Johnnie Taylor is a gritty soul singer who flirts with blues. He had a #1 pop smash with the danceable "Disco Lady" in 1976.
Taylor was born May 5, 1938, in Crawfordsville, Ark. He first recorded with a
doo-wop group, the Five Echoes, in 1955. Two years later, he became lead vocalist for the gospel group the Soul Stirrers, succeeding Sam Cooke.
In 1966 Taylor had solo R&B hits "I Had a Dream" and "I Got to Love Somebody's Baby." He crossed over to the pop chart's top five in 1968 with "Who's Making Love." The following year, Taylor scored on the R&B chart with tracks such as "Testify (I Wanna)" and "Love Bones." He topped the R&B chart with records "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" and "I Believe in You."
In 1975, "Disco Lady" (RealAudio excerpt) became his first single ever to be certified platinum. Taylor remade the song on Taylored to Please (1998).
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