A look back at the music performed by Taylor Hicks and the era....by Taylor's Angels


Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Taylor Hicks Retro 1973-1976

1973

Living For The City



One of Stevie Wonder's social commentary songs, this tells of a young kid from Mississippi who moves to New York City. In Mississippi, he dealt with many hardships, but was surrounded by caring people. In New York City, he is quickly taken advantage of and is caught with drugs. His dreams are destroyed when he is sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Ray Charles covered the song as did Ike and Tina Turner.

This won a 1974 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. The album it came from Innervisions won the Grammy Award for the Album of the Year.




The purple jacket worn by Taylor Hicks the night is by Dolce & Gabbana and retailed for a whopping $1,648. Taylor was with his stylist when he purchased the jacket from the trendy LA store Traffic. The moment Taylor tried the velvet number on, his comment was, “Okay, I feel it!” and instantly bought the jacket. Taylor wore it again for the AI tour homecoming in Alabama. The jacket is now displayed at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.




Long Train Runnin'



"Long Train Runnin'" is a song written by musician Tom Johnston and recorded by The Doobie Brothers. It was included on the band's 1973 album The Captain and Me and released as a single, becoming a top-ten hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight. The tune evolved from an untitled and mostly ad-libbed jam that the Doobies developed onstage years before it was finally recorded. Its working title, according to Johnston, was "Rosie Pig Moseley." Johnston performed the signature harmonica solo as well as the lead vocal and the distinctive, rhythmic guitar strumming that propels the song.





One of the most popular encores performed by Taylor and a favorite harmonica solo for all.


1974

She's Gone


Hall & Oates wrote this while they were consoling each other over heartbreaks. Daryl had just divorced from his wife Bryna Lublin and a New Years Eve date had stood up John.

This is John Oates' favorite Hall and Oates song.

This was not immediately a hit for the duo, instead it was originally a hit for The Tavares who topped the R&B chart in 1974 with their cover. It was re-released by Atlantic after the success of "Sara Smile" and this time it rose into the American Top Ten.





You Are So Beautiful



This Billy Preston/Bruce Fisher song was first recorded by Preston on his 1974 album The Kids and Me and was the B-side of his hit single "Nothing From Nothing." Producer Jim Price created a slower arrangement for Cocker's cover.



Randy Jackson chose Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" for the king of the Soul Patrol on American Idol. They told Taylor this was his best performance yet.
Taylor performed a wonderful version of this on the internet site "Rehearsal".



Sweet Home Alabama



Lynyrd Skynyrd is from Jacksonville, Florida. They wrote this as a tribute to the studios at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where they recorded in 1971. The studios gained fame during the '60s and '70s when it became the vogue thing for bands to record there. Artists like Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, and all the big Southern Rock groups recorded there. "The Swampers" were a group of studio musicians who worked there, acting as the backup band for the solo artists. That's where Skynyrd got the line: "Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers."

One of the verses is an attack on Neil Young: "I hope Neil Young will remember a southern man don't need him around anyhow." Young had written songs like "Southern Man" and "Alabama," which implied that people in the Southern US were racist and stuck in the past. Skynyrd responded with this, a song about Southern pride and all the good things in Alabama. The feud between Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young was always good-natured fun; they were actually big fans of each other. Ronnie Van Zant often wore Neil Young T-shirts on stage and is wearing one on the cover of Street Survivors, the last Skynyrd album before his death.

Neil Young performed this once. He played it at a memorial to the 3 members of Lynyrd Skynyrd who died in a plane crash in 1977.




Taylor sang this for the first time on tour at "Alabama Adventure".


1976

Takin' It Too The Streets




This song was written by Doobie Brothers keyboard player and lead singer Michael McDonald, who joined the group when Doobie guitarist Tom Johnson fell ill. The words were partly inspired by an essay McDonald's sister wrote, hence the lyrics, "Take this message to my brother."





This song was on Taylor's first single "Do I Make You Proud" it was an AI favorite and a favorite during the AI tour.




Lowdown



David Paich wrote this with Scaggs. Paich would later join Toto and write many of their hits.

This won a Grammy for Best R&B Song of 1976.

The producers of Saturday Night Fever asked to use this in their movie, but Scaggs' manager turned them down and instead used it in the movie Looking For Mr. Goodbar. Not a good move - Saturday Night Fever became one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.





Taylor performed this on tour and on "Rehersals". A crowd favorite and Taylor sometimes shouts "Everybody Skate!".



Play That Funky Music




Wild Cherry was a hard rock band. They had a regular gig at the 2001 Club, and with Disco big at the time, their sound didn't go over well. After one show, a black audience member shouted, "Play some funky music, white boy." Parissi decided they should, and wrote down the phrase on a bar order pad. They recorded it in Cleveland with a Disco sound - drum and bass mixed way up front. The band was concerned about the lyrics, but Parissi insisted on keeping them.

This was going to be the B-side of Wild Cherry's cover of the Commodores' "I Feel Sanctified." When they heard it, the owners of their record label suggested that the B-side become the A-side. The song sold over 2 million copies, but was Wild Cherry's only hit.





Week 8 of American Idol 2006: "Play That Funky Music" (Wild Cherry) Songs from the birth year of the contestants.
Randy Jackson loved the performance and said he felt like he was at a bar and "had a couple". Abdul also loved the performance and thought Hicks dressed the part, it was fun and "authentic Taylor we love." Cowell thought it was like another "horrible wedding performance."

Taylor's paisly shirt he wore is now at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.



Dancing Queen



This was written by ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. They were inspired by Queen Silvia, who married King Gustaf XVI of Sweden in 1976. Abba performed this at a televised tribute to the couple the day before they were married.

This is arguably the world's first Europop Disco hit.

This was ABBA's only #1 hit in the US. They had 14 songs crack the Top-40 in The States.



DIMYP and DANCING QUEEN -Taylor Hicks- Seattle from Taylor's Angels on Vimeo.

A joke between Loren Gold and Taylor Hicks during a rehearsal video, this song turned into a wonderful suprise for the fans. Taylor performed at the end of his 2007 Spring tour in Seattle, WA.









4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I absolutely Loved~Loved This! In fact, I think I NEED to go thru it again!
What a wonderful tribute to our Birthday Boy! OK~so a bit of a rundown:
She's Gone: What a great job! Would have Loved to have known what the girls had said about him "looking over here".
Living For The City: When Taylor had performed that on AI; prior to the song, he met with Stevie Wonder, I couldn't help but to chuckle when he addressed him as 'Mr. Wonder'. It just struck a ticklish spot for me ~ Respectful as we know Taylor is. With Stevie's blindness & the comment he made about Taylor's soul, it just solidified everyone's comments about how Taylor 'felt' what he sings. Obviously, 'seeing' isn't always visual! And Governor Riley's reading Randy's note; Yo~~~Taylor's laugh; like an amused little kid. Delightful! The song: You Are So Beautiful! Yes, Taylor, you are♥
I couldn't help but to smile when Taylor remarked about Simon's smiling & laughing. For a moment, I thought Taylor had actually warmed Simon's heart!
Sweet Home Alabama: So relaxed & Hilarious when Taylor realized he had not done such a good job of dressing himself!...lol Everyone had so much Fun with that! Love the song!
Takin It To The Streets: What can I say. That was & is one of my favs. Taylor did a remarkable job with that song; in fact, it was the one that cinched it for me. Adding the harp~"Oh My"~Can he play that thing, or what? Seems like the crowd agreed! He certainly kept the cameraman busy. Wonder if he had to replace the wheels on that thing!..lol
Play That Funky Music: There's that crazy shirt BUT must admit, he wore it well & it certainly fit the song & dance. He had so much Fun with that performance! And then the floor scene. How comical! I've seen posts about the 'gimmicks' Taylor used during his AI run. The signs of a brilliant performer!
Something else that warmed my heart with these performances, is the support & Love that his Family & Friends showed him. Support & Love that was~IS so apparent still today.
Taylor's Angels ~ My personal 'Thank You' for such a remarkable tribute on a day of importance to a muchly Loved man. A man, who has given so many such joy.
God Bless You & God Bless Taylor♥

tishlp said...

This was wondeful! I throughly enjoyed all the videos and the information on the original artists.

Taylor's Angels said...

gr8fulheart-

Thank you for your wonderful commentary on the videos! It was a blast putting this together.
He is amazing!

Taylor's Angels said...

tishlp - Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for visiting!