Chip Taylor - Last Chance/Some Of Us
Morello Records WMRLL51
Chip Taylor - Gasoline
RetroWorld FLOAM6218
Gorgoni, Martin & Taylor - Gotta Get Back To Cisco/G.M.&T
RetroWorld FLOAM6222
If you’ve followed the writing that I have done over the years, then it will come as no surprise to you that I’m a massive songwriter freak. I am the geek who peruses album credits like the Holy Grail to see who wrote the songs. In the days of audiocassettes, I put together literally hundreds of cassettes, each one dedicated to a different songwriter, with as many versions of each writer’s songs that I could find. That was how way back in 1960s I first discovered Chip Taylor. His name cropped up on country records by Bobby Bare (A Little Bit Later On Down The Line), Waylon Jennings (Sweet Dream Woman) and Eddy Arnold (If You Were Mine Mary), not to mention pop records by the Hollies, Merrilee Rush, Evie Sands, Jackie DeShannon and of course the Troggs and Wild Thing. It wasn’t too long before I’d bought a couple of LPs by the trio of Gorgoni, Martin & Taylor followed a year or so later by GASOLINE, Chip’s first bona fide solo album. At the time, I counted them as pleasant soft-rock albums with country overtones.
It was in early 1973 that I became a massive Chip Taylor fan after hearing LAST CHANCE, released on Warner Bros. Records. An album that has remained on my must play list for the past 40-odd years, the album was a fine collection of Chip’s ruminations, reflecting years of thoughts and searching. It was released at the time that Nashville country was dominated by countrypolitan sounds of lavish arrangements with symphonic strings and heavenly choirs. In contrast, Chip’s album was stripped-back, pure country music, recorded in Massachusetts with pedal steel, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and the Jordanaires providing subtle background vocals. For the previous eight years Chip had been working at the infamous Brill Building, writing radio hits from 9 to 5. Many thought him crazy to leave such a gold mine and strike out on his own.
Admittedly, he could never have expected to enjoy as much success as he had with his commercial songwriting. Sure, success was important, but in Chip’s case it wasn’t the most important thing in his life. But exploring individual creativity and writing and producing his own albums was and that’s what Chip Taylor and LAST CHANCE was all about. He had decided to write what he felt. No longer was he restricted in format or style. No longer did he wonder whether or not his material would be used. He was now making those decisions for himself.
Chip Taylor was born in 1940 in Westchester County, New York. He was christened James Wesley Voight into a family that was originally from Poland. His brother Jon Voight is a famed actor (and father of Angelina Jolie) and another brother, Barry Voight is a world-famous geologist. In his youth Chip was into rootsy music—country, hillbilly and rhythm & blues. This passion for music led to him leading a junior high school band and recording for the legendary King Records in 1958. He attended Hartford University, but left after one year to pursue his musical ambitions. He soon made his mark as a songwriter in New York’s vibrant pop music scene.
It was the age of the great songwriting partnerships—King-Goffin;Leiber-Stoller; Mann-Weill; Bacharach-David; Greenwich-Barry—joining this scene, Chip started writing with a couple of guys—Al Gorgoni and Trade Martin—but preferred to write by himself. Following the success of his songs like Anyway That You Want Me; I Can’t Let Go, Storybook Children, I Can Make It With You and Angel Of The Morning, the trio of writers were signed to Buddah Records and in 1970-71 released the pair of albums that are now reissued as a 2on1 collection on RetroWorld.
From the opening number, Carolina Timber on GOTTA GET BACK TO CISCO, you’ll sense that these three people genuinely enjoyed locking their individual sounds together to form a compact whole. The whole album is a rootsy mix of country, folk and pop tunes with shared lead vocals with the trio dominating the instrumental accompaniment of ukulele, harmonica, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, vibraphone, percussion and bass with Bobby Sandler adding drums to the proceedings. Amongst the memorable highlights I’d have to pick out their subtle rendition of Sweet Dream Woman, the hypnotic The Baby (later to become a hit for the Hollies) and the laid-back Country Song, which is pure Chip Taylor, with the other two joining in on the delicate harmonies.
The follow-up album was more of the same, this time the drum duties shared by Sandler and Buddy Salzman. Subtle horns and strings were added, as they aimed for a more-pronounced soft-rock approach. Typical was Fuzzy, a masterful Chip Taylor song inspired by his younger days in Yonkers and sounding tailor-made for the Monkees. In fact, Chip is very much more to the fore on this album, with most of the songs being penned by just him. There’s a thumping version of I Can’t Let Go, a delightful Toly Toly Guyluesha and my favourite, Mama Write A Song.
It had been a long, long time since I had played the original vinyl versions of these two albums and it was really good to hear them again, with memories flooding back. Over the past 40-odd years they’ve worn well, despite the fact that they were very much part of a certain era. For whatever reason, they didn’t sell well at the time, but I hope that those Americana fans of today who have rather belatedly become hooked on Chip Taylor music, will take the time to seek this CD out, as I am sure that they won’t be disappointed.
Both Gorgoni and Martin returned to their work as session musicians, studio vocalists and songwriters, whilst Chip Taylor embarked on a solo career and in 1972 released GASOLINE.
Recorded in New York the album comprised ten tracks, eight penned by Taylor, with one co-written with his old friend Al Gorgoni, and the sole cover being a version of the Carole King opus, Home Again. This time he worked with a studio band, including guitarist John Platania, who has played a major role in Chip’s music career ever since. There was a much fuller sound with lush strings, horns and background vocals. This worked really well on his stunning version of Angel Of The Morning and the gorgeous Londonderry Company. Carole King’s Home Again is given a delicate, somewhat laid-back arrangement whilst Gasoline is pure country with John Platania playing slide behind the cantering rhythmic track straight out of the Tennessee foothills. There’s also a new version of Dirty Matthew, a song that had been included on GOTTA GET BACK TO CISCO. This one is softer, slightly hypnotic with ethereal harmonies way back in the mix and Platania’s guitar weaving in and out of the soft strings, creating a magical track.
LAST CHANCE followed a year later on Warner Brothers. It was around the same time that Gram Parsons released his solo album on Reprise (a subsidiary of Warners) and shortly after the Eagles had made a massive breakthrough in America. Country-rock was the new in-word and Warners treated this Chip Taylor album as a major release. He was flown over to the UK for press and radio, and I wasted no time in getting to London to interview the man. Chip was very welcoming and took the time to discuss the songs, his family background and his passion for music.
He laid it all out on the line where his musical roots and passion lay with (I Want) The Real Thing, which succinctly put down the insipid ‘cover’ versions of R&B songs by such pop singers as Pat Boone. I loved it! In fact, I connected with every song, each one penned by Chip and obviously written from personal experiences. There was a sameness in a sense to much of the music, yet a great versatility in what he had to say. This seeming contradiction isn’t one at all. In the songs, Taylor seemed to put himself in a sadness and failure bag; yet all of the other emotions are there as well, and his excellent lyrics really make it all worthwhile.
You can’t help but smile at I Read It In Rolling Stone and 101 In Cashbox, a couple of songs about the failure of his previous records to make any kind of commercial impact. Then there are the songs about his family including (The Coal Fields Of) Shickshinny, about his coal-mining grandfather or Son Of A Rotten Gambler dedicated to his son and Chip’s own pastime of being a gambler. His ambition to make it as a country star is all there with the catchy I Wasn’t Born In Tennessee with its nod to the Hag and even a touch of yodelling at the end. The more I listened to this album way back in 1973, the more I loved it.
In retrospect, LAST CHANCE was not only ahead of its time, but symbolised the dilemma of artists who make exemplary music, then can’t get it to the right people in the numbers necessary to ensure their survival on a corporate label. While not a masterpiece, LAST CHANCE was and is certainly Chip Taylor’s best release. Sadly, the album went nowhere except into the Warner Brothers’ vaults, where it’s resided until now.
They did allow Chip to make a second album, SOME OF US, released a little over a year later. A little different to his previous release, this was a pleasant if fairly un-startling album, much of it gentle countryside stuff with subtle guitars, some fine melodic rhythmic playing and clear and confident vocals. You can’t help but be caught up in the jaunty Early Sunday Morning or If I Can’t Be In Austin. He again explores his family background with the moving If You’re Ever In Warsaw and I have always loved the conversational, down-to-earth straight-to-you lyric of Something ‘Bout The Way This Story Ends. This album may take some repeated listening to engage the listener as its subtle charm takes a while to take hold, but over a period of time, it should ingratiate your heart and mind.
Basically, Chip Taylor is a country-orientated singer—his first love in music has always been country and these five albums all confirm that fact. They’ve long been out of print, and sought after by both long-time fans and those who only discovered Chip Taylor over the past ten years or so. For me, it’s like coming across old family photographs that I hadn’t seen for many years, bringing back fond memories of times good and bad. Now, please forgive me, as I listen again and again and let my mind drift off back into the mists of time …
trainwreckrecords.com/artists/chip_taylor
If you’ve followed the writing that I have done over the years, then it will come as no surprise to you that I’m a massive songwriter freak. I am the geek who peruses album credits like the Holy Grail to see who wrote the songs. In the days of audiocassettes, I put together literally hundreds of cassettes, each one dedicated to a different songwriter, with as many versions of each writer’s songs that I could find. That was how way back in 1960s I first discovered Chip Taylor. His name cropped up on country records by Bobby Bare (A Little Bit Later On Down The Line), Waylon Jennings (Sweet Dream Woman) and Eddy Arnold (If You Were Mine Mary), not to mention pop records by the Hollies, Merrilee Rush, Evie Sands, Jackie DeShannon and of course the Troggs and Wild Thing. It wasn’t too long before I’d bought a couple of LPs by the trio of Gorgoni, Martin & Taylor followed a year or so later by GASOLINE, Chip’s first bona fide solo album. At the time, I counted them as pleasant soft-rock albums with country overtones.
It was in early 1973 that I became a massive Chip Taylor fan after hearing LAST CHANCE, released on Warner Bros. Records. An album that has remained on my must play list for the past 40-odd years, the album was a fine collection of Chip’s ruminations, reflecting years of thoughts and searching. It was released at the time that Nashville country was dominated by countrypolitan sounds of lavish arrangements with symphonic strings and heavenly choirs. In contrast, Chip’s album was stripped-back, pure country music, recorded in Massachusetts with pedal steel, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and the Jordanaires providing subtle background vocals. For the previous eight years Chip had been working at the infamous Brill Building, writing radio hits from 9 to 5. Many thought him crazy to leave such a gold mine and strike out on his own.
Admittedly, he could never have expected to enjoy as much success as he had with his commercial songwriting. Sure, success was important, but in Chip’s case it wasn’t the most important thing in his life. But exploring individual creativity and writing and producing his own albums was and that’s what Chip Taylor and LAST CHANCE was all about. He had decided to write what he felt. No longer was he restricted in format or style. No longer did he wonder whether or not his material would be used. He was now making those decisions for himself.
Chip Taylor was born in 1940 in Westchester County, New York. He was christened James Wesley Voight into a family that was originally from Poland. His brother Jon Voight is a famed actor (and father of Angelina Jolie) and another brother, Barry Voight is a world-famous geologist. In his youth Chip was into rootsy music—country, hillbilly and rhythm & blues. This passion for music led to him leading a junior high school band and recording for the legendary King Records in 1958. He attended Hartford University, but left after one year to pursue his musical ambitions. He soon made his mark as a songwriter in New York’s vibrant pop music scene.
It was the age of the great songwriting partnerships—King-Goffin;Leiber-Stoller; Mann-Weill; Bacharach-David; Greenwich-Barry—joining this scene, Chip started writing with a couple of guys—Al Gorgoni and Trade Martin—but preferred to write by himself. Following the success of his songs like Anyway That You Want Me; I Can’t Let Go, Storybook Children, I Can Make It With You and Angel Of The Morning, the trio of writers were signed to Buddah Records and in 1970-71 released the pair of albums that are now reissued as a 2on1 collection on RetroWorld.
From the opening number, Carolina Timber on GOTTA GET BACK TO CISCO, you’ll sense that these three people genuinely enjoyed locking their individual sounds together to form a compact whole. The whole album is a rootsy mix of country, folk and pop tunes with shared lead vocals with the trio dominating the instrumental accompaniment of ukulele, harmonica, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, vibraphone, percussion and bass with Bobby Sandler adding drums to the proceedings. Amongst the memorable highlights I’d have to pick out their subtle rendition of Sweet Dream Woman, the hypnotic The Baby (later to become a hit for the Hollies) and the laid-back Country Song, which is pure Chip Taylor, with the other two joining in on the delicate harmonies.
The follow-up album was more of the same, this time the drum duties shared by Sandler and Buddy Salzman. Subtle horns and strings were added, as they aimed for a more-pronounced soft-rock approach. Typical was Fuzzy, a masterful Chip Taylor song inspired by his younger days in Yonkers and sounding tailor-made for the Monkees. In fact, Chip is very much more to the fore on this album, with most of the songs being penned by just him. There’s a thumping version of I Can’t Let Go, a delightful Toly Toly Guyluesha and my favourite, Mama Write A Song.
It had been a long, long time since I had played the original vinyl versions of these two albums and it was really good to hear them again, with memories flooding back. Over the past 40-odd years they’ve worn well, despite the fact that they were very much part of a certain era. For whatever reason, they didn’t sell well at the time, but I hope that those Americana fans of today who have rather belatedly become hooked on Chip Taylor music, will take the time to seek this CD out, as I am sure that they won’t be disappointed.
Both Gorgoni and Martin returned to their work as session musicians, studio vocalists and songwriters, whilst Chip Taylor embarked on a solo career and in 1972 released GASOLINE.
Recorded in New York the album comprised ten tracks, eight penned by Taylor, with one co-written with his old friend Al Gorgoni, and the sole cover being a version of the Carole King opus, Home Again. This time he worked with a studio band, including guitarist John Platania, who has played a major role in Chip’s music career ever since. There was a much fuller sound with lush strings, horns and background vocals. This worked really well on his stunning version of Angel Of The Morning and the gorgeous Londonderry Company. Carole King’s Home Again is given a delicate, somewhat laid-back arrangement whilst Gasoline is pure country with John Platania playing slide behind the cantering rhythmic track straight out of the Tennessee foothills. There’s also a new version of Dirty Matthew, a song that had been included on GOTTA GET BACK TO CISCO. This one is softer, slightly hypnotic with ethereal harmonies way back in the mix and Platania’s guitar weaving in and out of the soft strings, creating a magical track.
LAST CHANCE followed a year later on Warner Brothers. It was around the same time that Gram Parsons released his solo album on Reprise (a subsidiary of Warners) and shortly after the Eagles had made a massive breakthrough in America. Country-rock was the new in-word and Warners treated this Chip Taylor album as a major release. He was flown over to the UK for press and radio, and I wasted no time in getting to London to interview the man. Chip was very welcoming and took the time to discuss the songs, his family background and his passion for music.
He laid it all out on the line where his musical roots and passion lay with (I Want) The Real Thing, which succinctly put down the insipid ‘cover’ versions of R&B songs by such pop singers as Pat Boone. I loved it! In fact, I connected with every song, each one penned by Chip and obviously written from personal experiences. There was a sameness in a sense to much of the music, yet a great versatility in what he had to say. This seeming contradiction isn’t one at all. In the songs, Taylor seemed to put himself in a sadness and failure bag; yet all of the other emotions are there as well, and his excellent lyrics really make it all worthwhile.
You can’t help but smile at I Read It In Rolling Stone and 101 In Cashbox, a couple of songs about the failure of his previous records to make any kind of commercial impact. Then there are the songs about his family including (The Coal Fields Of) Shickshinny, about his coal-mining grandfather or Son Of A Rotten Gambler dedicated to his son and Chip’s own pastime of being a gambler. His ambition to make it as a country star is all there with the catchy I Wasn’t Born In Tennessee with its nod to the Hag and even a touch of yodelling at the end. The more I listened to this album way back in 1973, the more I loved it.
In retrospect, LAST CHANCE was not only ahead of its time, but symbolised the dilemma of artists who make exemplary music, then can’t get it to the right people in the numbers necessary to ensure their survival on a corporate label. While not a masterpiece, LAST CHANCE was and is certainly Chip Taylor’s best release. Sadly, the album went nowhere except into the Warner Brothers’ vaults, where it’s resided until now.
They did allow Chip to make a second album, SOME OF US, released a little over a year later. A little different to his previous release, this was a pleasant if fairly un-startling album, much of it gentle countryside stuff with subtle guitars, some fine melodic rhythmic playing and clear and confident vocals. You can’t help but be caught up in the jaunty Early Sunday Morning or If I Can’t Be In Austin. He again explores his family background with the moving If You’re Ever In Warsaw and I have always loved the conversational, down-to-earth straight-to-you lyric of Something ‘Bout The Way This Story Ends. This album may take some repeated listening to engage the listener as its subtle charm takes a while to take hold, but over a period of time, it should ingratiate your heart and mind.
Basically, Chip Taylor is a country-orientated singer—his first love in music has always been country and these five albums all confirm that fact. They’ve long been out of print, and sought after by both long-time fans and those who only discovered Chip Taylor over the past ten years or so. For me, it’s like coming across old family photographs that I hadn’t seen for many years, bringing back fond memories of times good and bad. Now, please forgive me, as I listen again and again and let my mind drift off back into the mists of time …
trainwreckrecords.com/artists/chip_taylor
