Johnnie Taylor

Bio:

"This is the story of my dad...A Soul Music Pioneer...We miss him, but we will always remember him through his song.." - Tasha Taylor... In a recording career that spanned nearly half a century, from his 1963 debut with the 5 Echoes to his prophetically tittled 1999 swan song "Soul Heaven" Johnnie Taylor covered more areas of African American music than any other major artist... He considered himself a " salesman of songs" and replaced Sam Cooke in the gospel group the Soul Stirrers the greatest gospel quartet of all times..."a song is a song, he explained.If you sing 'Jesus' or you sing 'baby' it's basically melodically the same.I think anything that makes people happy is good, anything that takes people's minds off their problems." In 1968, got his first crossover hit with "Who's Making Love to Your Old Lady While You Were Out Making Love"......... Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born on May 5th 1934 in Crawfordsville, Arkansas..Raised in West Memphis, Arkansas by his grandmother.... He moved to Kansas City at the age of 10...During his teens he sang with the local ospel group called the "Melody Makers"..They opened for the "Soul Stirrers"...Sam Cooke and he became friends, a relationship that lasted until Sam's untimely death in 1964...

Member Since:

June 04, 2007

Members:

Johnnie Taylor

Influences:

Sam Cooke,Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Bobby Blue Bland,Luther Vandross ,Denise La Salle,Sam and Dave,Billy Eckstine

Sounds Like:

Johnnie Taylor, Sam Cooke

Record Label:

STAX RECORS, COLUMBIA RECORDS