Johnnie Taylor - One Step Beyond (LP 1971 Stax - CD 1996 Stax) Inc Bonus Tracks - Rare Soul (MP3 93MB)

Now one of the rarest & most expensive albums to purchase on CD...circa £70..i sold mine for over £100!  it contains "Friday Night" released originally as a flip side on a 45. Never released on an LP whatsoever and only came out on this album as a bonus track. That record and many more was a huge hit on the UK Northern scene. This man is another true LEGEND in soul music releasing 32 studio albums & nearly 150 x 45,s & countless compilations of his incredible work mainly on the Stax label where he made his name. Known in the business as  the " Philosopher Of Soul " Johnnie Taylor has been one of the most versatile and durable recording artists of the era. With a career that embraced gospel, pop, blues, R & B, doo-wop, Memphis soul, and even disco; Taylor has proven that he can conquer any form of music. Johnnie Harrison Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, in 1938 & passed in Dallas Texas 2000. Inspired equally by both gospel and blues, Taylor first recorded in the early '50s as part of the Five Echoes. They were a doo-wop group that had one release on the Chance label in Chicago. However, Taylor did not receive any real recognition until he moved into the field of gospel, when he joined the Highway Q. C.'s on their recording of "Somewhere To Lay My Head". When Johnnie would sing to audiences, people would tell him that his voice bared a strikingly resemblance to that of Sam Cooke. So in 1957, it came as no surprise that he took Sam's place in the group The Soul Stirrers. With the group, Taylor made a number of fine recordings, but eventually left to pursue a short career as a preacher. Sam Cooke soon formed the SAR label as a sideline to his own successful career. He sought to get Taylor as one of his artists. Taylor agreed and with that recorded the hit "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day" in 1962. But soon after, Sar's operations were suspended due to the untimely death of Sam Cooke. Johnnie soon landed at Stax Records in Memphis in 1967. With Stax, he scored with the recordings "I Had A Dream" and "I've Got To Love Somebody's Baby". Two years later, Taylor's style of music easily adapted to the demands of modern soul with his recording of "Who's Making Love", which shot to the top of the R & B charts. That record sold more than two million singles, and established Taylor as one of the nation's premier soul attractions. For the next seven years, Johnnie's name never left the best-seller list. His first million seller was followed by such classics as "Take Care Of Your Homework", "Jody's Got Your Girl", and "Cheaper To Keep Her" to name a few. With the demise of Stax, Taylor moved to the Columbia label, waxing the mega-hit, "Disco Lady", which was at the top of everyone's chart in 1975. But soon Johnnie left due to Columbia casting him as being a disco artist only. He made a brief stop at Beverly Glen Records in 1982, recording an album and climbing back into the charts with the single, "What About My Love". Taylor did not stay there long because he was looking for a label that would work close to him as Stax once had. In 1984, Taylor had found that company when he signed with Malaco Records. His initial album, "This Is Your Night", was not only a well crafted piece of music, but saleswise, it was Johnnie's biggest record in nearly a decade. He later released such albums as "Wall To Wall", "Crazy 'Bout You", the award winning "Good Love", and "Gotta Get The Groove Back". How fitting it is that one of his last singles tells of Johnnie having a dream about a party in "Soul Heaven" with superstars from the past performing for one night only. As great as all the performers were, they were missing one thing, the closing act! Johnnie, thanks for the memories and enjoy the rest of the show! Johnnie Taylor was 62 when he passed with a heart attack...His funeral at Dallas Baptist church was a mixture of church ceremony and house party. At 1 p.m., when the service started, more than 1,000 mourners who couldn't fit in the church milled about outside, either standing by the velvet roped front walk or under a large tent next door, where two TV monitors broadcast the service. Cars lined the streets for blocks. At least 3,500 people crowded into the church, including a star-studded guest list that included Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Bobby Womack, and Millie Jackson, such was the respect Johnnie commanded with his peers. .Johnnie, we'll truly miss you! A LEGEND!...But his music lives on!

AMM

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