aside"
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