Chip Taylor Albums (16)
'Songs from a Dutch Tour'
Release Date 12/9/2008
Tracks 14
Label Megaforce
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What The Critics Say
Songwriter Chip Taylor has had a long and "interesting" career. He's one of those lucky few who J.J. Cale once mused about when he said: "Songwriting is a good gig, you can make some money at it." Taylor's made plenty from two songs in particular, "Wild Thing," the enormous hit for the Troggs, and "Angel of the Morning," that has scored for no less than three different performers and has indeed outlasted two of them. Taylor, who gave up music for a time to become a professional gambler -- horses were his game -- is under some wild impression that there are enough people who care about his unremarkable recording career to purchase this unwieldy package: a beautifully printed and lavishly illustrated trade paperback book that serves as autobiography, tour diary souvenir/scrapbook, and tongue in cheek philosophical tome. It's combined with a CD of all new material. Taylor can't sing to save his life, but he can write like some tawdry mischievous angel who soaks up all things human and divine. So there's a trade-off. The music found here is largely introspective, but it contains lots of wry humor and pathos and reminiscence. The individual tracks fall into a loopy narrative that is part good-time traveling minstrel, and part old dog looking back on a life. There's no point singling out individual tracks, they are recorded and sequenced much as the book is, a kind of emotional travelogue of places real and imagined, encountered and felt. Taylor's fans will find this irresistible as folk, country, and laid-back rock all bleed together in a steamy brew, as he's backed by a crack three-piece band of Northern Europe's finest. Though Taylor seems to think this will find its way into the hands of new fans, it's hard to see how, given the price tag and the rather insider nature of it all, but that's OK. As an artist, his story is more interesting than most so he's permitted some shortsightedness. This is one of those singer/songwriter recordings that is for the real aficionados of the genre; it will delight, amuse, and enthrall them no doubt. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'New Songs of Freedom'
Release Date 6/10/2008
Tracks 12
Label Megaforce
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What The Critics Say
Venerable Texas songwriter Chip Taylor, who penned such enduring classics as the primal garage punk prototype "Wild Thing" and the sublime and sensual "Angel of the Morning," has had a renaissance of sorts in the past couple of years, emerging as a sort of wise country philosopher whose hushed, unhurried vocal style gives his frequently politically poignant songs a kind of back porch élan. New Songs of Freedom isn't a new album exactly, but more like a sampler, including tracks from various upcoming projects Taylor is currently working on along with a handful of tracks from his now out of print Black and Blue America album from 2001. It all adheres pretty well, though, and works as a coherent sequence in spite of its varied sources. The opener, "Dance with a Hole in Your Shoe," has the feel of a '50s beat poem, albeit recited by a wizened country cowboy after a long day riding fences, and it probably shouldn't work, but it does. Another striking track here is "Former American Soldier," which recounts the forgotten story of the Lao soldiers of Vientiane who fought alongside the U.S. in Laos during the Vietnam War and then were unceremoniously abandoned. It's a powerful, chilling song and underscores Taylor's belief that songs should be more than casual entertainment. All in all, this "mini-album" has its own internal logic, and while it might be a placeholder for projects Taylor has in the pipeline, it still manages to speak with a voice of its own. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
'Live from the Ruhr Triennale'
Release Date 10/2/2007
Tracks 14
Label Train Wreck P&D
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What The Critics Say
If you're a fan of roots rock and Texas country music, then this disc will kind of take your breath away before you even hear a note. The pairing of singer/songwriter Chip Taylor and fiddler/singer Carrie Rodriguez has been an inspired one ever since they started making albums together in 2002. On this live album (recorded in Germany at the triennial celebration of the Ruhr region) they are joined by a band that includes pedal steel player Greg Leisz as well as -- get this -- famed jazz/country/experimental guitarist Bill Frisell. The music is by turns soulful and rollicking, with dips into the old book of country standards (Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again," Johnny Cash's "Big River") and the slightly less old book of rock & roll standards (Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," Taylor's own "Wild Thing"). Most of the remainder are relatively contemporary songs written by Taylor, and several things jump out at you about them: Taylor's own strong voice, Rodriguez's gorgeously reedy harmony vocals, and the almost otherworldly beauty of the live arrangements. A good portion of the credit for that beauty goes to Frisell, who is at his best in a setting like this -- spinning out his heartbreakingly lovely guitar lines in ringing, shimmering layers. But even if he were absent, songs like the Taylor/Rodriguez duet "Once Again One Day You Will Be Mine" and the quasi-religious "Oh Set a Light" would stand beautifully on their own. Not to mention Rodriguez's sturdily rocking arrangement of the traditional fiddle tune "Elzic's Farewell" and the two numbers that close out the set -- a quiet version of "Angel of the Morning" (yes, that's a Taylor song as well) and a startlingly sexy version of "Wild Thing." Brilliant. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
'Unglorious Hallelujah'
Release Date 7/18/2006
Tracks 24
Label Back Porch
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What The Critics Say
The latest album from Chip Taylor is actually a double disc: one disc of more carefully crafted works (Unglorious Hallelujah), and one of more spur-of-the-moment creations (Red, Red Rose & Other Songs of Love, Pain & Destruction). Both are quite good, straightforward singer/songwriter-esque pieces with a heavy dose of blues and folk mixed in. The mood is alternately tender and somber, rarely getting too excited about anything. In that sense, it tends to lean a bit toward similarities with some of Dylan's Love and Theft album. These are songs of regret, of reminiscence, and sometimes just of love. The playing from the studio band is good throughout, fitting the moods and staying relatively minimalist as the music seems to call for. Duet vocals with Carrie Rodriguez also fit the bill nicely, adding what almost seems a country feel from time to time. A very nice album for fans of the classic songwriters, with a touch of age and experience to influence the content. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
'The Trouble With Humans'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 13
Label Train Wreck
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What The Critics Say
Making music is an unpredictable business. Songwriter Chip Taylor and singer Carrie Rodriguez liked the way their voices sounded together, so they decided to record Let's Leave This Town together in 2002. While the album wasn't bad, it failed to convey that magic ingredient that takes the music to the next level. The Trouble With Humans is a much more natural effort, with a lovely bare-bones production and relaxed performances by the duo. As a matter of fact, The Trouble With Humans sounds a lot like a demo that couldn't be improved on. On the title track and "I Need a Wall," both singers take things real slow, softly holding forth to the sounds of an acoustic guitar, quiet drum kit, and lonesome steel. Rodriguez's vocals are much more impressive here than on the duo's debut. Her off the cuff downhearted woman gasp hits the listener deep in the gut on "Dirty Little Texas Story," and reminds one of Lucinda Williams. Taylor's lyrics are sex-obsessed here as always, but they nonetheless sound right when he and Rodriguez harmonize together, as though the words somehow derive from their life experiences. "We Come Up Shining" is the bonus track and serves as a pleasing closer to a finely crafted album. The Trouble With Humans will convince anyone who wasn't quite sure about Let's Leave This Town to give Rodriguez and Taylor another listen. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford Jr., All Music Guide
'Let's Leave This Town'
Release Date 9/2/2002
Tracks 12
Label Train Wreck
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What The Critics Say
This new release by this legendary Texas songwriter is a far piece from the Troggs' Wild Thing, but it is still the same person who has worked his way around the music business. This is his teaming with up-and-coming fiddler/singer Carrie Rodriguez to bring a slew of new songs to the public, some of which are destined to become hits in the country & western music scene. He wrote, or co-wrote, ten of the 12 tunes here, and there isn't a wormy one in the package. Before the focus turns too much to this legend, take a listen to the stellar and sensitive fiddling this budding new singer is capable of producing. "There's a Hole in the Midnight" has a feel to it that calls back the best of sad country songs without being disgustingly maudlin; oh, it's a weeper all right -- however, that line of gush is not crossed. There is a good mix in the tempos of the tunes and this disc never gets stuck in any rut. They have a remarkable group of musicians playing with them that go a long way to bring out the best in his music, including former Van Morrison stalwart John Platinia on electric guitar and Fairport Convention's Dave Mattacks handling the drums. However, this is their disc and it is they who make it dazzle as a bright star in that lonesome Texas prairie night. ~ Bob Gottlieb, All Music Guide
'Black and Blue America'
Release Date 8/7/2001
Tracks 32
Label Train Wreck
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What The Critics Say
Chip Taylor has turned into the philosopher of country music, not to mention its social historian. With each track introduced by a soundbite that seems to act as a springboard for his lyrical musings, Taylor tracks the way America lost its innocence ("Black and Blue America"), relationships ("In Your Weakness"), the carefree young life ("For Worth Thursday Night," which gets extra points for a gratuitous mention of Robert Earl Keen), and alcohol and faith ("Dance With Jesus"). So, by its nature, this isn't an album for casual listening, although on one level listeners can let it float along, with a sound that ranges from alt-country to gospel. It's largely stripped-down, but that suits him. When the band swells behind him, Taylor's voice takes on neo-operatic tones that simply don't work. What's really passion sounds merely like too much effort. But the songs definitely do work, and duets with Lucinda Williams, John Prine, and former soul diva P.P. Arnold sparkle, even when they're as bleak as Williams' contribution to "The Ship." Over the years Taylor's work has turned introspective, but this might be his deepest yet, a plumbing of what life, America, and its people has become. His future releases will probably have the same warm humor, compassion, and hope for the future as Black and Blue America. ~ Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
'The London Sessions Bootleg'
Release Date 11/2/1999
Tracks 25
Label Trainwreck
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What The Critics Say
Chip Taylor's early resume as the author of such '60s hits as "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning" is a poor preparation for his '90s career as a singer/songwriter; a better indication is his country music from the early '70s, like the Waylon Jennings hit "Sweet Dream Woman." He may be a born-and-bred New Yorker, but listening to Taylor's idiosyncratic recent work, you would swear he was from Texas; the closest approximations are people like Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Guy Clark. Following a 1998 European tour, Taylor entered a London recording studio to cut a bunch of new songs and decided he liked the results enough to release them on his own record label, Train Wreck Records. Before he could do so, however, he cut another session of newly written songs in New York and liked those, too. The result is this sprawling two-disc set, running over an hour and 45 minutes. It's appropriate that Taylor has given it the relatively undefined London Sessions title, and that he has referred to it as a bootleg. There are some wonderful individual songs here, but they do not cohere into an album, and the off-the-cuff, live-in-the-studio performances are unpolished, sounding not so much like a bootleg as a collection of demos. What's great about the set, however, is the oddball, but often impressive material. Some songs are misfires, but by the time such tracks play, the listener is willing to accept the hit-or-miss quality of Taylor's songwriting, since the good ones are so imaginative. The whole thing comes to an appropriate end with a hidden track that finds Taylor, just having woken up from a dream in which Kris Kristofferson gave him the first line, singing an improvised song into his bedside tape recorder. One could bet that wasn't the only song that came to him in a dream. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Seven Days in May'
Release Date 4/6/1999
Tracks 13
Label Train Wreck
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