Johnnie Taylor - Taylored in Silk/Super Taylor

Taylored In Silk, Johnnie Taylor's seventh album, marked a turning point in the veteran vocalist's career. Unlike his earlier recordings for SAR, Derby and Stax, the 1973 album brought out the mellower side of Taylor's singing style. He'd become famous for the way in which he'd punched the lyrics of earlier hits as I Got To Love Somebody's Baby, Who's Making Love and Testify (I Wonna). When freed from the blues and sockin' soul that had constituted much of his previous secular repertoire, he emerged as a balladeer of the first order. In this new, more relaxed setting, fashioned by producer Don Davis, Taylor was better able to focus on the effortlessly gliding elasticity that had been a hallmark of his mid-50s to early-60s gospel sides with the Highway QC's and the Soul Stirrers.