Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born on May 5th, 1937 in Crawfordsville, Arkansas. Taylor was the youngest of three siblings. He was raised in West Memphis Arkansas under the watchful eye of his grandmother and he began singing in the church at the age of six. Taylor decided as a child that singing would become his profession and he moved to Kansas City when he was ten. J.T. began performing with a gospel quartet called the Melody Makers who would occasionally perform with the popular gospel group, the Soul Stirrers. During this time, the Souls Stirrers starred renowned vocalist Sam Cooke. Taylor and Cooke soon became good friends and, eventually, Taylor would replace Cooke as the featured vocalist in the Soul Stirrers. The two legendary singers would maintain a friendship and a business relationship until Cooke’s death in 1964. By 1953, Taylor had moved to Chicago and he began performing with the doo-wop group the 5 Echoes. Taylor simultaneously began performing with another group called the Highway Q.C.’s. Taylor’s stint with the Highway Q.C.’s led to his recruitment into the Soul Stirrers in 1958. Taylor remained with the Soul Stirrers for about two years, but he left the group, and Chicago, to relocate in Los Angeles. In 1961, Taylor transformed himself from a gospel singer to a secular singer by signing a record deal with SAR Records. There, with the help of Sam Cooke, J.T. began recording his first secular tunes including “Rome (Wasn’ t Built in a Day)”. However, SAR folded with the death of Cooke. Taylor then set his sights on the two hottest record labels of the day: Stax and Mowtown. Taylor was indecisive about which company to approach, so he flipped a coin to decide. Taylor’s fate lay with Stax and he began his successful run there in 1966. While at Stax, J. T. recorded with some of America’s greatest musicians, including keyboardists Isaac Hayes and Booker T. Jones. Stax brought in producer Don Davis, whom Taylor would work with for a number of years. The Stax years produced four number one Billboard R&B hits for Taylor, including the unforgettable soul song “Who’s Making Love”. In 1975, Taylor and producer Don Davis moved their act to Columbia records where they enjoyed Taylor's biggest hit. “Disco Lady” topped the Billboard pop charts in 1976 and became the first single ever to become officially certified platinum for sales of two million copies. In 1984, Taylor moved on to Malaco Records, a blues label based out of Jackson, Mississippi. He continued to record for Malaco throughout the 1990’s. Taylor’s 1996 album Good Love became Malaco’s greatest selling album in its history on the strength of the single “Last Two Dollars”. Taylor’s final album was 1999’s Gotta Get the Groove Back. That album culminated an unbelievable career held by one of the greatest gospel, soul, and Rhythm and Blues singers of the 20th century. |
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