Growing up amidst music, Taylor had one release, "Somewhere to Lay My Head", on Chicago's Chance Records in the 50s as part of a doo-wop group called Five Echoes. Taylor was also part of the gospel group, The Highway QC's also, replacing r&b artist Sam Cooke that had left to become the lead singer of the Soul Stirrers in 1951. Then, after Cooke left the Soul Stirrers in 1957, Taylor was hired to take Cooke's place as lead singer.
A few years later, after Cooke had established his independent SAR Records, Taylor signed on and recorded "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day" in 1962. However, SAR Records quickly became defunct after Cooke's tradic early death in 1964.
In 1966, Taylor moved to Stax Records in Memphis, where he was dubbed "The Philosopher of Soul". While there he recorded with the label's house band, Booker T. & the MGs. His hits included "I Had a Dream", "I've Got to Love Somebody's Baby" (both written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter) and most notably "Who's Making Love?", which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top 40 and No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1968. During his tenure at Stax, he became an R&B star, with over a dozen chart successes, such as "Cheaper to Keep Her" (Mack Rice) and producer Don Davis's "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)".
After Stax folded in the mid 1970s, Taylor switched to Columbia Records, where he made his best-known hit, "Disco Lady", in 1976. "Disco Lady" was the first certified platinum single. Columbia pigeonholed Taylor as a disco artist, however, and neglected his wide-ranging talent. Not surprisingly, his record sales slipped.
After a brief stint at Beverly Glen Records, Taylor signed with Malaco Records after the label's founder Tommy Couch and producing partner Wolf Stephenson heard him sing at blues singer Z.Z. Hill's funeral in the spring of 1984. Backed by members of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as well as in-house veterans like former Stax keyboardist Carson Whitsett, Malaco gave Taylor the type of recording freedom that Stax had given him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, enabling him to record ten albums for the Malaco label in his sixteen year stint. Taylor's record sales were good but not enough for the singer to receive the measure of stardom he once had.
In 1996, Taylor's eighth album for Malaco, Good Love!, made it to Number One on Billboard's Blues chart (#15 R&B), the biggest record in Malaco's history.
Malaco recorded a live video of Taylor at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas in the summer of 1997.
Johnnie Taylor's 1999 album, "Gotta Get the Groove Back", also reached the # 1 Position on the Billboard Blues Charts. This album which featured veteran songwriter, Lamar Thmas (Woman don't be Afraid) was also a Grammy Nominated album during the same year that Johnnie passed.
Taylor was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999. He died in Dallas at the age of 66.
In what would turn out to be a sad foreshadowing, Taylor's final song was "Soul Heaven", in which he dreamed of being at a concert featuring deceased Soul music icons Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and MGs drummer Al Jackson, among others. In one verse, Taylor sang, "I didn't want to wake up/I was havin' such a good time".
Friday Night
Johnnie Taylor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got to tell you too
Friday night I was home without my baby
I work hard keep her satisfied in every way
I look forward to a hot meal and a warm embrace
I could hardly wait to see a-ever loving face
There's a [Incomprehensible] got on in the middle of the floor
It's a Friday night, she loves me
Friday night, I'm a bachelor
Friday night, my baby's gone
Friday night, I'm all alone
Friday night, a smile once cold as ice
She forgot all the things and all of my sacrifice
Girl, for you I walked around
With clutches on my floor and my feet on the ground
Now you can stand here and look me straight
In the eye and tell me you're gonna put me down
You never, oh, you really, really took me by surprised
Told me you found another guy
That was on Friday night
If I knew [Incomprehensible], Friday night
You left me, baby, why did you leave me?
You know when you love me, it was gonna grieve me
Let me tell you
Somebody long to love on Monday
Somebody long to love on Tuesday
Wednesday, Thursday but my day was on Friday
You know you took me by surprise
You told me you found another guy
That was on Friday night
I need you on Friday night
I'd like to be lonely
My baby left when my ego fly
Everybody look forward to Friday night
Go and do the falcon, baby, with the one you love
Now you're gone, I'm alone, oh, oh, baby
On a Friday night, you left me here
I don't know what to do without you, baby
Oh no, why did you leave me?
You could have [Incomprehensible] of doing that
But you left me on a Friday night
You know you got my business of thank
The song "Friday Night" by Johnnie Taylor is a lamentation of a man who returns home on a Friday night only to find that his partner has left him for another man. In the first verse, the man expresses his excitement to come home to a warm embrace from his lover after a long week of working hard to keep her satisfied in every way. However, when he walks through the door, he is met with a party in full swing, and his partner has left him. The chorus emphasizes the loneliness he feels as he spends Friday night alone instead of with his beloved.
In the second verse, the singer recalls how he went out of his way to do everything for his lover, including walking around with clutches and feet on the ground. He is perplexed as to how she could have left him and found someone else so easily on a Friday night. The bridge of the song expresses the singer's sadness and how much he misses his lover. He also mentions how everyone looks forward to Friday night as a time to relax and enjoy being with their partners.
Line by Line Meaning
Friday night I was home without my baby
On Friday night, I was home without my significant other.
I work hard keep her satisfied in every way
I put in effort to keep my partner happy and content in our relationship.
I look forward to a hot meal and a warm embrace
I eagerly anticipate receiving both physical and emotional comfort from my loved one.
I could hardly wait to see a-ever loving face
I couldn't wait to see the face of someone whom I loved and cared for deeply.
But the moment that I walk to the door
As soon as I arrived at the door of my house,
There's a [Incomprehensible] got on in the middle of the floor
There was an unknown person present in the middle of the floor.
Now you can stand here and look me straight In the eye and tell me you're gonna put me down
You have the audacity to confront me face to face and admit that you are ending our relationship?
You never, oh, you really, really took me by surprised
I never expected this from you and you truly caught me off guard.
Told me you found another guy
You informed me that you have found someone else to be with.
That was on Friday night
All of this happened on a Friday night.
If I knew [Incomprehensible], Friday night
If only I had known what would happen that Friday night.
You left me, baby, why did you leave me?
Why did you leave me, my love?
You know when you love me, it was gonna grieve me
You knew it would hurt me when you left.
Somebody long to love on Monday
Some people yearn for love on Mondays.
Wednesday, Thursday but my day was on Friday
My favorite day for love and companionship was always Friday.
You know you took me by surprise
You truly surprised me and caught me off guard with your actions.
I'd like to be lonely
I don't want to be alone, but it seems like you have already left me.
My baby left when my ego fly
You left me when I was feeling confident and self-assured.
Everybody look forward to Friday night
Most people cherish and await the arrival of Friday night.
Go and do the falcon, baby, with the one you love
You should go ahead and live life to the fullest with the person you love.
Now you're gone, I'm alone, oh, oh, baby
Now that you have left, I am alone and helpless, my love.
Oh no, why did you leave me?
Oh no, my love, why did you leave me behind?
You could have [Incomprehensible] of doing that
You could have at least thought twice before leaving me and breaking my heart so carelessly.
But you left me on a Friday night
You chose to leave me behind on a Friday night.
You know you got my business of thank
You will be the one responsible for my emotional distress and pain.
Friday night, she loves me
On Friday nights, my significant other used to love me.
Friday night, I'm a bachelor
Now on Friday nights, I am single and alone.
Friday night, my baby's gone
My significant other is now gone on Friday nights.
Friday night, I'm all alone
On Friday nights, I feel lonely and abandoned.
Friday night, a smile once cold as ice
On Friday nights, my significant other used to be cold, but now she seemed to have a grin on her face.
She forgot all the things and all of my sacrifice
She seemed to have completely disregarded all the things I did for her and all the sacrifices I made.
Girl, for you I walked around
I went to great lengths for you, my love.
With clutches on my floor and my feet on the ground
I was working hard with determination and persistence.
Contributed by Ruby F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
elvingtonred
Top tune, one of my old plays from Jaspers York early 80's
Oh, nice demo!
Robert Samuels
Fantastic song
Joe Faherty
Loved stomping to this in Mr m&s. Happy days. Ktf
ROCKNROLLFAN
My uncle just told me this sounded like Wilson Pickett.
Lou Reed
Wonderful wow friday night,jah dancing
ALAIN DEWAELE
nice Brico thank
dundee520
brill dance tune ktf
Saint Ace 1 NORTHERN SOUL
Temple tune love it
John Lynch
Furness Rugby Club in Barrow circa 1971 - dancefloor delirium!
drdavecolly
@FinleyK Now I think that sounds very mid 70's with the electric piano, so I can see how I was fooled, obviously ahead of its time. Funny time in NS in those days. We were all looking for all those early to mid sixties cassic sounds and as they ran out these were the newer sounds. Us oldies took some convincing at the time I tell you! Nice start which they then drop into a classic Johnnie Taylor sound. Never heard anything that sounds like that start so it was just some riff that the keyboard guy knocked off. They were hot in that studio to say the least.