Chip Taylor
Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing".[1]
Chip Taylor
James Wesley Voight
March 21, 1940
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Songwriter, singer
1960s–present
- Buddah
- Warner Bros.
- CBS
- Capitol
- Train Wreck
Early life[edit]
Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight and the uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven.[2] Taylor and his brothers attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York.[3] In 1961, Taylor attended the University of Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut, for one year.
After an unsuccessful attempt to become a professional golfer like his father, Elmer Voight, Taylor entered the music business.[4]
Career[edit]
As songwriter[edit]
Taylor wrote many pop and rock songs, both alone and with other songwriters, including Al Gorgoni (with whom he also performed, as the duo Just Us),[2] Billy Vera, Ted Daryll, and Jerry Ragovoy, first freelancing and then as an employee of a New York City music publisher.[2]
Taylor's first big hit was "Wild Thing", which, though first recorded in 1965 by Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones, became famous as both a hit single by the Troggs in 1966 and a live performance by Jimi Hendrix in 1967, and was later covered by the Runaways, the Muppets, and X. "Angel of the Morning" was first recorded by Evie Sands in 1967, before becoming a hit for Merrilee Rush and also P. P. Arnold in 1968, then a million-selling single in 1981 for country-pop singer Juice Newton; later a rendition from Chrissie Hynde was released.
Other notable pop and country songs written by Taylor include "He Sits at Your Table" (Willie Nelson), "I Can't Let Go" (Evie Sands, the Hollies, Linda Ronstadt), "The Baby" (the Hollies), "Worry" (Johnny Tillotson), "Make Me Belong to You" (Barbara Lewis), "I Can Make It With You" (the Pozo Seco Singers, Jackie DeShannon), "Any Way That You Want Me" (the Troggs, Evie Sands, Melanie, American Breed, Juice Newton, Mary Mason, Lita Ford, Liverpool Five) "Step Out of Your Mind" (The American Breed), "Country Girl City Man" (Billy Vera and Judy Clay), "I'll Hold Out My Hand", "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (Lorraine Ellison, Janis Joplin), "Julie" (Bobby Fuller Four, Marshall Crenshaw), and "Lonely Is As Lonely Does" (the Fleetwoods).
Shaggy used "Angel of the Morning" as the basis for his hit "Angel" in 2001.[5]
In 2009, Ace Records released a compilation CD of some of Taylor's compositions as recorded by other artists (Wild Thing: The Songs of Chip Taylor).
Personal life[edit]
By Taylor's own accounts, from 1980 through 1995 he was very successful at, but unhappily addicted to, gambling professionally on blackjack in New Jersey casinos and on horse races. He then returned to music, starting by singing to his dying mother, Barbara Voight.[16][17] Taylor has said that the gambling addiction was hard on both himself and his family. He has written that, after having an epiphany, he changed his attitude and created the "Church of the Train Wreck" self-help program for himself and others.[18]
As of 2019, Taylor continues to live in New York City. He has been married to Joan Carole Frey since 1964, and they have children and grandchildren. (Joan and Chip were temporarily divorced for several years, starting in the 1990s.)[19][20]