Chip Taylor - The Early Work

Chip Taylor probably will always be known as the songwriter who wrote "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning." Born James Wesley Voight (the actor Jon Voight is his older brother), Taylor began playing country music while still in high school in Yonkers, NY. After finishing high school, he briefly took up his father's occupation, becoming a professional golfer. But he suffered a wrist injury and turned back to music. In 1962, he signed to Warner Bros. Records, and his single "Here I Am" "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 in November. He became more successful, however, as a songwriter, scoring his first hit with "I Can't Let Go" (co-written with Al Gorgoni), which was recorded by the Hollies for a chart entry in March 1966. (Linda Ronstadt revived the song for a Top 40 hit in 1980.) Then came the simplistic, but unforgettable "Wild Thing," recorded by another British group, the Troggs, who topped the charts with it in July, creating a much-covered standard. A parody by "Senator Bobby" (comedian Bill Minkin) hit the Top 40 in January 1967, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed the song at the Monterey Pop Festival in June.

Meanwhile, Taylor continued to write hits: "Make Me Belong to You" (co-written with Billy Vera) hit the Top 40 for Barbara Lewis in August 1966; "I Can Make It With You" was cut by both the Pozo-Seco Singers and by Jackie DeShannon, with the Pozo-Seco Singers' version winning out and hitting the Top 40 in October 1966; the American Breed recorded "Step Out of Your Mind" for a Top 40 hit in July 1967; and Billy Vera & Judy Clay hit the Top 40 with "Country Girl City Man" (co-written with Ted Daryll) in March 1968. But Taylor's second standard was "Angel of the Morning," a ballad about pre-marital sex that pushed the boundaries of acceptable subject matter in pop music. Merrilee Rush & the Turnabouts recorded the song, and it reached the Top Ten in June 1968; Juice Newton revived it in 1981 for a second Top Ten hit and a gold record. With Gorgoni, Taylor wrote "I'll Hold Out My Hand," recorded by the Clique for a Top 40 hit in December 1969. Also in 1969, Janis Joplin recorded Taylor and Jerry Ragavoy's "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and released it as the leadoff track on her debut solo album, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!.

Taylor had not given up his ambition to be a recording artist himself. He and Gorgoni recorded together under the name Just Us, then Taylor cut a series of solo albums in the 1970's that started with:




His first solo album after the Gorgoni cooperation. Includes 'Angel of The Morning' and the great 'Swear To God Your Honor' (I never laid no finger on her, though my reputation's mighty queer). Lossless conversion from a Japanese digitally remastered version.

1.Londonderry Company
2.Angel Of The Morning
3.Home Again
4.Lady Lisa
5.Oh My Marie
6.Gasoline
7.Lightning (Don't Stay Mad With Me)
8.Dirty Matthew
9.You Didn't Get Here Last Night
10.Swear To God Your Honor

http://rapidshare.de/files/27313267/Chip_Taylor_-_Gasoline_a.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/27313882/Chip_Taylor_-_Gasoline_b.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/27312978/Chip_Taylor_-_Gasoline_c.zip




This album became a classic. Chip was always great at writing hits for others but lousy singing them himself and his record company told him: score, or…! So Chip's great sense of humor made him baptise the album Chip Taylor's Last Chance and he wrote, besides a couple of beautiful ballads, some hilariously funny songs about the record industry like 'The Real Thing', I Read It In Rolling Stone', I Wasn't Born In Tennessee and '101 In Cashbox', the latter proving he wasn't too sure himself he was going to make it this time: I'm 101 in Cashbox, in Billboard I can't be found, I'm 118 in the Record World ratings and going down. The laughing and party sounds of 'The Last Chance' end the record.

This is what others say about it: A stone-cold classic; one of the foundational records of the alt-country movement, and one of my favorite country albums of all time… even to this day! A famed songwriter who dropped out of the rock scene to "go country," Taylor started out with a jaundiced view of the music biz (as heard on the wry "101 In Cashbox," which is sort of like the evil twin of Dr. Hook's "Cover Of Rolling Stone") and brought with him a love of real roots music that stood at odds with the trendy pop pretensions of the countrypolitan Top 40 establishment. His song "Wasn't Born In Tennessee" is one of the greatest anthems of the longhair/outlaw/alt-country scene, mixing drug references with a nostalgic, rueful yearning for good, old, true-blue heartfelt twang. "Clean Your Own Tables" is a wonderful singalong made in praise of a weary barmaid… The rest of the album has similar heft, although these are the catchiest, most striking songs… This is the Chip Taylor album that all others are measured against; the same goes for every alt-country record that came in its wake. It's a real landmark, watershed record, and one that you should track down as soon as you can. Highly recommended!

1.(I Want) The Real Thing
2.Son of a Rotten Gambler
3.I Read It in Rolling Stone
4.(The Coal Fields of) Shikshinny
5.I Wasn't Born in Tennessee
6.(The Likes of) Louise
7.It's Still the Same
8.101 in Cashbox
9.Family of One
10.Clean Your Own Tables
11.Last Chance

http://rapidshare.de/files/273...Taylor_-_The_Last_Chance_1.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/273...Taylor_-_The_Last_Chance_2.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/273...Taylor_-_The_Last_Chance_3.zip




The perfect follow-up to the two previous ones, completely in style with them.

1.Me as I Am
2.Early Sunday Morning
3.(It's a Long Way) Back to the Heart
4.Something 'Bout the Way This Story Ends
5.Funny Songs
6.Coming from Behind
7.If You're Ever in Warsaw
8.If I Can't Be in Austin
9.Here Again
10.Some of Us

http://rapidshare.de/files/27318422/Chip_Taylor_-_Some_of_Us_a.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/27318515/Chip_Taylor_-_Some_of_Us_b.zip




There's something about singer/songwriters doing their own material, and while Chip Taylor is one of the greats (and produced one of the greats, Neil Diamond), he is in an industry where his legacy puts him a few steps ahead of P.F.Sloan in terms of success, but far short of the name recognition enjoyed by a Carole King (a status she deserves, as does Taylor). This is a great – but incomplete – collection of songs that were and still are highly influential. "Try Just a Little Bit Harder" might not be as notorious as "Wild Thing" or "Angel of the Morning" but, being a Janis Joplin signature, it sure got into a lot of homes. When Clive Davis played a rare Joplin performance on The Midnight Special television program, he chose a version of "Try" where Pearl just exploded across the stage. Taylor's version here is more laid-back, but so absolutely essential for two reasons – because it was so vital to Joplin's solo career, and because it is such a tremendous song on its own. Not the biggest hit in Linda Ronstadt's career, "I Can't Let Go" is one of her more exciting ones, and it's great to hear the creator take it on, as well as "Any Way That You Want Me," a song covered by Evie Sands and the Troggs. Gadfly Records does a good job here, and the liner notes have chart information as well as anecdotes from Taylor on how and why some of the tunes were written. His performances are excellent and deserving of chart action on their own, or at least some serious adult alternative radio airplay. There are 13 selections and, though some important compositions are missing – the American Breed's "Step Out of Your Mind," the Clique's "I'll Hold Out My Hand" from the album that launched their Tommy James hit "Sugar on Sunday," and Taylor's own 1962 minor chart entry "Here I Am" – the sincerity in delivery and the historic importance make this a textbook you can learn from and enjoy. Hit Man is an excellent resume of a vital creative force in music, and could keep young minds focused if used in classrooms to teach the art of painting a song. Apart from that, it is a monster album that truly deserves platinum success. (AMG)

1. I Can Make It With You
2. I Can't Let Go
3. Angel of the Morning
4. Any Way That You Want Me
5. Wild Thing
6. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)
7. Storybook Children
8. Country Girl, City Man (Just Across the Line)
9. Welcome Home
10. Sweet Dream Woman
11. It's Such a Lonely Time of Year
12. Just a Little Bit Later on Down the Line
13. Son of a Rotten Gambler

http://rapidshare.de/files/27308611/Chip_Taylor_-_Hit_Man_0.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/27309040/Chip_Taylor_-_Hit_Man_1.zip
http://rapidshare.de/files/27309668/Chip_Taylor_-_Hit_Man_2.zip