Audio CD review:
Johnnie Taylor - Lifetime

Johnnie Taylor - Lifetime

Band: Johnnie Taylor Title: Lifetime Rating: Release Date: 21 November, 2000 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: I Dreamed That Heaven Was Like This 2: Heaven Is My Home (Take 1) 3: The Love Of God (Take 7-Previously Unissued Alternet) 4: Out On A Hill (Take 1-Alt.) 5: Until Then (Take 3-Alt.) 6: When The Gates Swing Open 7: Never, Never 8: Rome (Wasn't Built In A Day) 9: Dance What You Wanna 10: Baby, We've Got Love 11: I Had A Dream 12: Easy Lovin' (Previously Unissued) 13: I've Got To Love Somebody's Baby 14: Just The One (I've Been Looking For) 15: Part Time Love 16: Sixteen Tons 17: Somebody's Sleeping In My Bed 18: Blues In The Night 19: Save Your Love For Me 20: I Need Lots Of Love 21: You Can't Win With A Losing Hand 22: Rumors 23: You Don't Know Like I Know 24: Twenty Years From Today 25: Twenty Years From Today 26: Little Bluebird 27: Toe Hold 28: That's Where It's At 29: I Ain't Particular 30: Woman Across The River 31: Who's Making Love 32: I'm Not The Same Person 33: I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water 34: Mr. Nobody Is Somebody Now 35: Take Care Of Your Homework 36: Testify (I Wonna) 37: Separation Line 38: I Could Never Be President 39: Love Bones 40: Steal Away 41: Steal Away (Live) 42: I Am Somebody (Parts 1 & 2) 43: Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone 44: I Don't Wanna Lose You (Parts 1 & 2) 45: Don't Take My Sunshine 46: Hijackin' Love 47: Standing In For Jody 48: Doing My Own Thing (Part 1) 49: Stop Doggin' Me 50: I Believe In You (You Believe In Me) 51: Cheaper To Keep Her 52: We're Getting Careless With Our Love 53: Starting All Over Again 54: I've Been Born Again 55: It's September 56: Try Me Tonight 57: Free 58: Disco Lady 59: Running Out Of Lies 60: God Is Standing By 61: Play Something Pretty 62: Lady, My Whole World Is You 63: Lover Boy 64: Last Two Dollars 65: Soul Heaven

Editoral Review C. Before Johnnie Taylor was the soul sage of "Who's Making Love" or the pop-disco smoothie of "Disco Lady," he was a gospel star--the lead singer of the Highway Q. 's and later of the Soul Stirrers, where he followed Sam Cooke. He eventually shook off Cooke's vocal mannerisms and left gospel for the soul and disco world, but the church always stayed in his voice--and in the wry moralism that underscored even his most libidinous songs. When he sang "I've Been Born Again," it was nominally about the woman who'd made him monogamous, but his prayerful phrasing argued otherwise. Taylor died in early 2000, and Lifetime is a smartly constructed survey of his entire recording career, including dozens of big hits and a healthy helping of alternate takes and rarities (admittedly, though, the last two decades of the years in the title are represented by all of four tracks). His first big break in secular pop came when the unrelated Little Johnny Taylor had a hit with "Part Time Love" but couldn't promote it effectively; Johnnie with an "ie" stepped in and remade himself as a bluesy shouter, backed up by the Stax house band in Memphis. By the end of the '60s, he'd hooked up with producer/songwriter Don Davis, who was his creative foil for the commercial peak of his career and introduced his voice to the Detroit sound for a string of little morality plays that zoomed to the upper reaches of the R&B charts. (Admirers of XTC's "Standing in for Joe" should enjoy Taylor's "Standing in for Jody. ") The culmination of this period, and of his hitmaking career, was "Disco Lady," a 1975 collaboration with P-Funk sidemen, but Lifetime's final disc even makes Taylor's long decline sound as sharp as the rest of his canon. --Douglas Wolk .. You can see a complete list of all Johnnie Taylor discography, or go back to the Johnnie Taylor tabs