Happy Birthday to Eddie Floyd, born on this day in 1935 in Montgomery, Alabama. Perhaps best known for his Stax Records hit "Knock On Wood," Floyd was a songwriter as well as a singer, and he penned several of the biggest soul/R&B hits of his time (many of them co-written with definitive Stax guitarist Steve Cropper): the much-covered "Knock On Wood," "634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)" (see below), "Raise Your Hand," "I've Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)" and many others.
Floyd grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and at age 20 he co-founded a soul group called the Falcons, which featured Joe Stubbs on lead vocals. The Falcons had a big R&B hit in 1959 with the song "You're So Fine," which was released by the Lupine label. (Perhaps not coincidentally, Lupine was owned by Eddie Floyd's uncle Robert West.) Stubbs left the group around 1960, and Eddie Floyd sang lead briefly until Wilson Pickett joined. Pickett made the ballad "I Found A Love" a national hit for the group in 1962, and then his departure shortly afterward for a solo career essentially dissolved the group.
Eddie Floyd then moved to Memphis, where he joined the Stax label as a staff writer and producer. He worked with Carla Thomas and William Bell, and also established his prolific songwriting relationship with Steve Cropper. In early 1966 their song "634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)" provided Floyd's old bandmate Wilson Pickett with a #1 R&B hit. Not long after, Floyd recorded his second release for Stax, "Knock On Wood" - and despite misgivings by Stax management that the song was too similar to Pickett's "Midnight Hour," the smooth vocals, driving beat and dynamic horns of "Knock On Wood" propelled it to #1 on the R&B charts.
Over the next several years Eddie Floyd continued to deliver strong tunes that charted in the R&B Top 40 (those listed above and many more). His commercial success was declining by the close of the '60s, however, and certainly into the early '70s as Stax descended into bankruptcy, finally closing in 1975. Floyd moved to the Malaco label in 1977 and released his _Experience_ album, which was successful musically but not commercially - by then the Southern soul/blues sound was just no longer in vogue.
Since the '70s Floyd has recorded and performed only sporadically, but he hasn't lost his edge or his love for the music. He performed quite recently at SXSW in Austin as part of a Stax tribute and sounded strong; not much longer ago he performed at the Stax showcase captured in the video below. Here he is singing the hit he wrote for Wilson Pickett, "634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)." It's nice to see somebody like him doing more than just phoning it in.
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Wow. He looked great, sounded great, IS great. I kept looking for Steve Cropper, and thought that was him with the Hawaiian shirt playing the Les Paul (but that's not his axe of choice, right?) until the camera pulled back.
It is probably a sign of my age, but when I see performances like this or Rufus Thomas I can't help but shake my head at what is popular among African-Americans today (not to mention millions of white teenagers). Why, when I was a boy,,,,
(Yeah, shuttup Gramps...)
My Trusted MOGs
Hey, dermahrk - nope, Steve Cropper isn't in this band, nor Duck Dunn, Booker T. or Al Jackson. I'm honestly not sure what the setting is here, which is why I was so vague about it above. I actually get kind of a European vibe when I watch it, I guess at least partly because of the words "Transatlantic Soul Connection" up there on the big screen at the beginning. What might that mean, I wonder?
There _is_ video on YouTube of Eddie performing at SXSW, doing "Knock On Wood" and at least one other tune, but while you can tell he sounds good and the band is kickin' it, the audio is terrible in every clip I could fine. We're talking cell phones at best. So do check out those clips if you wanna see Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn (both of whom look like they're having a blast), but just be warned about the sound quality.
"It is probably a sign of my age, but when I see performances like this or Rufus Thomas I can’t help but shake my head at what is popular among African-Americans today (not to mention millions of white teenagers)."
I know, I know, and in general I agree, but what's interesting to me is that the common thread from, say, Rufus Thomas to maybe 50 Cent is a heavily-emphasized beat. Maybe I'm over-generalizing, but it seems like groove is still king. Now, it's probably safe to say that you and I prefer our grooves to sound a little more organic and less programmed or sampled or whatever, but I still think the basic idea holds true. What it means for the future and the evolution of musical trends, I ain't got a clue.
Glad you liked the post anyway, Gramps.
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Mt
I'd like to put all your posts together and make a blues calender. Kind of like the word of the day calenders we get every Christmas. You do such a top notch job, it's a pity to let it all go for naught. You know what I mean, don't get me wrong this is worth the effort also, . Two of my favorite guitarist, Jeff Beck and Steve Cropper. Two giants is all I can say and that's an understatement. Thank you for the reminder of who Eddie Floyd is and was. I enjoy this very much.