Johnnie Taylor Rated X-Traordinaire: Best Of

Personnel includes: Johnnie Taylor (vocals, guitar); Bernie Worrell,
Rudy Robinson (arranger); Jay Graydon, Leroy Hadley, Willie Hampton (guitar); The Detroit Fisher Theatre Strings (strings); Fred Wesley And The Horny Horns (horns); Bobbie Barber, Barry Beckett, Reginald Burke (keyboards); William "Bootsy" Collins, Michael Henderson, Bob Ray (bass); Bobby Hall, Johnny Soul,
Lee Nathan Marcus (drums, percussion); Diane Davis, Donna Davis (background vocals).
Producers include: Don Davis, Wade Marcus, Johnnie Taylor, Jack Avery, Sr.,
Brad Shapiro.
Compilation producer: Leo Sacks.
Engineers include: Christopher Banninger, Pete Bishop, Don Davis.
Includes liner notes by Kalamu Ya Salaam.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is part of Legacy's "Rhythm And Soul" series.
Personnel: Johnnie Taylor (guitar); Jimmy Johnson , Don Davis , Eddie Willis, Johnny Taylor, Garry Shider, Willie Hampton, Glen Goins, Bobby Jackson, Leroy Hadley, Emmett Smith, Jay Graydon, Ken Bell, Tippy Armstrong, Bruce Nazarian (guitar); Fred Wesley, Fred Wesley & the Horny Horns, Carl Austin (strings, horns); Frank Wess (flute); Eli Fountaine (alto saxophone); Clayton Ivey, George Worrell, Rudy Robinson, Sonny Burke , George Roundtree, Jackie Avery, Melvin Griffin, Jim Henson Project, Vassal Benford, Barry Beckett, Johnny Griffith (keyboards); Ed Greene, Zackery Slater, Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, Lorenzo Brown, Quintin Denard, Carl Smith , Quentin Dennard, Lee Marcus, Richard Allen , Johnny Soul, Roger Clark , Roger Hawkins, Jerry Jones (drums, percussion); Bobbye Hall (drums); Enchantment, Robert Eaton, Diane Davis, Patty Lewis, Pamela Vincent, Cynthia Douglas, Donna Davis, Rob Eaton, Benjamin Knight (background vocals).
Recording information: ABC Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Ardent Recording, Memphis, TN; Dallas Sonic and Sundance Productions, Dallas, TX; Davlen Sound Studios; Muscle Shoals Sound Studios; Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA.
Arrangers: Don Davis ; George Worrell; Johnny Taylor; Fred Wesley; Rudy Robinson; Jeff Steinberg; Sonny Sanders; Wade Marcus; David Van De Pitte; Bert Keyes.
The 16-track Rated X-Traordinaire sets out to rescue the reputation of the Johnnie Taylor of 1976-1980, the period that began with his biggest smash, "Disco Lady," but that found him, so the conventional wisdom goes, a Southern soul man set adrift on the disco wave. Annotator Kalamu Ya Salaam argues that "Disco Lady" is not a disco song, and backs this up by noting that the track actually was played by members of Parliament-Funkadelic. True enough, though that only applies to Taylor's debut Columbia album, Eargasm. Elsewhere, Taylor did drift, from Muscle Shoals tracks that updated his Stax Memphis sound to tracks that sounded like Marvin Gaye. The early years, 1976 and 1977, were more accomplished than the later ones, and that's where compilation producer Leo Sacks focuses, with 12 of the 16 tracks coming from then. In so doing, he ignores R&B chart singles like "Keep on Dancing" and "Ever Ready," but he satisfies the "best-of" title. ~ William Ruhlmann

• Format: CD
• Genre: R&B