Johnnie Taylor
Wikimp3 information about the music of Johnnie Taylor. On our website we have 69 albums and 70 collections of artist Johnnie Taylor. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Johnnie Taylor represents Soul genres.
Biography
[Edit]Young gospel phenom, gritty Stax/Volt soulster, lady-killing balladeer, chart-topping disco king, Southern soul-blues stalwart — Johnnie Taylor somehow always managed to adapt to the times, and he parlayed that versatility into a recording career that lasted nearly four decades. Nicknamed the "Philosopher of Soul" during his Stax days, that version of Taylor is best remembered for his 1968 R&B chart-topping smash "Who's Making Love," but far and away his biggest success was 1976's across-the-board number one "Disco Lady," the first single ever certified platinum (which at the time meant sales of over two million copies). When the national hits dried up, Taylor wound up as one of the most prolific artists on the Malaco label, a refuge for many Southern soul and blues veterans whose styles had fallen out of popular favor by the '80s. Taylor called Malaco home for over 15 years and kept on recording and performing right up to his passing in 2000.
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, AR, on May 5, 1934 (though he usually gave his birth year as 1938); he grew up mostly in nearby West Memphis. He began singing in church as a young child and later moved to Kansas City, where he performed with a gospel group called the Melody Kings; it was through this outfit that he initially met and befriended Soul Stirrers frontman Sam Cooke. In 1953, Taylor left home and moved to Chicago, where he joined the doo wop group the Five Echoes; shortly thereafter, he began performing concurrently with the gospel group the Highway Q.C.'s, which had once been home to Sam Cooke. In 1957, Taylor would replace Cooke in the hugely influential Soul Stirrers, after Cooke departed for a career in secular music.
After four years with the Soul Stirrers, Taylor escaped gospel music's waning popularity and followed Cooke into the world of secular soul, becoming the first artist to sign with Cooke's label, Sar, in 1961. Taylor released a few singles on Sar and another Cooke label, Derby, over the next few years, including the minor R&B hit "Rome (Wasn't Built in a Day)." Unfortunately, Cooke was murdered in late 1964, and his labels folded, leaving Taylor without a record deal. He returned to the Memphis area and signed with the enormously popular Stax label in 1965, debuting early the following year with "I Had a Dream." Taylor scored a few minor R&B hits over the next few years, including "I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "Somebody's Sleeping in My Bed," and "Next Time." He hit it big in late 1968 with the gritty, funky "Who's Making Love," his first number one R&B hit, which also made the pop Top Five. Taylor was able to land some decent-sized follow-up hits in the years to come, among them "Take Care of Your Homework," "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," "Steal Away," and "I Am Somebody." By the early '70s, Taylor's bread and butter had become smooth, elegant crooning, as typified by his 1973 album Taylored in Silk and his two attendant ballad smashes, "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)" and "Cheaper to Keep Her."
When Stax went bankrupt in 1975, Taylor moved over to CBS/Columbia, debuting in 1976 with the album Eargasm. Its first single, "Disco Lady," was an instant smash, capturing the spirit of the era and selling over two million copies (although some soul fans still debate whether it was a true disco song). "Disco Lady" was Taylor's first number one pop hit, despite losing airplay over its supposedly suggestive lyrics, and it proved such a phenomenon that CBS eagerly pushed him to record more disco-oriented material, something Taylor wasn't extraordinarily comfortable with. He recorded several more albums for the label through 1980, but never came close to duplicating the success of "Disco Lady" and left to sign with the smaller Beverly Glen imprint in 1982.
Taylor recorded one album for Beverly Glen, 1982's Just Ain't Good Enough, which produced a minor R&B hit in "What About My Love." Still searching for a home more in line with the environment at Stax, Taylor soon jumped to Malaco Records, a Southern label dedicated to preserving the region's classic soul and blues sounds (albeit sometimes with a bit less grit than in days of old). Debuting with 1984's This Is Your Night, Taylor and Malaco clicked right away, and he wound up recording a total of 12 albums for the label over the next 15 years, ranking as one of their best-selling artists. Taylor's style during this era had evolved into a hybrid of soul and blues, with more emphasis on the latter than at any other point in his career; he continued to tour steadily through the '80s and '90s, and landed a few more singles on the lower reaches of the R&B chart up until 1990. In 1996, his album Good Love! topped the Billboard blues chart. Taylor's final album was 1999's Gotta Get the Groove Back; on May 31, 2000, he suffered a heart attack at his home in Duncanville, TX (a suburb of Dallas), and died at the hospital.
Title: Taylored In Silk (Remastered)
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Title: Somebody's Getting the Love (feat. Rappin' 4-Tay) - Single
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Blues
Title: Soul Six Pack: Johnnie Taylor
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Title: Stax Remasters: Taylored in Silk
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Rock, Disco, Pop
Title: The Johnnie Taylor Philosophy Continues
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Gospel, Pop, Funk
Title: The Best of Johnnie Taylor On Malaco, Vol. 1
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: The Best Of Johnnie Taylor... On Malaco, Vol. I
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Disco, Funk
Title: The Ceremony of the King, Vol. 1
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, World Music
Title: I Know It's Wrong, But I...Just Can't Do Right
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Rated X-Traordinaire - The Best of Johnnie Taylor
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Disco, Pop
Title: Johnnie Taylor - Live At the Summit Club
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Stax Profiles: Johnnie Taylor
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Gospel, Rock, Punk Rock, Disco
Title: Short Stax, Vol. 8: Johnnie Taylor
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Disco
Collections
Title: Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles (1959-1968)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: R&B: From Doo-Wop to Hip-Hop (feat. O.D.B.)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Platinum R&B Party
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Wattstax - The Living Word
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 4
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Essential Hits, Vol. 4
Genre: Rock
Title: The RZA Presents Shaolin Soul Selection: Vol. 1
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Music of Mississippi
Title: The Blues Is Alright For Partyin'
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Soul Train # 1 Hits
Title: The Cool of Rhythm & Blues
Title: 25 Essential Soul Hits
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Pop
Title: Only In America: Atlantic Soul Classics
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: The World Of... Gospel
Genre: Gospel
Title: Greatest Big Hits of 1962, Vol. 33
Genre: Pop
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 2
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: St. Valentine's Day Soul Classics
Genre: Pop
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 5
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Pimpin' New Orleans Style
Title: 25 Old School Classics
Title: Stax/Volt - The Complete Singles 1959-1968 - Volume 8
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax/Volt: The Complete Singles (1959-1968), Vol. 6
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax/Volt - The Complete Singles 1959-1968 - Volume 9
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax / Volt - The Complete Singles 1959-1968 - Vol. 7
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: My Girl Soul Hits of Love (with Various Artists)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Blues from the Montreux Jazz Festival
Genre: Blues
Title: Stax/Volt: The Complete Singles (1959-1968), Vol. 5
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Soul Brothers & Soul Sisters (Re-recorded Version)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Blues In the Bedroom
Genre: Blues
Title: Hot Funky Soul Volume One
Genre: Pop
Title: Soul Brother #1
Genre: Pop
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 1
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 6
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Southern Soul Duets
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: DISCO 54 CD 4
Genre: Disco
Title: Rhythm & Soul CD 1
Genre: Soul
Title: Rhythm & Soul CD 4
Genre: Soul
Title: Compact Disc Club - Disco 54 CD 4
Genre: Disco
Title: The Specialty Story CD 5
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Time Life - Sounds Of The Seventies: 1976 - Take Two
Genre: Soul, Blues, Jazz, Rock, Glam Rock, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Reggae, World Music, Latin, Disco, Pop, Pop Rock, Funk
Title: Top Of The Pops 1973 CD3
Genre: Alternative
Title: Top Of The Pops 1976 CD1
Genre: Electronica, Electro, Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Dancefloor, Disco, Pop, Funk
Title: Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration (Disc 1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Featuring albums
Title: The Complete Stax / Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-1975
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: The Man With The Iron Fists: Deluxe Ultra Pak CD5
Artist: Rza, Howard Drossin
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Rap
Title: Stax Singles, Vol. 4: Rarities & the Best of the Rest
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: 60’s Soul Beyond Hits / 60's Soul Beyond Hits
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul