Taylored in Silk

Johnnie Taylor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stax
• ASIN: B000000ZM6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,528 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Taylored in Silk was Johnnie Taylor's [The Philosopher of Soul] best pure soul release; he was in peak form as a vocalist, and received superb productions, arrangements, compositions and musical backing from the Stax brain trust. The album includes the hits 'We're Getting Careless with Our Love' and 'Cheaper to Keep Her'. Newly remastered with 6 bonus cuts. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "...I've Got Someone I Can Call My Very Own...", October 8, 2011

By 

Mark Barry, Reckless Records, London (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Taylored in Silk (Audio CD)

Concord Music Group, Inc 0888072328754 is part of the 2011/2012 "Stax Remasters" Series and breaks down as follows (55:58 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 8 are the album "Taylored In Silk" - released June 1973 in the USA on Stax Records STS-3014 and July 1975 in the UK on Stax Records STX 1012

Tracks 9 and 10 are "Hijackin' Love" and "Love In The Streets (Ain't Good As The Love At Home)" - the A&B-sides of a USA 45 on Stax STA-0096 (released August 1971)
Tracks 11 and 12 are "Standing In For Jody" and "Shackin' Up" - the A&B-sides of a USA 45 on Stax STA-0114 (released January 1972)
Tracks 13 and 14 are "Doing My Own Thing (Part 1)" and "(Part 2)" - the A&B-sides of a USA 45 on Stax STA-0122 (released April 1972)

The new 12-page booklet has very knowledgeable and affectionate liner notes by BILL DAHL who did the exceptional liner notes on Bear Family's 1961-1970 "Sweet Soul Music" CDs (10 volumes) and their 1945-1960 "Blowing The Fuse" series on R'n'B music (16 volumes). I've reviewed nearly all of them. You also get the original artwork on the front and rear of the booklet, musician and session details etc. But it's a shame the booklet doesn't go any further. There's no new photos, no memorabilia - and it makes the inlay feel workmanlike at best - even a little dull - when it should have spread its wings a little. But the big news is the SOUND...

I've reviewed the other titles in this new "Stax Remasters" series (see list below) and duly raved about the fabulous sound quality on all - especially after years of lacklustre reissues in jewel cases and repro digipaks. Well this is the same. 24-bit remastered from the first generation tapes at JOE TARANTINO Mastering in Berkeley, California - the audio quality is fantastic - which of course makes you reassess every song - and here it gives incredible clarity to these hugely underrated slices of Seventies Soul.

The whole album is good and very much in a smoochy mode - songs about lovin' and cheatin' and not getting' caught cheatin' etc. "I Believe In You (You Believe In Me)" made the top spot on the US R'n'B charts in June 1973 (lyrics above) while the lovely cover of Prince Phillip Mitchell's "Starting All Over Again" is superlative Stax Soul. The witty lyrics of Mack Rice' "Cheaper To Keep Her" still bring a smile to a face and a tap to a foot - while the sound quality on the mid-tempo "I Can Read Between The Lines" is gorgeous.

And the funkier singles are a huge treat - off-setting the slightly loverman feel of the album. "Hijackin' Love" made Number 10 on the US R'n'B charts - and with its fantastically punchy funk rhythm - it's easy to hear why. The "...using me for a spare..." choppy Soul of "Standing In For Jody" is great - as is the JB funk of its wicked B-side "Shackin' Up" (another song about another woman's husband). The guitar opening of "Doing My Own Thing" makes you think you've stumbled on a John Lee Hooker Blues session, but it then settles into a great Soulful groove which brings the guitar back later. "Part 2" feels like a great James Brown B-side you're glad you've rediscovered. Very, very good indeed...

To sum up - this is as superlative value-for-money reissue with top-notch Seventies Soul and sound quality that trumps everything that's gone before.

Recommended.

PS: titles in the "STAX REMASTERS" series are (all reviewed):
1. McLemore Avenue - BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S (1970)
2. Woman To Woman - SHIRLEY BROWN (1974)
3. Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - THE DRAMATICS (1972)
4. Be Altitude: Respect Yourself - THE STAPLE SINGERS (1972)
5. Taylored In Silk - JOHNNIE TAYLOR (1973)
6. Do The Funky Chicken - RUFUS THOMAS (1969)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RAW AS SILK!!, October 21, 2007

By 

will power "will" (BELTSVILLE ,MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taylored in Silk (Audio CD)

I HAVE A DEEP APPRECIATION FOR THIS NOW! AFTER LISTENING TO THIS CD!THE SONG "WE GETTING CARELESS WITH OUR LOVE" IS STRAIGHT UP DOPE! I LOVE THIS GENT'S BLUESY STYLE,I HAVE BROUGHT HIS GREATEST HITS AND A FEW OTHER CD'S OF MR.TAYLOR'S.BUT THIS CD IS VERY GOOD..........SOUTHERN SOUL AT IT'S FINEST.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 - Blues- and gospel-influenced soul singer hits a peak on Stax, May 19, 2011

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Taylored in Silk (Audio CD)

Vocalist Johnnie Taylor wore a number of musical hats, starting with roots in gospel, striking a soulful resonance with Stax, and finding his largest chart success with 1976's "Disco Lady." Taylor brought his roots with him to Stax, and his first few releases were see-saw affairs that vacillated between blues and Southern soul. His rise as a bona fide soul and R&B star began with the arrival of new staff producer Don Davis, who helmed 1968's chart-topping "Who's Making Love." Taylor and Davis continued to fine-tune the balance of blues grit and soul emotion, hitting a peak with this 1973 release, Taylor's next-to-last for Stax. Interestingly, little of the recording was actually performed in the Stax studio; basic tracks were recorded in Muscle Shoals, horns were added in Detroit and the strings overdubbed in New York.

There are still some straight blues here, such as Mack Rice's "Cheaper to Keep Her," but the most effective cuts mix emotional Southern soul balladry with elements of urban R&B. The superb "We're Getting Careless with Our Love" provides a cautious retort to the overt cheating of Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones," and the 1972 Mel & Tim Stax hit "Starting All Over Again" is covered as more wishful than hopeful. The second half of the album has some lush arrangements, such as for "Only Thing Wrong With My Woman," but Taylor's voice always harbors enough grit to keep his crooning from turning soft. The 2011 reissue adds six bonus tracks drawn from the A's and B's of three Stax singles, including the solid funk "Hijackin' Love" and "Shackin' Up," the deep-groove Southern soul "Standing in for Jody" and the two-part blues "Doing My Own Thing." 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]