Johnnie “The Wailer” Taylor, also know as “The Philosopher of Soul” was an American Vocalist that sang in a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.

Johnnie Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas on May 5th 1934. He grew up in West Memphis, Arkansas, performing in gospel groups as a youngster. As an adult, he had one release, “Somewhere to Lay My Head,” on Chicago’s Chance Records label in the 1950s, as part of the gospel group Highway QCs, which had been founded by a young Sam Cooke. His singing then was strikingly close to that of Sam Cooke, and he was hired to take Cooke’s place in the latter’s gospel group, the Soul Stirrers, in 1957. He went on to have an extremely successful career as a “secular” music singer, With the likes of Stax Records and Columbia. He went on to sell over 30 million records world wide. He passed away on May 31, 2000 at the age of 66.