Johnnie Taylor – Smooth Operator

Although his biggest hit came after he left the label, Johnnie Taylor was one of the bestselling - and most consistently brilliant artists to record for the legendary Stax. He remains a sorely underrated soul artist, a "seducer-showman" suffused with polish and grit, regarded by some as the missing link between Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. Jack Watkins sings his praises.

- By Jack Watkins

If you did a quick survey of Stax Records’ best-known names, Johnnie Taylor would surely trail behind the likes of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes, and probably even Booker T & the MGs, the Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, and Rufus Thomas. Which goes to show that recognisability doesn’t always equate to the quality of an artist’s product.

Taylor was one of the label’s biggest sellers, yet posterity has adjudged him an also-ran, perhaps because his biggest numbers came after the death of the mighty Otis and the alleged golden age of soul, and when Stax’s close-knit family spirit had been replaced by something more business-like.

His biggest-seller, Disco Lady, which sold two and a half million copies in 1976, didn’t come until he signed for Columbia, after Stax crumbled in the mid-70s. It did so well (it was Taylor’s only US pop chart-topper), it became the record industry’s first Platinum-certified single.

But although Disco Lady is likeable, it’s third-gear Taylor. He would later sign for Malaco, releasing material better suited to his gospel and blues-infused brand of soul. But it was at Stax between 1968 and 1975, working with producer Don Davis, that he found his voice, releasing hit singles of diversity and quality that made him a permanent fixture on the R&B charts, and often enjoying crossover success. Many of the songs from this period are textbook examples of classic soul singing, Taylor extracting every ounce of feeling without over-emoting.