Posted inWax Facts

Ten Interesting Facts About Soul Singer Johnnie Taylor

Since today (May 5th) would have been soul legend Johnnie Taylor’s 77th birthday, RareSoul.com has gathered Ten interesting facts about the soul singer.

Johnnie Taylor is a legendary member of The Soul Stirrers after Sam Cooke left the group, and he cut a number of sides for Sam Cooke’s record labels, SAR/Derby labels. When Sam Cooke died in 1964, Johnnie Taylor needed a new recording home.

“I was living in Kansas City,” Johnnie Taylor recalled in the book Soulsville U.S.A. “I got to St. Louis and I decided I’d up a dime. I said ‘Should I got Towards Detroit for Motown or should I take the southern route to Stax? Stax won out.”

05/05/2011
Posted inWax Facts

First Annual Grammy’s Kicked Off Today (May 4th) in 1959

The Grammy’s were launched on this day (May 4th) in 1959. Even though the first winner was “Tequila” by The Champs – not exactly an R&B song – the awards have evolved into a staple in the industry.

The Grammy was originally called  called a Gramophone Award, after Emile Berliner’s Gramophone.

Emile Berliner, was a German living in Washington D.C., when he invented gramophone. He patented the instrument in the United States under patent no 372786 dated the 8th of November, in 1887.

Scientists were trying to invent the voice recording instrument from the eighteenth century. In 1806, Thomas Young developed the sound wave theory to represent the sounds of drum in a graphical manner.

05/04/2011