Although he never achieved the kind of mainstream recognition afforded some of his peers – guys like Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke or his friend and mentor Sam Cooke – Johnnie Taylor was a serious soul man of the first order. Arkansas-born Johnnie had a couple of major crossover hits – 1968’s massive “Who’s Making Love” and the 1976 million-selling single, “Disco Lady” – but for the most part, the gritty “Soul Philosopher” (a title he earned as a result of a string of R&B hits like “Jody Got Your Girl And Gone” and “Cheaper To Keep Her” which postulated on the highs and lows of love, marriage and infidelity) remained a fixture on the Southern soul scene until his passing in 2000 at the age of 62.

The 2006 “Stax Profiles” release on Johnnie contained fourteen tracks (including the two afore-mentioned big pop/R&B singles) chosen by Huey Lewis and focus on his recording career between 1962 and 1973, most of which time was spent with Stax. Cutting his musical teeth in the world of gospel, Johnnie was a member of such renowned groups as the Highway Q.C.s and the famed Soul Stirrers where he had the somewhat unenviable task of replacing the legendary Sam Cooke in 1957 when Cooke ventured out into what would be a hugely successful pop/R&B career. Sam played an instrumental role in Johnnie’s own move into secular music when he signed him to his then-newly formed SAR Records label: the “Stax Profiles” leads off with a couple of tracks from Johnnie’s couple of years with SAR, notably “Rome (Wasn’t Built In A Day).”

With Sam’s untimely death, Johnnie joined Stax, initially working with songwriting/producing team of Isaac Hayes & David Porter on such tunes as “Just The One (I’ve Been Looking For)” and “Toe Hold,” singles that began making Johnnie’s name known to R&B audiences. His change in his fortunes came when Stax president Al Bell teamed Johnnie with Detroit producer Don Davis and the musical marriage worked in catapulting J.T. to a new plateau, career-wise. Beyond “Who’s Making Love,” Huey Lewis made some interesting choices for “Stax Profiles” from Johnnie’s work with Davis including “I’ve Been Born Again,” the standard “Time After Time” and the blues classic “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water.”

As a taste of what this perennial soul man has to offer, “Stax Profiles” works; if you like what you hear, there’s the excellent 3-CD set “Lifeline” and another seven original Stax albums available on CD.

David Nathan
a/k/a “The British Ambassador Of Soul”
Owner, www.soulmusic.com, www.soulmusicstore.com, www.soulmusicglobal.com
Secretary, The Rhythm & Blues Foundation (www.rhythm-n-blues.org)

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