Just as the Highway Q.C.'s (the minor league club) turned to Johnnie Taylor as their sound alike replacement for Sam Cooke, so The Soul Stirrers (the major league club) were forced to make the same choice when Cooke left for secular music. Taylor later continued to walk the same path when he left the Stirrers for a secular career as a bad boy soul singer.
The first 7 tracks here with just Paul Foster singing leads clearly demonstrate why I used the term 'forced to'; while Foster is a perfectly competent singer, the group lacks the excitement of the Cooke years. Taylor rekindles that feel with an almost eerie imitation of Cooke that restores the two lead feeling of the earlier group.
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Thanks, KC. Johnnie Taylor's gospel output is small, but of tremendous quality. His recording of "Somewhere to Lay My Head" with the Highway QCs is also one of my very favorite recordings. With the Soul Stirrers, JT stood in Sam Cooke's shoes and somehow, against all odds, filled the bill. The Love of God is, as you say, an almost "eerie imitation" of Sam Cooke. Most of the other tracks are still at least 70% Cooke, but the individual traits that separated Johnnie Taylor from the pack are already audible. Among other attributes, Johnnie Taylor always had a very unique way of phrasing.
Listening this morning I noticed that there are great similarities in Taylors' vibrato to Johnny Adams as well
That is an interesting comparison. I never though about it before, but they both do have that big bluesy Southern baritone thing going. I miss both of them. I would give anything to hear either one of them live again!
I will qualify that last comment. The last time that I saw Johnnie Taylor live, he was so f###ed up that he could hardly walk on stage. But there were better nights...
Hmm, towards the end Johnny Adams would spend almost as much time talking as singing - you might only get three tunes in a set and a long monologue that got old fast
I only saw Johnny Adams once. There was not much talking and a lot of spectacular singing.
Once at The Shoreline Amphitheater George Porter and I were chatting off to the side while they were setting up for Johnny and George mentioned to the sound guy that he might want to turn down the mike as "the next guy has a whole lot more voice than me."
The sound guy copped an attitude and grumbled something about not needing any help with his job so George and I watched with giggling anticipation as the band fired up and Johnny approached the hot mike, the sound guy sat with his cans on pointedly ignoring us.
Adams opened up that throat and everything pinned at the top of red and I thought the mike and the board were going to explode! The guy dives for the slider with one hand whilst ripping off the cans with the other - we had to hold each other up we were laughing so hard!
http://www.embedupload.com/?d=5ND1FYGHMP
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