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Eddie Floyd | |
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 Eddie Floyd in 2000 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eddie Lee Floyd |
| Born | June 25, 1937 Montgomery, Alabama, United States |
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| Years active | 1956–present |
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Eddie Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937) [1] [3] [4] is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song "Knock on Wood".
Floyd was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. [1] He founded The Falcons, which also featured Mack Rice. [1] They were forerunners to future Detroit vocal groups such as The Temptations and The Four Tops. Their most successful songs included "You're So Fine" and later, when Wilson Pickett was recruited into the group as the lead singer, "I Found a Love". [5] Pickett then embarked on a solo career, and The Falcons disbanded. [1]
Floyd signed a contract with the Memphis-based Stax Records as a songwriter in 1965. [1] He wrote a hit song, "Comfort Me", recorded by Carla Thomas. He then teamed with Stax's guitarist Steve Cropper to write songs for Wilson Pickett, now signed to Atlantic Records. [5] Atlantic distributed Stax and Jerry Wexler brought Pickett from New York City to work with Booker T. & the MGs. The Pickett sessions were successful, yielding several pop and R&B hits, including the Floyd co-written "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" and "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)". [1]
In 1966, Floyd recorded a song initially written for Otis Redding. Wexler convinced Stax president Jim Stewart to release Floyd's version. The Steve Cropper-Eddie Floyd "Knock on Wood" launched Floyd's solo career, [1] and has been covered by over a hundred different artists from David Bowie to Count Basie. Eventually, Redding would cut an R&B hit version of the song in 1967 as a duet with Carla Thomas. It became a disco hit for Amii Stewart in 1979. [6]
Floyd was one of Stax's most consistent and versatile artists. He scored several more hits on his own, including "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)" and "Raise Your Hand", [1] which was covered by both Janis Joplin and Bruce Springsteen.
The song "Big Bird" [5] (featuring Booker T. Jones on organ and guitar, Al Jackson, Jr. on drums, and Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass) was written while Floyd waited in a London airport for a plane back to the United States for Otis Redding's funeral.
Floyd's career did not keep him from being one of the label's most productive writers. Almost every Stax artist recorded Floyd material, often co-written with either Cropper or Jones, including Sam & Dave ("You Don't Know What You Mean to Me"), Rufus Thomas ("The Breakdown"), Otis Redding ("I Love You More Than Words Can Say"), and Johnnie Taylor's "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)". The latter played during the opening credits of director Harold Ramis's film Bedazzled .
In 1980, Floyd released material on the UK record label I-Spy Records, owned and created by the UK band Secret Affair. [1] He joined old Stax collaborators Cropper and Dunn, and fronted The Blues Brothers Band on a series of world tours, and in 1998, Floyd and former Falcon Wilson Pickett appeared on screen dueting on "634-5789" in Blues Brothers 2000 . [1]
As well as singing with The Blues Brothers Band, Floyd has been the special guest with former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings on several dates in the US and the UK.
In 2008, Floyd returned to Stax Records, which was owned by Concord Music Group since 2004. His first new album in six years, Eddie Loves You So, was released in July 2008. [1]
In November 2012, Floyd was inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame as a Pioneer Award Recipient.
In December 2012, Floyd released a new album at Christmas time. Eddie's son, Anthony Floyd, sings with him in the single, Don’t Forget About James Brown, and the album, Tonight’s The Night. In 2016 he was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame
Eddie Floyd was named to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2018. [7]
On 1 September 2017, at age 80, Floyd performed live at the Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms with Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, in a tribute concert to 50 years of Stax Records synonymous with Southern soul music.
On February 28, 2020, Rock House Records released Eddie Floyd's 1979 recording "Guess It Wasn't Meant to Be".
| Year | Single (US) | A-Side | B-Side | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [8] | US R&B [9] | CAN [10] | UK [11] | ||||
| 1962 | Lu Pine 115 | "Will I Be the One" | "Set My Soul on Fire" | – | – | – | – |
| Lu Pine 122 | "A Deed to Your Heart" | "I'll Be Home" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1964 | Safice 334 | "Never Get Enough of Your Love" | "Baby Bye" | – | – | – | – |
| Safice 336 | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | "Can This Be Christmas" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1965 | Safice 338 | "Make Up Your Mind" | "No, No, No" | – | – | – | – |
| Atlantic 2275 | "Hush Hush" | "Drive On" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1966 | Stax 187 | "Things Get Better" | "Good Love, Bad Love" | – | – | – | 31 (1967) |
| Stax 194 | "Knock on Wood" | "Got to Make a Comeback" | 28 | 1 | 67 | 19 | |
| 1967 | Stax 208 | "Raise Your Hand" | "I've Just Been Feeling Bad" | 79 | 16 | 74 | 42 |
| Stax 219 | "Don't Rock the Boat" | "This House" | 98 | – | – | – | |
| Stax 223 | "Love Is a Doggone Good Thing" | "Hey Now" | 97 | 30 | – | – | |
| Stax 233 | "On a Saturday Night" | "Under My Nose" | 92 | 22 | – | – | |
| Stax 246 | "Big Bird" | "Holding On with Both Hands" | 132 | – | – | – | |
| 1968 | Stax 0002 | "I've Never Found a Girl" | "I'm Just the Kind of Fool" | 40 | 2 | 41 | – |
| Stax 0012 | "Bring It On Home to Me" | "Sweet Things You Do" | 17 | 4 | 24 | – | |
| 1969 | Stax 0025 | "I've Got to Have Your Love" | "Girl I Love You" | 102 | 50 | – | |
| Stax 0036 | "Don't Tell Your Mama (Where You've Been)" | "Consider Me" | 73 | 18 | 84 | – | |
| Stax 0040 | "Soul-A-Lujah Pt. I" (with W. Bell, C. Thomas & J. Taylor) | "Pt. II" (instrumental) | – | – | – | – | |
| Stax 0051 | "Why Is the Wine Sweeter (On the Other Side)" | "People Get It Together" | 98 | 30 | – | – | |
| 1970 | Stax 0060 | "California Girl" | "Woodman" | 45 | 11 | 56 | – |
| Stax 0072 | "My Girl" | "Laurie" | 116 | 43 | – | – | |
| Stax 0077 | "The Best Years of My Life" | "My Little Girl" | 118 | 29 | – | – | |
| 1971 | Stax 0087 | "Oh, How It Rained" | "When My Baby Said Goodbye" | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0095 | "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" | "Have You Heard the Word" | – | 33 | – | – | |
| 1972 | Stax 0109 | "Yum Yum Yum (I Want Some)" | "Tears of Joy" | 122 | 49 | – | – |
| Stax 0134 | "You're Good Enough (To Me Baby)" | "Spend All You Have on Love" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1973 | Stax 0158 | "Lay Your Loving on Me" | "Knock on Wood" (live) | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0171 | "Baby Lay Your Head Down" | "Check Me Out" | – | 50 / 58 | – | – | |
| Stax 0188 | "I Wanna Do Things for You" | "We've Been Through Too Much Together" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1974 | Stax 0209 | "Guess Who" | "Something to Write Home About" | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0216 | "Soul Street" | "Highway Man" | – | 65 | – | – | |
| Stax 0232 | "I Got a Reason to Smile" | "Stealing Love" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1975 | Stax 0239 | "Talk to the Man" | "I Got a Reason to Smile" | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0251 | "I'm So Glad I Met You" | "I'm So Grateful" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1977 | Malaco 1032 | "Somebody Touch Me" | "Never Too Old" | – | – | – | – |
| Mercury 73964 | "It's Me" | "If You Really Love Me" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1978 | Mercury 74003 | "Disco Summer" | "Do It in the Water" | – | – | – | – |
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
Wilson Pickett was an American singer and songwriter.
Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.
Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988).
Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
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Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz " (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.
Steven Lee Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, while he has won two Grammy Awards from his seven nominations.
Albert J. Jackson Jr. was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their own instrumentals. Jackson was affectionately dubbed "The Human Timekeeper" for his drumming ability. He was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s in 1992.
Donald "Duck" Dunn was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Records. At Stax, Dunn played on thousands of records, including hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Bill Withers, Elvis Presley, and many others. In 1992, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He is ranked 40th on Bass Player magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time".
Bonny "Mack" Rice, sometimes credited as Sir Mack Rice, was an American songwriter and singer. His best-known composition and biggest hit as a solo performer was "Mustang Sally". He also wrote "Respect Yourself" with Luther Ingram.
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"634-5789 " is a soul song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper. It was first recorded by Wilson Pickett on December 20, 1965 and included on his 1966 Atlantic Records album The Exciting Wilson Pickett with backing vocals by Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles. The single reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart and number 13 on the Hot 100 singles chart.
Otis Ray Redding Jr. was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Nicknamed the "King of Soul", Redding's style of singing gained inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.
Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, or simply Dictionary of Soul, is the fifth studio album by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding and his last solo studio album released before his death. The successful Otis Blue and the following performance at Whisky a Go Go led to his rising fame across the United States. The first side of the album mainly contains cover versions, and the second songs mainly written by Redding.
Andrew Love was a saxophone player based in Memphis, Tennessee, best known for being a member of The Memphis Horns.
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