Johnnie Taylor — “One Step From the Blues” — Stax Records / Craft Recording
Soul music is a wonderful American creation.
It produced a generation of singers (most of whom came to the music from their gospel roots), that defined music that was indeed one step from the blues, with all its soulful heritage.
Johnnie Taylor, “The Philosopher of Soul,” was one of those singers, not to mention, one of the greatest. His voice may not have been one of the silkiest, but it was one of the most raw and passionate.
Taylor’s music is being celebrated this year, the 90th anniversary of his birth, with a compilation of his work released on Stax Records / Craft Recordings, “One Step From the Blues.” The album overflows with a dozen of Taylor’s finest, including selections from his prolific Stax Records years, from his signing in 1966 to the label’s closing in 1975. It was Stax who aptly decided that Taylor was the “Philosopher of Soul.”
Taylor’s career included much more than his Stax recordings, but those sides helped to define his sound and his popularity. He was nominated for three Grammys, won a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame.
Taylor grew up singing in gospel groups in West Memphis, Ark., and joined the legendary gospel quartet, the Soul Stirrers, in 1957, when he replaced Sam Cooke, who had moved on to his secular career. Taylor later joined Cooke’s SAR label, and then moved to Stax after Cooke’s death. When Stax lost its star, Otis Redding, to a plane crash in 1967, the soul mantle fell to Taylor, who responded with years of great music. (Here’s a photo of Taylor in 1967.)
Those years are represented here with some of Taylor’s best: The breakthrough single in 1968, “Who’s Making Love” (it sold over a million copies), followed by “Steal Away,” “Stop Doggin’ Me,” “Cheaper to Keep Her,” “I Had a Dream” and “Save Your Love for Me.” There are more, and they all paint a picture of one of America’s finest soulmen.
This is a gorgeous collection of some of Taylor’s signature soul. If you’ve never heard his passionate pipes, this a great place to start. If you have, these tracks should add to the magic. They will fill any hole in your soul.
Here’s a live performance of “Who’d Makin’ Love”
Track list:
1. Steal Away
2. I Had a Dream
3. I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water
4. Part Time Love
5. Cheaper to Keep Her
6. Separation Line
7. Doing My Own Thing, Pt. 1
8. Somebody’s Sleeping in My Bed
9. That’s Where It’s At
10. Stop Doggin’ Me
11. Save Your Love for Me
12. Woman Across the River
Blues Roadhouse 