Luckily, not everybody has forgotten Chip Taylor. After all, he is to get inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For those who have forgotten or those that are too young to remember, he’s the guy who in the Sixties composed hits like “Angel of the Morning” for Marilee Rush, and the all-time rock anthem “Wild Thing”, at the time done proud by both, The Troggs and Jimi Hendrix.
The picture on Chip’s latest album, “A Song I Can Live With” is probably from that time. Certainly, Chip is not the only one that has a valid reason to remember the Sixties fondly, but then, judging by this album, he can certainly be proud of his output in the 21st century too.
If you think the pace of some JJ Cale albums is too slow, steer clear from this one. The music and lyrics here are slow, introspective and mesmerizing. Like late Leonard Cohen on his last few albums, Chip is anywhere between singing and reciting. With just marginally less grain in his voice than Cohen, Taylor covers everything he encounters - whether it is something like cable TV or departing of such rock legends as Lou Reed and David Bowie.
What you get is sublime, sparse, musical arrangements and life experience stories from a guy who temporarily suspended his musical career to be a professional gambler. Obviously, rock music lifestyle in some form or other was always with him.
In tackling his subjects, Taylor did not express a single element of pretentiousness, either musically or lyrically but did everything with all the emotion he’s got. That is why this album is such a great listen, late night, early morning, doesn’t matter.
Chip Taylor obviously still deserves that rock and roll hall of fame invite. Keep on doing it Chip.
