(ThyBlackMan.com) Johnnie Taylor was one of the most versatile and enduring voices in American music, seamlessly bridging the worlds of gospel, soul, blues, and funk. Known as the “Philosopher of Soul,” Taylor built a career on raw honesty, emotional complexity, and a voice that could move from velvet smoothness to gritty confession in the space of a single verse. With roots in gospel and a recording legacy that spanned Stax, Columbia, and Malaco Records, his songs became reflections of love, loss, desire, and the working-class Black experience. Whether delivering sermons on heartbreak or tales of survival, Taylor brought truth to every lyric. The following eight songs highlight the depth and relevance of his artistry—works that still resonate today, offering lessons in both life and music.
1. Who’s Making Love
Taylor’s breakthrough hit, “Who’s Making Love,” is an iconic soul anthem that blends righteous fury with irresistible funk. The Stax Records classic came out at a time when infidelity was often glamorized in popular music, but Taylor flipped the script. Over a driving rhythm section and sharp horn stabs, he asks a piercing question to cheating men: while you’re out chasing skirts, who’s making love to your old lady?
The beauty of this song lies in its duality. It’s accusatory, yet reflective. Taylor’s vocals are filled with urgency, almost like he’s sermonizing from a pulpit. There’s a preacher’s cadence in the way he delivers each line, which makes sense given his gospel roots. He’s not just singing—he’s warning. And that conviction gives the song a spiritual weight that transcends the typical cheating narrative.
Musically, the song was ahead of its time. The groove is relentless, anchored by Booker T. & the M.G.’s backing band, and those punchy Memphis horns give it a boldness that remains unmatched. It’s danceable and educational all at once—a rare feat in soul music. DJs still spin this in soul and funk sets today because it speaks to timeless relational tension.
This track helped shape the sound of Southern soul in the late ’60s, bringing together the sacred intensity of gospel with the rawness of secular experience. From the first snare snap to Taylor’s powerful delivery, everything hits with purpose. It also inspired future generations of soul singers and songwriters who continue to draw from its blend of moral gravity and musical fire. In 2025, with hookup culture and ghosting running rampant, this song feels more relevant than ever.
2. Cheaper to Keep Her
If “Who’s Making Love” was Taylor’s sermon, “Cheaper to Keep Her” is his wry stand-up comedy routine delivered with bluesy swagger. This 1973 hit from his Columbia Records era leans heavily into real-world pragmatism, offering advice to men thinking about divorce in the most brutally honest way possible.
The brilliance of this song is in its simple logic. Taylor breaks down the cost of leaving a relationship—not just emotionally, but financially. “It’s cheaper to keep her,” he says, as if he’s been crunching the numbers at the kitchen table. And with the way he delivers it, you believe he has. The lyrics are full of biting humor, but there’s also a sense of resignation. Love might be gone, but the bills keep coming.
Musically, the track takes on a funk-blues fusion with an irresistible bassline and silky electric piano flourishes. It’s laid-back yet purposeful, like a man walking out of divorce court shaking his head with a knowing grin. Taylor’s vocal delivery is conversational, like he’s talking to you across a bar. It feels like he’s been through it—and he’s trying to save you the trouble.
This track struck a chord with older, married audiences who weren’t being catered to by younger artists. It’s relatable in its world-weariness, and Taylor’s dry wit adds an extra layer of charm. Whether you’re laughing, nodding, or shaking your head, “Cheaper to Keep Her” speaks to the everyday dilemmas that don’t show up in fairy tales—but sure do show up in alimony checks.
3. Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone
“Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone” is a prime example of how Taylor could take street-level storytelling and elevate it into an unforgettable musical experience. The song introduces listeners to “Jody,” a mythical figure in Black military and working-class communities who always seems to steal your woman while you’re away. Taylor turns this cultural archetype into a cautionary tale that feels both personal and communal.
The song’s groove is lean but potent, with a clean guitar lick, a strolling bassline, and Taylor’s voice front and center. He sings like a man who’s just come home and found an empty closet and a Dear John letter. There’s bitterness, but also a sad acceptance in his tone. He’s not just mad at Jody—he’s mad at himself for not seeing it coming.
What makes this track so compelling is how it builds atmosphere. You can feel the loneliness, the betrayal, the tension. And Taylor’s vocal choices—especially how he lets certain words stretch or tighten—add to the emotional complexity. He’s not just telling a story; he’s pulling you into it.
This character of “Jody” still lives in modern storytelling, reimagined in social media scandals, reality TV breakups, and cheating rumors that go viral in seconds. Taylor’s song laid the groundwork for that archetype to be explored for generations. It’s a haunting anthem about distance, disconnection, and the heartbreak of realizing love can’t survive in absence.
4. Disco Lady
Johnnie Taylor’s “Disco Lady” was a cultural earthquake. Not only was it his biggest hit, but it also became the first single in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. This wasn’t just a crossover moment—it was a statement that Taylor could adapt with the times while staying true to his voice.
Musically, “Disco Lady” is soaked in sensuality. Built around a slow-burning groove and layered with lush instrumentation, the song oozes atmosphere. It’s not fast-paced like other disco hits of the era. Instead, it struts, seduces, and simmers. The bassline is thick, the horns are velvety, and Taylor’s vocals are drenched in longing and desire. He sings about a woman who knows how to command attention with every move, and you can visualize her through his description alone.
Lyrically, it’s both a celebration and a plea. Taylor’s admiration is genuine—this isn’t objectification, it’s reverence. “Shake it up, shake it down,” he coos, and you can almost hear him catching his breath between phrases. There’s a voyeuristic thrill in his voice, but also a yearning to be more than just a bystander.
The song also marked a pivotal moment in Taylor’s career, showing that he wasn’t afraid of evolution. He leaned into the disco movement not to chase trends, but to reshape them with his own soulful identity. Even in today’s era of TikTok dances and club anthems, “Disco Lady” holds its own. It’s a masterclass in groove, vocal restraint, and storytelling through song—and it marked a turning point where soul met sophistication and won.
5. I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)
This track stands apart from much of Taylor’s catalog because of its tenderness. “I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)” is a ballad in the truest sense—slow, reflective, and emotionally transparent. It’s a love song, yes, but it’s also about trust, faith, and the kind of bond that sustains itself even through doubt and fear.
The arrangement is minimal but beautiful. A simple piano progression, tasteful strings, and gentle backing vocals all give Taylor the room he needs to let the lyrics breathe. And he doesn’t waste that space. His voice is vulnerable and deliberate, each word weighted with meaning. When he sings, “I believe in you, you believe in me,” it’s less a statement and more a prayer.
The production, courtesy of Don Davis, is lush yet restrained—allowing the emotional gravity of Taylor’s performance to lead. It feels like the kind of ballad Smokey Robinson might have sung, but with more Southern grit and a church-honed intensity that only Taylor could deliver. There’s a sense of spiritual partnership here that elevates the song beyond romance—it becomes a meditation on loyalty and belief in the face of adversity.
This song showcases another side of Taylor—the lover who isn’t just chasing lust but fighting for commitment. It feels like a Sunday morning after a long Saturday night, full of clarity and gratitude. And that emotional maturity makes it resonate beyond its romantic theme. In an age where fast love dominates pop culture, this song is a reminder of what it means to build something real with someone. It’s the kind of track you play on a long drive with your partner or when you’re deep in thought about the one who stayed when things got hard.
6. We’re Getting Careless with Our Love
This lesser-known gem is a smooth, emotionally intricate track that explores the slow unraveling of a relationship. “We’re Getting Careless with Our Love” doesn’t blame or accuse—it observes. Taylor sings like someone who’s watched the small cracks widen, who recognizes the late-night silences and fading warmth for what they are.
The musical backdrop is classic mid-70s soul, blending light funk rhythms with rich instrumentation. The groove is mellow, which gives the song an introspective quality. It’s a slow jam not meant for dancing but for reflection. Taylor’s voice is restrained but emotive, especially as he reaches for higher notes to underline the heartbreak.
The strength of this song lies in its subtlety. Instead of dramatizing the end of love, Taylor chooses to show its quiet decline. It’s in the missed phone calls, the cold dinners, the lack of small touches. Lines like “We don’t even hold hands like we used to do” don’t scream pain—they whisper it. That quiet honesty is what makes the track so poignant. It doesn’t try to shock the listener—it asks them to listen closely.
This track is tailor-made for modern listeners navigating emotional detachment or relationship burnout. It feels timeless, capturing that universal fear of drifting apart from someone you still love. Taylor’s honesty gives the listener permission to acknowledge their own vulnerabilities without judgment. It’s one of his most underrated gems—a reminder that soul music’s real power lies not just in sound, but in storytelling.
7. Running Out of Lies
Now this is Taylor at his confessional best. “Running Out of Lies” is less a song and more a monologue set to music. It opens with a spoken-word intro that feels like a man talking to himself—or maybe to his mistress—laying bare the weariness of a double life. Taylor’s voice cracks with regret, frustration, and emotional fatigue.
The brilliance of this song lies in its structure. The spoken passages bleed into sung verses, and the transition feels natural. You can hear the mental spiral—how he starts explaining, then pleading, then exposing himself completely. It’s soul music as theater, and Taylor plays every role perfectly. There’s no blame-shifting here—just a man trying to climb out of the emotional pit he dug for himself.
Musically, the song leans heavily on blues traditions, with a slow-burning tempo and melancholy organ fills. The rhythm section barely moves, and that stillness mirrors the emotional exhaustion in the lyrics. This is a man who’s tired—not just physically, but spiritually. He’s trying to find redemption, even if it’s too late. The spaces between the words are just as powerful as the words themselves.
In today’s culture of oversharing and emotional exposure, “Running Out of Lies” feels ahead of its time. It gives voice to the complicated truth that sometimes people don’t cheat because they want to—but because they’re broken. And when they realize the damage, they’re left with nothing but shame and the hope of forgiveness. It remains one of the most powerful performances in Taylor’s catalog, offering a rawness and complexity rarely matched in soul music.
8. Last Two Dollars
“Last Two Dollars” is one of Taylor’s later-career gems, released near the end of his life but packed with all the wisdom he’d accumulated along the way. It’s a bluesy, no-frills tale about a man who’s lost almost everything—except his sense of humor and a bit of hope. The “last two dollars” are all he has, but he’s spending one on the jukebox and the other on a drink. That’s the kind of poetic resilience that only Johnnie Taylor could make sound uplifting.
This track leans fully into the Southern soul-blues tradition, complete with a churchy organ, gritty guitar riffs, and Taylor’s weathered vocals. You can tell he’s lived what he’s singing. His voice is rougher than in his earlier recordings, but that rasp adds texture and truth. The production is stripped down and intimate, evoking a dimly lit bar or roadside juke joint—someplace where the blues live and breathe.
What makes this song shine is its relatability. We’ve all been in low places—emotionally, financially, spiritually. But Taylor reminds us that even when you’re down to your last dime, you can still find comfort in music and maybe a drink to ease the pain. It’s blues as life philosophy, and that’s something people still lean on today. There’s no self-pity here, just acceptance and a little dignity preserved through melody and laughter.
“Last Two Dollars” resonates even more deeply in 2025, as many face economic uncertainty and emotional fatigue. It reminds listeners that survival isn’t just about money—it’s about attitude, perspective, and finding a reason to keep going. Taylor’s late-career honesty cemented his place as not just a soul man, but a storyteller for those fighting their way through hard times with grace and grit.
Johnnie Taylor’s music continues to stand the test of time because it speaks to the realities of human emotion with authenticity and depth. His ability to navigate themes of love, betrayal, redemption, and resilience made him more than a soul singer—he was a storyteller for generations. These eight tracks offer a compelling cross-section of his career, each one showcasing the artistry and insight that made Taylor a mainstay on the charts and in the hearts of fans. In an age where much of popular music is fleeting, Taylor’s songs endure because they are rooted in timeless truths. For longtime admirers and new listeners alike, his catalog remains a rich source of wisdom, rhythm, and soul.
Staff Writer; Jamar Jackson
