Ted Taylor
Ted Taylor in 1969
Background information
Birth nameTheodore Taylor
Also known asIvory Lucky
Born(1934-02-16)February 16, 1934
Okmulgee, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedOctober 23, 1987(1987-10-23) (aged 53)
Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.
GenresSoul, gospel, doo-wop
Occupation(s)Singer
Years activeMid 1950s – 1987
LabelsModern, RPM, Melatone, Ebb, Duke, Top Rank International, Laurie, Warwick, Gold Eagle, Soncraft, Apt, Okeh, Epic, Atco, Jewel, Ronn, Alarm, Solpugids, SPG

Theodore Taylor (February 16, 1934 – October 23, 1987),[1] also known as Ivory Lucky, was an American blues singer.

Biography

Taylor was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and moved to California in 1952.[1] He became a member of the Mighty Clouds of Joy gospel group, before joining the Santa Monica Soul Seekers as a tenor singer. In 1955, the Soul Seekers approached Maxwell Davis at Modern Records for a recording deal, and he persuaded them to concentrate on secular R&B music. The same group recorded as both The Cadets on Modern and The Jacks on the subsidiary RPM label. Taylor sang lead vocals on The Cadets' "Do You Wanna Rock (Hey Little Girl)" and "I Cry" and also on The Jacks' "Away" and "My Darling." He did not appear on The Cadets' biggest hit, "Stranded In The Jungle" in 1955; for that session, he was replaced by Prentice Moreland.[2]

Taylor left the group, and recorded two singles on Melatone Records in 1957 with the Bob Reed orchestra on which he was credited for contractual reasons as "Ivory Lucky". Over the next seven years, he recorded singles for a succession of labels including Ebb, Duke, Top Rank International, Laurie, Warwick, Gold Eagle, Soncraft, and Apt.[3]

He was influenced by such singers as Little Willie John, Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson.[1] At Duke, he made the first recording of the ballad "Be Ever Wonderful" in 1959.[4][5] Although he had several regional hits, and released an album, Ted Taylor Sings, on Warwick in 1963, he did not achieve national commercial success until his 1965 recording on Okeh Records of "Stay Away From My Baby" reached number 14 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 99 on the pop chart, his only national pop chart entry.[6] He also released three albums on Okeh, Be Ever Wonderful (1963), Blues & Soul (1965) and Ted Taylor's Greatest Hits (1966).[5][7]

After further singles on Okeh, Epic, Atco and Jewel, Taylor worked with Ronn label in 1967.[3] He remained on the label for seven years, and had several further R&B chart hits including "It's Too Late" (1969), "Something Strange is Going On in My House" (1970), and "How's Your Love Life Baby" (1971). He also issued several albums, including You Can Dig It! and Taylor Made on Ronn.[5] His final chart hit: "Steal Away", was issued on the Alarm label of Shreveport, Louisiana in 1976.[6] He continued to record on his own Solpugids and SPG labels until his death.[3][4]

Taylor died in a car crash in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1987, aged 53.[1][8]

Discography

Chart singles

Year Title Chart Positions[9]
Billboard Hot 100 US R&B Singles
1960 "Look Out" 105 -
1963 "I'll Release You" 134 -
"Be Ever Wonderful" 123 -
"You Give Me Nothing To Go On" 104 -
1965 "(Love Is Like a) Ramblin' Rose" 132 -
"Stay Away From My Baby" 99 14
1966 "Daddy's Baby" 129 -
1969 "It's Too Late" 118 30
1970 "Somethin' Strange Is Goin' On In My House" - 26
1971 "How's Your Love Life Baby" - 44
1973 "What a Fool" - 93
1976 "Steal Away" - 64

Albums

  • Ted Taylor Sings (Warwick #2049) (1961)
  • Be Ever So Wonderful (Okeh #12104/14104) (1963)
  • Blues and Soul (Okeh #12109/14109) (1965)
  • Greatest Hits (Okeh #12113/14113) (1966)
  • Shades of Blue (Ronn #LPS-7528) (1969)
  • You Can Dig It! (Ronn #LPS-7529) (1970)
  • Taylor Made (Ronn #LPS-7531) (1972)
  • The Super Taylors (Ronn #LPS-7533) (1973) (with Little Johnny Taylor)
  • Ted Taylor (Alarm #1000) (1976)
  • Keeping My Head Above Water (MCA #305) (1978)
  • Keep Walking On (Charly #CRB-1011) (France) (1980) (compilation album)
  • Be Ever So Wonderful (Solpugdits #1001) (1985)
  • Taylor Made For You (Solpugdits #1002) (1987)
  • Somebody’s Always Trying (Mr. R&B #1005) (Sweden) (1987)

Sampling

Taylor's music has been sampled throughout hip-hop. Most notably, Taylor's song "Be Ever Wonderful" was sampled by Ludacris in "Splash Waterfalls" from his 2003, fourth studio album, Chicken-n-Beer. Following that, Taylor's "Be Ever Wonderful" was sampled by Kendrick Lamar in "DUCKWORTH", from his Pulitzer Prize winning[10][11] 2017, fourth studio album, DAMN.

Taylor's song "I Can't Fake It Anymore" from his 1978 album, Keeping My Head Above Water, was sampled by the hip-hop duo Dead Prez in their song "The Hood" (sometimes referred to as "For the Hood")[12] from an advance version of their 2004, second studio album, RBG: Revolutionary but Gangsta.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 360. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. ↑ Marv Goldberg, "The Jacks/Cadets", Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks. Retrieved 21 November 2016
  3. 1 2 3 Discography, SoulfulKindaMusic.com. Retrieved 21 November 2016
  4. 1 2 Colin Larkin, "Ted Taylor", The Encyclopedia of Popular Music , Oldies.com. Retrieved 21 November 2016
  5. 1 2 3 "Ted Taylor", SoulWalking.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2016
  6. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 436.
  7. ↑ Ted Taylor Discography, Discogs.com. Retrieved 21 November 2016
  8. ↑ Ted Taylor at Allmusic
  9. ↑ Billboard Singles. Allmusic.com.
  10. ↑ "DAMN., by Kendrick Lamar". www.pulitzer.org. 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  11. ↑ Coscarelli, Joe (2018-04-16). "Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer in 'Big Moment for Hip-Hop'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  12. ↑ Dead Prez – The Hood, retrieved 2021-03-26
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