Johnnie Taylor - Live At the Summit Club

Johnnie Taylor - Live At the Summit Club

Today, the reputation of Memphis’ Stax records is firmly established. The label’s musical achievements are commemorated by museums, television programs, and star-studded tribute concerts. But for all of the much-deserved praise that has been heaped upon the label, much of Stax’s later output is overlooked in favor of the soaring achievements of the label’s beloved, mid-‘60s classics. Johnnie Taylor’s previously unreleased record Live At the Summit Club provides a firm rebuke to those who would claim that by the late ‘70s the once mighty label was well past its prime. Live At the Summit Club features Taylor and the Stax band tearing it up at the infamous Los Angeles nightclub, charging through extended, funked up versions of hits like “Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone” and “Take Care of Your Homework” in front of a relaxed and appreciative audience. This record finds Taylor adapting his deep Southern soul to the funkier, hard-edged tastes of his Los Angeles audience, and, despite a few early missteps, this performance eventually catches fire, making for one of the best live soul records ever released.

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