Gloria Taylor – You Got To Pay the Price
Listen/Download Gloria Taylor – You Got To Pay the Price
Greetings all
Today’s selection is another one of those “didn’t know I had it until I started rooting around in my own crates” records.
I have no idea when I picked up this 45, whether it was part of a bulk purchase in a lot, or another one of those 25 cent come ups that I pulled out of a box because the artists name was familiar.
What I am pretty sure of, is that when I bought it, I never gave it a proper spin, because if I had, I would have recognized a long time ago that it was both very groovy, as well as a cover version of song I already knew.
Fortunately, when I finally did give Gloria Taylor’s ‘You GotTo Pay the Price’ a thorough listen, I realized that it was a cover of the Al Kent song of the same name.
Al Kent’s original version of the song, released in 1967 (I wrote up its flipside ‘Where Do We I From Here’ back in January) was done as an instrumental, and has over the years gathered a following on the Northern Soul scene.
Gloria Taylor (sometimes billed as Gloria Ann Taylor), was an Ohio-based singer who recorded just over a dozen 45s (and a rare LP) between 1968 and 1976 for a variety of Detroit and Nashville labels.
Taylor was apparently from Toledo, Ohio, and was discovered by (and later married to) producer Walter Whisenhunt, who ended up producing most of her recorded output.
Her version of ‘You Got To Pay the Price’, originally released on the King Soul label, and then on Silver Fox in 1969 takes the song at the same general tempo as the original. Taylor’s vocal ranges from a soulful contralto to flashes of super-high soprano, the part of her range that she seemed to favor on most of her other records.
‘You Got To Pay the Price’ was Taylor’s first (and biggest) hit, making it into the R&B Top 10 (Pop Top 50) in October of 1969.
She had two more chart hits, ‘Grounded’ in 1970 (R&B #43) and ‘Deep Inside You’ in 1974 (R&B #96).
Taylor has had some songs released on various funk and soul comps. Her Silver Fox 45s are fairly inexpensive and easy to come by, with the smaller label singles getting progressively more expensive, and the LP bringing in hundreds of dollars.
That said, I hope you dig the record, and I’ll see you all on Friday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Themocracy
I love this one. Been a favourite for many years.
I recently had included this on a 70 plus minute mix I made for the ride. Though my copy is a bit beat up and I need to look for a new one.