Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing "
Angel of the Morning
"Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' D ...
" and "
Wild Thing".
Early life
Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enum ...
. He is the brother of actor
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, he ...
and geologist
Barry Voight and the uncle of actress
Angelina Jolie and actor
James Haven
James Haven ( né Voight; born May 11, 1973) is an American actor. He is the son of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, and the older brother of actress Angelina Jolie.
Early life
Haven was born on May 11, 1973 in Los Angeles, California ...
.
Taylor and his brothers attended
Archbishop Stepinac High School
Archbishop Stepinac High School is an American all-boys' Roman Catholic high school in White Plains, New York.
It was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the 2009–2010 school year, when it became independent of the ...
in
White Plains, New York
(Always Faithful)
, image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png
, seal_link =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = State
, subdivision_name1 =
, subdivis ...
.
In 1961, Taylor attended the
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and i ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since ...
, for one year.
After an unsuccessful attempt to become a professional golfer like his father Elmer Voight, Taylor entered the music business.
Career
As "tune tailor"
Taylor wrote many pop and rock songs, both alone and with other songwriters, including
Al Gorgoni
Al Gorgoni (born 1939) is an American guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer, known for his work as a studio musician during the 1960s and 1970s.
Biography
Growing up in Philadelphia, his family moved to The Bronx where he took up the guit ...
(with whom he also performed, as the duo
Just Us),
Billy Vera
Billy Vera (born William Patrick McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960s, his most successful record being "At This Moment", a US number 1 h ...
,
Ted Daryll, and
Jerry Ragovoy
Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy (September 4, 1930 – July 13, 2011) was an American songwriter and record producer.
His best-known composition " Time Is on My Side" (written under the pseudonym of Norman Meade) was made famous by the Rolling Stones, al ...
, first freelancing and then as an employee of a New York City music publisher.
Taylor's first big hit was "
Wild Thing", which, though originally recorded in 1965 by
Jordan Christopher
Jordan Christopher (October 23, 1940 – January 21, 1996) was an American actor and singer. He was the lead singer of The Wild Ones, who recorded the original version of the rock classic " Wild Thing" after Christopher had left the band.
Earl ...
&
the Wild Ones, became famous as both a 1966 hit single for
the Troggs
The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", all ...
and a 1967
live performance by
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
, and was later covered by
the Runaways
The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", " Queens o ...
, the
Muppets, and
X. His second most recognizable song, "
Angel of the Morning
"Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' D ...
", was originally recorded by
Evie Sands
Evie Sands (born July 18, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter and musician.
Sands' music career spans more than 50 years. She began her career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start, she eventually found chart success in 1969, be ...
in 1967, before becoming a hit for
Merrilee Rush
Merrilee Rush ( Gunst; January 26, 1944) is an American singer, best known for her recording of the song " Angel of the Morning", a top-10 hit which earned her a Grammy nomination for female vocalist of the year in 1968.
Early life and caree ...
and also
P. P. Arnold in 1968, then a million-selling single in 1981 for country-pop singer
Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as wel ...
; later a rendition from
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...
was released. Other notable pop and country songs written by Taylor include "He Sits at Your Table" (
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
), "
I Can't Let Go
"I Can't Let Go" is a song co-written by Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor, who also wrote " Wild Thing". "I Can't Let Go" was originally recorded by blue-eyed soul singer Evie Sands' on George Goldner's Blue Cat label, which was popular in New York Cit ...
" (
Evie Sands
Evie Sands (born July 18, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter and musician.
Sands' music career spans more than 50 years. She began her career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start, she eventually found chart success in 1969, be ...
,
the Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the ba ...
,
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American M ...
), "The Baby" (
the Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the ba ...
), "Worry" (
Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, including " Poetry ...
), "Make Me Belong to You" (
Barbara Lewis
Barbara Ann Lewis (born February 9, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues.
Career
Lewis was born in Salem, Michigan, United States.
She was writing and recording by her teens with record ...
), "I Can Make It With You" (
the Pozo Seco Singers,
Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers, August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards, as both singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-songwr ...
), "
Any Way That You Want Me
"Any Way That You Want Me" is a song written by Chip Taylor that was first released in September 1966 by Tina Mason as the B-side to her single "Finders Keepers". It has been covered by a number of artists, with the most successful version bein ...
" (the Troggs,
Evie Sands
Evie Sands (born July 18, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter and musician.
Sands' music career spans more than 50 years. She began her career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start, she eventually found chart success in 1969, be ...
, Melanie,
American Breed
The American Breed is an American bovid hybrid of cattle with a small percentage of American Bison blood. It was developed in the 1950s by a New Mexico rancher looking for beef cattle which could survive on poor fodder in the arid Southwest.
...
, Juice Newton,
Lita Ford
Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...
,
Liverpool Five
The Liverpool Five were a beat group that was part of the British Invasion-era of the 1960s. The group played throughout Europe and Asia before achieving the peak of their success in the United States between 1965 and 1967.
Career
Formed in E ...
) "Step Out of Your Mind" (
American Breed
The American Breed is an American bovid hybrid of cattle with a small percentage of American Bison blood. It was developed in the 1950s by a New Mexico rancher looking for beef cattle which could survive on poor fodder in the arid Southwest.
...
), "Country Girl City Man" (
Billy Vera
Billy Vera (born William Patrick McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960s, his most successful record being "At This Moment", a US number 1 h ...
and
Judy Clay
Judy Clay (September 12, 1938 – July 19, 2001)
Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016. was an American < ...
), "I'll Hold Out My Hand", "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (
Lorraine Ellison
Lorraine Ellison (March 17, 1931 – January 31, 1983) was an American soul singer and songwriter known for her recording of the song " Stay with Me" (sometimes known as "Stay With Me Baby") in 1966.
Life and career
Born Marybelle Luraine Elli ...
,
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence.
...
), "Julie" (
Bobby Fuller Four,
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and " Whenever You're on My Mind." He ...
), "Lonely Is As Lonely Does" (
the Fleetwoods
The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940).
Early history
The band mem ...
), "Sweet Dream Woman" (
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music.
Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...
), "A Little Bit Later On Down the Line" (
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician.
Early c ...
), "Rock Soldiers" (
Ace Frehley), and "
Son of a Rotten Gambler" (
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...
,
the Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the ba ...
,
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career.
Murray was the fir ...
).
Shaggy used "
Angel of the Morning
"Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' D ...
" as the basis for his hit "
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
" in 2001.
In 2009,
Ace Records released a compilation CD of some of Taylor's compositions as recorded by other artists (''Wild Thing: The Songs of Chip Taylor'').
His own recordings
Taylor's first releases were on the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...
label and their subsidiary
DeLuxe. In 1958, he and the Town Three released two 45s on DeLuxe, numbers 6176 "Midnight Blues" and 6180 "I Want a Lover". In 1959, he recorded for King as Wes Voight on 5211 "I'm Loving It", and his final recording as Wes Voight on King 5231 "I'm Ready to Go Steady" and "The Wind and the Cold Black Night". The two King 45s were released in both mono and stereo, making them some of the first stereo singles available. Taylor has released recordings on
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
,
Columbia, and
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerou ...
. His first chart single was his recording (as Chip Taylor) of "Here I Am" in 1962 on Warner Bros. Records. He also had a top 40 hit in Australia in 1963 with "Sandy Sandy" with the Town and Country Brothers, a later iteration of Wes Voight and the Town Three, with Ted Daryll (who wrote the song) and Greg Richards, writers of "
She Cried
"She Cried" is a song written by Ted Daryll and Greg Richards, and it was initially recorded by Ted Daryll in July 1961, but was a big hit when covered by Jay and the Americans for their 1962 album, ''She Cried''. In 1962 the song reached number ...
" by
Jay and the Americans
Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Ya ...
.
Performing and recording in the 1990s and the 21st century
Taylor restarted his performing and recording career in 1993.
At the 2001
South by Southwest Music Conference in
Austin, Texas, Taylor met singer and violinist
Carrie Rodriguez, with whom he performed and recorded
Americana music for several years. The duo recorded ''Let's Leave This Town'' in 2002. They released ''The Trouble With Humans'' the following year and the critically acclaimed ''Red Dog Tracks'' in 2005. Each has since released successful solo albums. Taylor's double-CD ''Unglorious Hallelujah/Red Red Rose'', his first solo album in five years, was quickly hailed as "a future classic" by Sonic Magazine, whose reviewer declared: "This is the best we've heard from Chip Taylor so far." Rodriguez's solo album, ''Seven Angels on a Bicycle'', was released in August 2006. In late 2006 and early 2007, Rodriguez toured on her own but continued to perform with Taylor from time to time. Taylor has done a series of shows with guitarist
John Platania and the young singer/fiddler
Kendel Carson, and he produced both their 2007 albums.
Taylor has performed with alt-country singer-songwriter
Robbie Fulks
Robert "Robbie" Fulks (born March 25, 1963) is an American alternative country singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and long-time Chicago, Illinois resident. He has released 13 albums over a career spanning more than 30 years. His 2016 record '' Up ...
, playing bass for Fulks's January 2004 date at the
Double Door
Double Door, a concert hall and nightclub, was located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and was co-owned by Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan. On Jun ...
in Chicago.
During the 21st century through 2020, Taylor has continued to perform with his band The New Ukrainians ([John Platania on electric guitar, Björn Petterson on bass, and a revolving cast of other musicians). Each concert almost always includes both "Wild Thing" and "Angel in the Morning".
Taylor's album ''Yonkers, NY'' was a 2011 nominee for a Grammy Award for best recording package, but lost to ''Brothers'' by the Black Keys.
Train Wreck Records
In 2007, Taylor launched his own independent record label, independent label, Train Wreck Records.
Personal life
By Taylor's own accounts, from 1980 through 1995 he was very successful at, but unhappily addicted to, gambling professionally on
blackjack
Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fam ...
in New Jersey
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s and on
horse race
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
s. He then returned to music, starting by singing to his dying mother, Barbara Voight. Taylor has said that the gambling addiction was hard on both himself and his family. He has written that, after having an epiphany, he changed his attitude and created the "Church of the Train Wreck" self-help program for himself and others.
As of 2019, Taylor continues to live in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He has been married to Joan Carole Frey since 1964, and they have children and grandchildren. (Joan and Chip were temporarily divorced for several years, starting in the 1990s.)
Discography
Albums
Compilations
Singles
Music videos
References
External links
Interview with Chip Taylor by Spectropop*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Chip
1940 births
American gamblers
American country singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
Record producers from New York (state)
Living people
People from Yonkers, New York
Country musicians from New York (state)
Singers from New York City
Voight family
Archbishop Stepinac High School alumni
University of Hartford alumni
American people of German descent
American people of Slovak descent
Buddah Records artists
Warner Records artists
CBS Records artists
Capitol Records artists
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)