{"title":"Gloria Ann Taylor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGloria Ann Taylor was an American R\u0026amp;B and soul singer, born on September 13th, 1944 in Dehue, West Virginia. She began her singing career in the early 1960s and was discovered by a promoter and production manager. Her first records were released on the King Soul label in Detroit before achieving chart success with \"You Got to Pay the Price\" in late 1969. Despite a stalled career and failed marriage, Taylor continued to sing in her church but never recorded or performed professionally again. In 2015, she announced her desire to return to performing after many of her recordings were reissued.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"love-is-a-hurtin-thing","title":"Love Is A Hurtin' Thing","description":"\u003cp\u003eSoul singer Gloria Ann Taylor has no rags to riches tale to tell. Her story is one of personal sacrifice, failed relationships, and missed opportunity. She was leading a hard knock life before being swept-up by the flash and promise of a marriage and business partnership with a successful record producer. She would be nominated for a Grammy, rub shoulders with James Brown and Bootsy Collins, and turn heads from Motown. But in the end she rejected professional singing, the music business, and the lifestyle that came with it. Thankfully for music lovers, before Gloria closed the doors on her singing career, she left us with some amazing soul songs. Deeply shaded by gospel roots, her haunting sound clearly comes from the gut. Gloria did not fake the funk. Gloria was a partial owner of the Selector Sounds label, along with her husband\/producer Walter Whisenhunt (previously a right-hand man to James Brown), and her brother Leonard. They released five Gloria Taylor singles between 1971 and 1977. They also released the three-song \u003ci\u003eDeep Inside You\u003c\/i\u003e EP, under the name Gloria Ann Taylor and Walter Whisenhunt's Orchestra. In the studio Whisenhunt would work up a unique musical brew that mixed northern soul with exotic percussion and fuzzy psychedelic guitars. He moved Gloria through a range of tempos and stylings from ballads to disco. Her gritty vocal performance was set to orchestral arrangements creating a juxtaposition of grandeur and solace. The pinnacle of their collaborations has to be the jaw-droppingly epic EP version of \u003ci\u003eLove Is a Hurtin' Thing\u003c\/i\u003e; a chugging, string-laden disco track, that sounds like proto-Theo Parrish. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Luv N Haight","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50401488601419,"sku":"390375","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50401488830795,"sku":"390374","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d6b8702d-2daf-4d0b-bba6-a40b436dbf84_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726523481"},{"product_id":"love-is-a-hurtin-thing-brother-less-than-a-man","title":"Love Is A Hurtin Thing \/ Brother Less Than A Man","description":"\u003cp\u003eLove Is A Hurtin' Thing is the lead off single with the ultra-heavy psychedelic soul burner \"Brother Less Than A Man\" on the B-side. Originally released on Gloria and her husband Walter Whisenhunt's label Selector Sound as a 7in single, \"Love Is A Hurtin' Thing\" features her soaring vocals backed by luscious strings, orchestral horns and a searing guitar. On the flip is \"Brother Less Than A Man\" which sounds like a proto Funkadelic \/Parliament psychedelic funk bomb. Pressed as a 7in single on the House Guests label, it highlights a grittier side of her singing that matches the song's depth and intensity. Backed by a rhythm section featuring Bootsy Collins and brother Catfish who along with Gloria and her husband founded the label after leaving James Brown's band. Look for the similarly titled anthology of Gloria's ouput on the Selector Sound label to drop later in 2015.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Luv N Haight","offers":[{"title":"7\"","offer_id":50464854507851,"sku":"1005014","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8ca4e7fa-3dd5-400f-95ee-bfe4a44ad386_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727279832"},{"product_id":"be-worthy","title":"Be Worthy","description":"\u003cp\u003eSoul singer Gloria Ann Taylor released only a small amount of music during her brief career. Although she never achieved the commercial success or stardom of many of her contemporaries at the time, she has now become a cult sensation. With a voice that emoted love, agony, and haunting spirituality, she became a pioneer of genre-bending sound that laid the groundwork for what would become disco, R\u0026amp;B, and modern soul music. In 2015, Ubiquity’s Luv ‘n Haight label issued the \u003ci\u003eLove Is A Hurtin’ Thing\u003c\/i\u003e album that made her otherwise highly scarce music widely available to a worldwide audience. In turn, a whole new generation discovered Gloria and her music surged, finding its way into DJ sets, along with garnering numerous exemplary reviews on sites such as Pitchfork and NPR. Gloria, though happy with the success of the reissue of \u003ci\u003eLove Is A Hurtin’ Thing\u003c\/i\u003e remained private and out of the spotlight and the music industry. In 2016, with some coaxing, Gloria returned to the studio to record three new songs she had written. With only two instruments, her piano, and her voice, Gloria gave over what would be her final contribution to the world of music. “Be Worthy,” “Rich or Poor,” and “Tough Suzanne” were born from that same love, heartache and spirituality that Gloria had always tapped into as an artist, but now with the maturity of a life long-lived. Gloria never made it back to the studio to hear the result of her vision; she passed away in 2018 without the backing band or vocals ever recorded. It took several more years and the genius of technology and engineering to bring Gloria’s final tracks back to life. The \u003ci\u003eBe Worthy\u003c\/i\u003e 7-inch is a magnificent ending to the legacy of the soul singer that knew love is a thing we could never live without, even if it is a hurtin’ thing. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ubiquity","offers":[{"title":"Black | 7\"","offer_id":50502550257995,"sku":"1135260","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3ad8f43f-2f62-48a2-8bb8-caad0fa022b9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727791151"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_417bc788_thumbnail_4096_45a62c55-c680-4a4e-8c22-9cc9bc039934.jpg?v=1726523452","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/gloria-ann-taylor.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}