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Eddie Floyd | |
|---|---|
 Eddie Floyd in 2000 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eddie Lee Floyd |
| Born | (1937-06-25)June 25, 1937 (age 87) Montgomery,Alabama, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1956–present |
| Labels | |
Eddie Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937)[1][3][4] is an AmericanR&B andsoul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on theStax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song "Knock on Wood".
Floyd was born inMontgomery, Alabama, to Florence Floyd, a nurse, and Prince Edward, a steelworker.[5] He had four siblings: Joe, Benny, Dave, and Louise.[5]
In 1950, at age 13, Floyd was sent toAlabama Industrial School for Negro Children atMount Meigs, a juvenile correctional facility, after fighting with the principal.[5] He began his formal music studies there, learning theory and singing in a choir.[6]
After three years atMount Meigs, Floyd moved toDetroit,Michigan, where he lived with his aunt and uncle, Robert and Catherine West.[1][5] Robert West was an impresario of the Detroit music scene and the founder ofLu Pine Records.[5]
At age 16, Floyd foundedThe Falcons, which also featuredMack Rice.[1] They were forerunners to future Detroit vocal groups such asThe Temptations andThe Four Tops. Their most successful songs included "You're So Fine" and later, whenWilson Pickett was recruited into the group as the lead singer, "I Found a Love."[7] Pickett then embarked on a solo career, and The Falcons disbanded.[1]
Floyd signed a contract with theMemphis-basedStax Records as a songwriter in 1965.[1] He wrote ahit song, "Comfort Me," recorded byCarla Thomas. He then teamed with Stax's guitaristSteve Cropper to write songs for Wilson Pickett, now signed toAtlantic Records.[7] Atlantic distributed Stax andJerry Wexler brought Pickett from New York City to work withBooker T. & the MGs. The Pickett sessions were successful, yielding several pop and R&B hits, including the Floyd co-written "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" and "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.).”[1]
In 1966, Floyd recorded a song initially written forOtis Redding. Wexler convinced Stax presidentJim Stewart to release Floyd's version. The Steve Cropper-Eddie Floyd "Knock on Wood" launched Floyd's solo career,[1] and has beencovered by over a hundred different artists fromDavid Bowie toCount Basie. Eventually, Redding would cut an R&B hit version of the song in 1967 as a duet withCarla Thomas. It became adisco hit forAmii Stewart in 1979.[8]
Floyd was one of Stax's most consistent and versatile artists. He scored several more hits on his own, including "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)" and "Raise Your Hand,”[1] which was covered by bothJanis Joplin andBruce Springsteen.
The song "Big Bird"[7] (featuringBooker T. Jones on organ and guitar,Al Jackson, Jr. on drums, andDonald "Duck" Dunn on bass) was written while Floyd waited in a London airport for a plane back to the United States for Otis Redding's funeral.
Floyd's career did not keep him from being one of the label's most productive writers. Almost every Stax artist recorded Floyd material, often co-written with either Cropper or Jones, includingSam & Dave ("You Don't Know What You Mean to Me"),Rufus Thomas ("The Breakdown"), Otis Redding ("I Love You More Than Words Can Say"), andJohnnie Taylor's "Just the One (I've Been Looking For).” The latter played during the opening credits of directorHarold Ramis's filmBedazzled.
In 1980, Floyd released material on the UK record label I-Spy Records, owned and created by the UK bandSecret Affair.[1] He joined old Stax collaborators Cropper and Dunn, and frontedThe Blues Brothers Band on a series of world tours, and in 1998, Floyd and former Falcon Wilson Pickett appeared on screen dueting on "634-5789" inBlues Brothers 2000.[1]
As well as singing with The Blues Brothers Band, Floyd has been the special guest with formerRolling StoneBill Wyman'sRhythm Kings on several dates in the US and the UK.
In 2008, Floyd returned to Stax Records, which was owned byConcord Music Group since 2004. His first new album in six years,Eddie Loves You So, was released in July 2008.[1]
In November 2012, Floyd was inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame as a Pioneer Award Recipient.
In December 2012, Floyd released a new album at Christmas time. Eddie's son, Anthony Floyd, sings with him in the single, Don’t Forget About James Brown, and the album, Tonight’s The Night. In 2016 he was inducted into theNational Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame
Eddie Floyd was named to theMemphis Music Hall of Fame in 2018.[9]
On 1 September 2017, at age 80, Floyd performed live at the Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms with Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, in a tribute concert to 50 years of Stax Records synonymous with Southern soul music.
On February 28, 2020, Rock House Records released Eddie Floyd's 1979 recording "Guess It Wasn't Meant to Be."
| Year | Single (US) | A-Side | B-Side | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [10] | US R&B [11] | CAN [12] | UK [13] | ||||
| 1962 | Lu Pine 115 | "Will I Be the One" | "Set My Soul on Fire" | – | – | – | – |
| Lu Pine 122 | "A Deed to Your Heart" | "I'll Be Home" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1964 | Safice 334 | "Never Get Enough of Your Love" | "Baby Bye" | – | – | – | – |
| Safice 336 | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | "Can This Be Christmas" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1965 | Safice 338 | "Make Up Your Mind" | "No, No, No" | – | – | – | – |
| Atlantic 2275 | "Hush Hush" | "Drive On" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1966 | Stax 187 | "Things Get Better" | "Good Love, Bad Love" | – | – | – | 31 (1967) |
| Stax 194 | "Knock on Wood" | "Got to Make a Comeback" | 28 | 1 | 67 | 19 | |
| 1967 | Stax 208 | "Raise Your Hand" | "I've Just Been Feeling Bad" | 79 | 16 | 74 | 42 |
| Stax 219 | "Don't Rock the Boat" | "This House" | 98 | – | – | – | |
| Stax 223 | "Love Is a Doggone Good Thing" | "Hey Now" | 97 | 30 | – | – | |
| Stax 233 | "On a Saturday Night" | "Under My Nose" | 92 | 22 | – | – | |
| Stax 246 | "Big Bird" | "Holding On with Both Hands" | 132 | – | – | – | |
| 1968 | Stax 0002 | "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)" | "I'm Just the Kind of Fool" | 40 | 2 | 41 | – |
| Stax 0012 | "Bring It On Home to Me" | "Sweet Things You Do" | 17 | 4 | 24 | – | |
| 1969 | Stax 0025 | "I've Got to Have Your Love" | "Girl I Love You" | 102 | 50 | – | |
| Stax 0036 | "Don't Tell Your Mama (Where You've Been)" | "Consider Me" | 73 | 18 | 84 | – | |
| Stax 0040 | "Soul-A-Lujah Pt. I" (with W. Bell, C. Thomas & J. Taylor) | "Pt. II" (instrumental) | – | – | – | – | |
| Stax 0051 | "Why Is the Wine Sweeter (On the Other Side)" | "People Get It Together" | 98 | 30 | – | – | |
| 1970 | Stax 0060 | "California Girl" | "Woodman" | 45 | 11 | 56 | – |
| Stax 0072 | "My Girl" | "Laurie" | 116 | 43 | – | – | |
| Stax 0077 | "The Best Years of My Life" | "My Little Girl" | 118 | 29 | – | – | |
| 1971 | Stax 0087 | "Oh, How It Rained" | "When My Baby Said Goodbye" | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0095 | "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" | "Have You Heard the Word" | – | 33 | – | – | |
| 1972 | Stax 0109 | "Yum Yum Yum (I Want Some)" | "Tears of Joy" | 122 | 49 | – | – |
| Stax 0134 | "You're Good Enough (To Me Baby)" | "Spend All You Have on Love" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1973 | Stax 0158 | "Lay Your Loving on Me" | "Knock on Wood" (live) | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0171 | "Baby Lay Your Head Down" | "Check Me Out" | – | 50 / 58 | – | – | |
| Stax 0188 | "I Wanna Do Things for You" | "We've Been Through Too Much Together" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1974 | Stax 0209 | "Guess Who" | "Something to Write Home About" | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0216 | "Soul Street" | "Highway Man" | – | 65 | – | – | |
| Stax 0232 | "I Got a Reason to Smile" | "Stealing Love" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1975 | Stax 0239 | "Talk to the Man" | "I Got a Reason to Smile" | – | – | – | – |
| Stax 0251 | "I'm So Glad I Met You" | "I'm So Grateful" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1977 | Malaco 1032 | "Somebody Touch Me" | "Never Too Old" | – | – | – | – |
| Mercury 73964 | "It's Me" | "If You Really Love Me" | – | – | – | – | |
| 1978 | Mercury 74003 | "Disco Summer" | "Do It in the Water" | – | – | – | – |
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
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| Other | |