Johnnie Taylor Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits CD

Producers: Don Davis, Al Jackson, Al Bell, Terry Manning.
Personnel: Johnnie Taylor (vocals).
Photographer: Phil Bray.
Getting his big break as Sam Cooke's replacement in the Soul Stirrers, vocalist Johnnie Taylor may have started out in gospel, but he truly hit his stride (at least as a viable pop artist) when he shifted to R&B and signed to the Stax label in the mid 1960s. This 20-track collection covers Taylor's '60s/'70s run on Stax, beginning with the singer's first major hits--the lightly funky, horn-laden "Who's Makin' Love?" and its like-minded follow-up, "Take Care of Your Homework." Many of these late-'60s/early-'70s tracks feature Stax's mind-blowing assemblage of in-house musicians--from Isaac Hayes on guitar to the Memphis Horns and Booker T. & the MG's--and this top-notch backing only enhances the punch of Taylor's impassioned, raspy style. While this compilation doesn't contain Taylor's later hits (namely the slinky, chart-topping "Disco Lady"), CHRONICLE does an excellent job of surveying his classic Stax years, making it the perfect companion piece to the '76-'80 Columbia anthology RATED X-TRAORDINARE.
Another of those classic soul singers who came out of gospel to the secular world of pop, Johnnie Taylor is probably best-known for his later incarnations as a disco singer (his "Disco Lady" was simply unavoidable on the airwaves in 1976) and later yet as a smooth singer of ballads, but he had a productive run with Stax Records prior to that in the mid- to late '60s, and several of those tracks are collected here, including his first hit, "Who's Makin' Love" from 1968. Obviously, this set doesn't tell the complete story, but it features Taylor not yet that far removed from his gospel roots, and it could be argued that his Stax period is his best. ~ Steve Leggett
Johnnie Taylor's career covered enough ground (and enough different record labels) that trying to sum it up on a single disc would really take some doing, and Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits is not the CD designed to do that job. Despite the title, Chronicle is a collection focusing exclusively on Taylor's work for Stax, meaning his disco-funk material for Columbia (including his biggest chart hit, "Disco Lady") doesn't make the cut; neither do his late-period soul-blues recordings for Malaco, nor his early gospel material with the Highway Q.C.'s or the Soul Stirrers. But if you're looking for a single-disc anthology of Taylor's best stuff for Stax, this CD will give you what you need; it includes several late-'60s/early-'70s hits, including "Who's Makin' Love?," "Cheaper to Keep Her," and "Stop Doggin' Me," as well as a number of lesser-known classics that capture the gruff but heartfelt vocal style and "learned-it-the-hard-way" lyrical perspective that were the hallmarks of Taylor's work. Deciding which Johnnie Taylor collection to get is largely a matter of deciding which part of Taylor's career you're most interested in, but if you want a solid dose of his Southern soul sides for Stax, then Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits is just what you need. ~ Mark Deming
This was half of an original two-LP package containing Johnnie Taylor's biggest hits for the Stax label. If you can't find the complete version, this and its counterpart will do. It's hard to believe that anyone interested in soul didn't already have such Taylor staples as "Who's Making Love," but if you don't and can't find the two-record set, get this one as a decent entry to Johnnie Taylor's music. ~ Ron Wynn