Johnnie Taylor

Johnnie Taylor proved remarkably adept at shifting musical directions across a recording span of nearly four decades, moving from youthful gospel standout and raw Stax/Volt soul singer to persuasive balladeer, leading disco hitmaker, and enduring Southern soul-blues mainstay. During his Stax period he acquired the nickname “Philosopher of Soul,” and that phase is most closely associated with the 1968 R&B number-one smash “Who’s Making Love,” yet his career pinnacle arrived with the 1976 multi-format chart-topper “Disco Lady,” the first single to receive platinum certification when that status required sales exceeding two million copies. Once national hits became scarce, he became one of the most active artists on the Malaco roster, a haven for veteran Southern soul and blues performers whose approaches had lost mainstream traction by the 1980s. He remained with Malaco for more than fifteen years, continuing to record and perform until his passing in 2000.

Johnnie Harrison Taylor entered the world in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, on May 5, 1934, although he routinely listed 1938 as his birth year, and spent most of his childhood in nearby West Memphis. Church singing occupied him from an early age, after which he relocated to Kansas City and appeared with the gospel ensemble the Melody Kings. Through that group he first encountered and formed a friendship with Soul Stirrers leader Sam Cooke. In 1953 Taylor departed for Chicago and entered the doo-wop outfit the Five Echoes, while simultaneously performing with the gospel aggregation the Highway Q.C.’s, a unit Sam Cooke had previously fronted. By 1957 Taylor had stepped into Cooke’s former role with the influential Soul Stirrers following Cooke’s shift to secular work.

After four years in the Soul Stirrers, Taylor sensed declining interest in gospel and emulated Cooke by entering secular soul, becoming the initial signee to Cooke’s Sar label in 1961. Over the ensuing years he issued several singles on Sar and Cooke’s other imprint, Derby, among them the modest R&B success “Rome (Wasn’t Built in a Day).” Cooke’s murder in late 1964 led to the closure of both labels, leaving Taylor without a contract. He returned to the Memphis vicinity and joined the thriving Stax roster in 1965, releasing his debut single “I Had a Dream” early the next year. Additional modest R&B entries followed, including “I Got to Love Somebody’s Baby,” “Somebody’s Sleeping in My Bed,” and “Next Time.”

Late 1968 brought his breakthrough with the gritty, funky “Who’s Making Love,” his first R&B chart-topper and a pop Top Five entry. Subsequent releases such as “Take Care of Your Homework,” “Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone,” “Steal Away,” and “I Am Somebody” sustained momentum. By the early 1970s his signature approach centered on polished, refined balladry, exemplified by the 1973 album Taylored in Silk and its companion hits “I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)” and “Cheaper to Keep Her.”

Following Stax’s 1975 bankruptcy, Taylor moved to CBS/Columbia and introduced himself on the 1976 album Eargasm. The opening single, “Disco Lady,” immediately dominated the airwaves, embodying the period’s energy and surpassing two million copies sold. Despite reduced airplay stemming from its suggestive content, the track delivered Taylor’s sole pop number-one and prompted CBS to steer him toward further disco-oriented recordings. Several additional albums appeared through 1980, yet none replicated “Disco Lady”’s impact, prompting his departure to the smaller Beverly Glen label in 1982.

His lone Beverly Glen release, 1982’s Just Ain’t Good Enough, yielded the minor R&B entry “What About My Love.” Seeking surroundings closer in spirit to Stax, Taylor soon aligned with Malaco Records, a Southern company committed to safeguarding classic regional soul and blues styles, even if rendered with somewhat less edge than earlier eras. The 1984 debut This Is Your Night established an immediate rapport, resulting in twelve albums over the next fifteen years and establishing him among Malaco’s strongest sellers. His sound during this stretch blended soul with blues, the latter receiving greater emphasis than at any prior stage. Steady touring continued through the 1980s and 1990s, accompanied by occasional lower-charting R&B singles that persisted until 1990. The 1996 album Good Love! reached the summit of the Billboard blues chart. His final project, 1999’s Gotta Get the Groove Back, preceded a fatal heart attack on May 31, 2000, at his Duncanville, Texas, residence, a Dallas suburb, where he was pronounced dead at the hospital.