Stax Records and Craft Recordings team up to spotlight the bluesier side of the legendary gospel-soul-R&B singer Johnny Taylor to a new collection coming this fall. One step away from the bluesSet for release on October 25, the album is available for pre-order now on LP, CD, and digital formats. A limited edition blue vinyl version is available exclusively at Barnes & Noble.
One Step out of the blues is introduced today by the brassy, funky “Steal Away,” which shows the Philosopher of Soul at his most passionate and hard-hitting. Among the album’s 12 tracks are the cheeky divorce satire “Cheaper to Keep Her,” the lush but tough ballad “Stop Doggin’ Me,” and “I Had a Dream,” a slow-burning 12-bar blues written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter.
Taylor was one of the titans of 20th century soul music. He grew up singing in gospel groups in West Memphis, Arkansas and got his big break when he Sam Cook with the Soul Stirrers in 1957. He eventually joined Cooke’s SAR label as a solo artist and signed with Memphis-based Stax Records after Cooke’s death in 1964. Another untimely death, which was Otis Redding brought Taylor to the top of the Stax list in 1967. His recordings with the label until its closure in 1975 are considered among the most successful in the history of the genre.
Taylor continued to record for decades after Stax, even reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with 1976’s “Disco Lady.” In 1999, he released “Soul Heaven,” in which he imagines an afterlife inspired by music legends from Dizzy Gillespie to Biggie Smalls. He died of a heart attack the following year at the age of 66. His accolades include three Grammys, a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and induction into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame.
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