R.T. Taylor
Daddy B. Nice's #205 ranked Southern Soul Artist
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R.T. TaylorDaddy B. Nice's #205 ranked Southern Soul Artist |
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R.T. Taylor June 1, 2020: New #1 Single!Originally posted on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles (June 2020).Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . . -------JUNE 2020-------  1. "Rock With You"-----R.T. Taylor
Even after honoring him with Best Male Vocalist Of The Year for his debut southern soul single "It's A Mule," your Daddy B. Nice didn't know if R.T. Taylor could ever do it again. A man's loving life compressed into three verses and choruses, "Rock With You" proves it wasn't a fluke. Was he delivered to southern soul fans to make up for the loss of the late Bishop Bullwinkle? My guess is that he will become as beloved. When R.T.'s voice occasionally cracks and wavers with the frailty of age, it makes the effect of the vocal even more powerful. One of Ronald "Slack" Jefferson's finest productions, from R.T.'s new debut album The Mule Man. Listen to R.T. Taylor singing "Rock With You" on YouTube 
May 16, 2020: Originally posted in Daddy B Nice's New CD Reviews R.T. Taylor: The Mule Man (Jones Boys Ent.). Four Stars **** Distinguished Debut By A New Southern Soul Artist.Top Ten Singles December 2019The Top 25 Southern Soul Songs of 2019 (#8) 2019 Best Debut Nominee Best Male Vocalist 2019: R.T. Taylor for "It's A Mule" These are the entries for R.T. Taylor in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index. They were all made since December of 2019, only a few short months ago, based on music from Slack's My Music My Friends: Southern Soul Compilation. 
Daddy B. Nice had raided this bounteous sampler for hit single after hit single in the course of 2019, including tunes by Jeter Jones, Crystal Thomas, Summer Wolfe, P2K DaDiddy, Tha Don and a bevy of exciting newcomers, among them Luziana Wil, Volton Wright, DJ Wildman Tim, Malcom Allen, and Slack (Ronald Jefferson) himself. And yet, it wasn't until December 2019, after months of playing the CD over and over, that a "dark horse" charted on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles. His name was R.T. Taylor--as Bob Dylan once so aptly said, a "complete unknown". The song: "It's A Mule". ********* 2. "It's A Mule"-----R.T. Taylor Obscure, from an overlooked album, and from an obscure artist (whose name--even if he was famous--would be hard to remember), this song reminds me of--and makes me feel as good as--the original "Mississippi Boy," which was just as obscure once upon a time. Like "Mississippi Boy," "It's A Mule" doesn't sound like much at first, but stay with it and you'll realize it runs on 100% heart. Slack on the track! Read Daddy B. Nice's five-star review.
Listen to R.T. Taylor singing "It's A Mule" on YouTube. ********* Shortly after the December SouthernSoul charting, Jeter Jones, the indefatigable southern soul artist/impresario, published a new video of "It's A Mule," giving R.T. Taylor a face. Listen to R.T. Taylor singing "It's A Mule" on YouTube. Taylor was just as you might have imagined, unassuming, middle-aged-to-older, almost Bishop Bullwinkle-like, but tough-looking and virile, like he'd worked outdoors all his life. (On his Facebook page there are videos of R.T. performing in local venues in street clothes--cowboy hat and boots, jeans and down vest--which seems just about right.) And the juxtaposition of the weather-beaten singer and the astonishingly beautiful young girl in the video (who might have been his grandchild) only reinforced the bizarre chance that such a seasoned and rough-hewn artist would ever see the light of day. But the voice! Something about the vocal (and certainly the material was part of it) brought out a grit, a soulfulness, a deep, yearning angst that once heard became unforgettable. A new tune by Taylor, "Do You Wanna Party," charted at #3 in March of 2020. Written by Jeter Jones (who also guested on vocals), "Do You Wanna Party" featured R.T. on a brisker, mid-tempo vehicle, but once again stressed the vocalist's ability to convey sensitivity--fragility, tenderness--along with hickory-hard, life experience. Now comes the debut album from this unlikely senior vocalist. The Mule Man features compositions by Rodney Wayne Taylor (R.T.) with help here and there from Jeter and Gary Jones, Vernon Washington and DJ Wildman Tim. The production is by Ronald "Slack" Jefferson, again with input from Taylor. With the exceptions of the mid-tempo, Jones Boyz-penned "Do You Wanna Party" and "Back It Up" (done in two versions, one with Jeter Jones and the other with Tasha Mack and Jeter Jones), the album is mostly a compendium of ballads in Taylor's inimitable style in which romantic emotions and traditions mingle with details rooted in southern soul's gritty realism. "Country Woman" knows how to cook R.T.'s food. "She goes in the kitchen with her gown on," R.T. sings. "She goes in the kitchen with no drawers on." In "Southern Soul (We Love You JW)" R.T. sings, "We're having a party..." Then, a long pause..."At southern soul," as if southern soul were a place name, leaving the what or where of his "southern soul" a mystery. With a gorgeously fleshed-out instrumental track by Slack and multi-tracked background chorus by Taylor, the kindred ballad "Rock With You" explores the same, romantic yet meditative mystique. R.T. says that he wrote "Please Talk To Me" seven years ago, and the collection as a whole reinforces the old truism that accompanies strong debuts. Pent-up and unreleased material, in this case made more powerful by the artist's age, brings a head wind of originality, as in yet another slow jam, "Waitin' On You". And in "In It To Win It," a collaboration with DJ Wildman Tim, producer Slack replicates the rhythm track to Tim's "Funky Blues," one of the most irresistible tracks from Slack's MY MUSIC, MY FRIENDS, to raise the tempo before the set's close with a remix of "Back It Up" with Tasha Mac and Jeter Jones. As for "It's A Mule," placed fortuitously at the start of the set so you can get your "mule-man" fix instantly, it will take its place as one of southern soul's classics. Compared with urban R&B or contemporary hiphop, it's modest and subtle, as are almost all of southern soul's great songs. But it's deep. It'll take you as deep as you want to go--or are in the mood for. --Daddy B. Nice Listen to all the tracks from R.T. Taylor's THE MULE MAN album on YouTube. Buy R.T. Taylor's debut album THE MULE MAN at RT Entertainment. See Daddy B. Nice's "New Album Alert" for track list.
May 17, 2020: NEW ALBUM ALERT!Buy R.T. Taylor's debut album THE MULE MAN at AppleTHE MULE MAN Track List:1The Mule Man (Intro) 2 It's A Mule 3 Back It Up (feat. Jeter Jones) 4 Country Woman 5 Southern Soul (We Love You, JW) 6 Do You Wanna Part (feat. Jeter Jones) 7 Rock With You 8 Please Talk To Me 9 Waitin' On You 10 In It To Win It (feat. DJ Wildman Tim) 11 Back It Up (Remix) (feat. Jeter Jones & Tasha Mac) Daddy B. Nice notes:(See CD Review.)Listen to all the tracks from R.T. Taylor's THE MULE MAN album on YouTube. Buy R.T. Taylor's debut album THE MULE MAN at RT Entertainment.
*********** To automatically link to R.T. Taylor's charted radio singles, awards, CD's and other citations on the website, go to "Taylor, R.T." in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index. *********** February 1, 2020: Best Male Vocalist 2019: R.T. TaylorSee Daddy B. Nice's Best Of 2019 Southern Soul Awards.
The awarding of this year's (2019's) Best Male Vocalist was one of the most exhilarating and difficult decisions Daddy B. Nice has made in the fifteen years of hosting the honors. The selection process has always been a mixture of my own personal choice (which is, after all, why readers visit the website) and the choices of the fans as gleaned through music sales, industry buzz, YouTube views and the like. One of the first atypical judgments I made this year was to move the solid but not spectacular work of longstanding vocalists to the "Best Songs By Longtime Veterans" category. Thus, well-known southern soul singers like Theodis Ealey, Omar Cunningham, LaMorris Williams, Ghetto Cowboy, Jaye Hammer, Mose Stovall and Big G were eliminated from consideration. This seemed to me to be the only logical response to an overabundance of male vocalists led by Donnie Ray, O.B. Buchana, Wendell B, Jeter Jones, Tucka and a slew of other worthy contenders. Into this vortex of intimidating veteran talent, however, came a wild card. The "dark horse" came from Slack's My Music My Friends: Southern Soul Compilation. Daddy B. Nice had raided this bounteous sampler for hit single after hit single in the course of 2019, including tunes by Jeter Jones, Crystal Thomas, Summer Wolfe, P2K DaDiddy, Tha Don and a bevy of exciting newcomers, among them Luziana Wil, Volton Wright, DJ Wildman Tim, Malcom Allen, and Slack (Ronald Jefferson) himself.
And yet, it wasn't until December 2019, after months of playing the CD over and over, that this "dark horse" charted on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles. His name was R.T. Taylor--as Bob Dylan once so aptly said, a "complete unknown". The song: "It's A Mule" ********* 2. "It's A Mule"-----R.T. Taylor Obscure, from an overlooked album, and from an obscure artist (whose name--even if he was famous--would be hard to remember), this song reminds me of--and makes me feel as good as--the original "Mississippi Boy," which was just as obscure once upon a time. Like "M.B.," "It's A Mule" doesn't sound like much at first, but stay with it and you'll realize it runs on 100% below-the-belt heart. Slack on the track! Read Daddy B. Nice's five-star review.
Listen to R.T. Taylor singing "It's A Mule" on YouTube. *********  Shortly after the December SouthernSoulRnB charting, Jeter Jones--the indefatigable southern soul artist/impresario who has both benefited from and tirelessly publicized the phenomenal work of Ronald "Slack" Jefferson and a host of Slack-produced artists, published a new video of "It's A Mule," giving R.T. Taylor a face.
Taylor was just as you might have imagined, unassuming, middle-aged, tough-looking, deferential. But the voice! Something about the vocal (and certainly the material was part of it) brought out a grit, a soul and deep, yearning angst that, once heard, became unforgettable. You want authentic? This singer is authentic. Years of struggles, pleasures and hardships run like blood through the singer's musical arteries. He's got a little of Ray Charles ("Feelin' Alright") in him. "It's A Mule" is a song of serenity and resilience. It's hard to elevate an unknown, single-hit artist to the lofty ledge of "Best Male Vocalist," above all that southern soul music has to offer, but my gut told me R.T. Taylor--hard as nails but sensitive. too--struck some primal southern soul chord with such perfection that it had to be recognized as special. --Daddy B. Nice |
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