Chip Taylor

Chip Taylor
Taylor at Wolverhampton, 2006
Background information
Birth name	James Wesley Voight
Born	March 21, 1940 (1940-03-21)
Origin	Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1971–present
Labels	Buddah, Warner Bros., CBS, Capitol, Train Wreck
Associated acts	Carrie Rodriguez, Kendel Carson, John Platania

James Wesley Voight (born March 21, 1940), better known by his stage name as Chip Taylor, is an American songwriter, who is noted for writing the songs "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing." He is the brother of actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight. He is the uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven.

Early career

Taylor attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. After an unsuccessful attempt to become a professional golfer, Taylor entered the music business, writing pop and rock songs, both alone and with other songwriters, including Al Gorgoni (as the duo Just Us), Billy Vera, Ted Daryll, and Jerry Ragovoy.

As "tune tailor"

Taylor's best-known songs are "Wild Thing," which, though originally recorded in 1965 by Jordan Christopher & The Wild Ones, became famous as both a 1966 hit single for The Troggs and a 1967 live performance by Jimi Hendrix, and "Angel of the Morning," a hit for Merrilee Rush in 1968, and then a million-selling single in 1981 for country-pop singer Juice Newton. Other notable pop and country songs written by Taylor include "He Sits at Your Table" (Willie Nelson), "I Can't Let Go" (Evie Sands), "The Baby" (The Hollies), "Worry" (Johnny Tillotson), "Make Me Belong to You"(Barbara Lewis), "I Can Make It With You" (The Pozo Seco Singers, Jackie DeShannon), "Any Way That You Want Me" (The Troggs, Evie Sands, Juice Newton), "Step Out of Your Mind", "Country Girl City Man" (Billy Vera and Judy Clay), "I'll Hold Out My Hand", "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (Janis Joplin), "Julie" (Bobby Fuller Four), "Lonely Is As Lonely Does" (The Fleetwoods), "Sweet Dream Woman" (Waylon Jennings), "A Little Bit Later On Down the Line" (Bobby Bare) and "Son of a Rotten Gambler" (Emmylou Harris, the Hollies, Anne Murray).

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)

On his own

Taylor has released recordings on Warner Bros., Columbia, and Capitol. His most popular recording is Last Chance, on Warner Bros. In the mid-1970s, Taylor gave up the music business for a career as a professional gambler specializing in blackjack and horse-racing handicapping. But the year 1980 saw Taylor make an appearance in the film Melvin and Howard.

Performing career

Taylor restarted his performing and recording career in 1993. At a South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas in 2001, Chip 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 also performed with alt-country singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks, playing bass for Fulks's January 2004 date at Double Door in Chicago. 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. In addition, the reggae rap star Shaggy utilized "Angel of the Morning" as the basis for his hit "Angel" in 2001. The song also used the bass line of the Steve Miller song "The Joker". Both Taylor and Miller received co-writing credit for the song, which became Taylor's second No. 1 hit on the Billboard pop charts, some 35 years after "Wild Thing". "Angel of the Morning" has sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Chip Taylor´s album "Yonkers, NY" was in 2011 nominee for Grammy Award, for best recording package but lost to "Brothers" by The Black Keys.

Train Wreck Records

In 2007, Taylor launched his own independent label, Train Wreck Records.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US Country	Label
1971	Gorgoni, Martin & Taylor	—	Buddha
1971	Gasoline	—	Buddha
1973	Chip Taylor's Last Chance	—	Warner Bros.
1974	Some of Us	—
1975	This Side of the Big River	36
1976	Somebody Shoot Out the Jukebox	—	CBS
1979	Saint Sebastian	—	Capitol
1996	Hit Man	—
1997	Living Room Tapes	—
1999	Seven Days In May... A Love Story	—
2000	London Sessions Bootleg	—
2001	Black & Blue America	—
2002	Let's Leave This Town	—	Lone Star
2003	The Trouble With Humans	—	Lone Star
2005	Red Dog Tracks	—
2006	Unglorious Hallelujah	—	Back Porch Music
2007	Live from the Ruhr Triennale	—	MRI
2008	New Songs of Freedom	—	Megaforce
2008	Songs From a Dutch Tour	—	Train Wreck
2009	Yonkers NY	—	Train Wreck

Compilations

Year	Album	Label
2008	Angels & Gamblers: Best of 1971-1979	Raven Records
2010	James Wesley Days Best of 99-10	Rootsy / Train Wreck

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1973	"101 In Cashbox"			Chip Taylor's Last Chance
1975	"Me As I Am"	80	—	Some of Us
	"Early Sunday Morning"	28	41
	"Big River"	61	—	This Side of the Big River
1976	"Circle of Tears"	92	—
1977	"Hello Atlanta" (with Ghost Train)	93	—	Somebody Shoot Out the Jukebox

External links

• Interview with Chip Taylor by Spectropop
• Cover History of Wild Thing on Second Hand Songs
• Train Wreck Records site for Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez
• Chip Taylor at the Internet Movie Database
• Chip Taylor at AllRovi