Johnnie Taylor

Another of those classic soul singers who came out of gospel to the secular world of pop, Johnnie Taylor is probably best-known for his later incarnations as a disco singer (his "Disco Lady" was simply unavoidable on the airwaves in 1976) and later yet as a smooth singer of ballads, but he had a productive run with Stax Records prior to that in the mid- to late '60s, and several of those tracks are collected here, including his first hit, "Who's Makin' Love" from 1968. Obviously, this set doesn't tell the complete story, but it features Taylor not yet that far removed from his gospel roots, and it could be argued that his Stax period is his best. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide