Eddie Floyd

Soul singer/songwriter Eddie Floyd scored one of the defining hits of the Memphis soul sound with "Knock on Wood," a number one R&B smash that typified the Stax house style at its grittiest. Floyd was born in Montgomery, AL, in 1935, but grew up in Detroit, where his uncle Robert West owned a couple of record labels, including Lupine. In 1955, Floyd co-founded the seminal proto-soul group <a href="spotify:artist:7hUrFkKBD1PWTn55l22v90">the Falcons</a>, who eventually scored a major R&B hit with "You're So Fine" in 1959 (with <a href="spotify:artist:1joRsnE28NscCssZHZuq6D">Joe Stubbs</a>, later of <a href="spotify:artist:2ugPdplEWBmyU6EcIzlcY1">the Contours</a> and 100 Proof Aged in Soul, as lead singer). After <a href="spotify:artist:1joRsnE28NscCssZHZuq6D">Stubbs</a>' departure, Floyd spent a brief period as <a href="spotify:artist:7hUrFkKBD1PWTn55l22v90">the Falcons</a>' lead singer, until <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Wilson Pickett</a> joined up. Now recording for West's Lupine imprint, <a href="spotify:artist:7hUrFkKBD1PWTn55l22v90">the Falcons</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Pickett</a> cut their second undisputed classic, the gospel-inflected ballad "I Found a Love," in 1962. <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Pickett</a> subsequently went solo, and <a href="spotify:artist:7hUrFkKBD1PWTn55l22v90">the Falcons</a> broke up in 1963.

Floyd recorded a few solo sides for Lupine, and moved to Washington, D.C., for a time to work with his DJ friend, Al Bell; the two founded a label and production company, Safice, co-writing songs and releasing Floyd's recordings. When Bell accepted a job as promotions director at Stax, Floyd followed him to Memphis, where he signed on with Stax as a staff writer and producer. He worked chiefly with <a href="spotify:artist:1QAGLCom3FHTTiuRFsjzOj">Carla Thomas</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0mFoqJiNDtYntypvy6roGR">William Bell</a> at first, and often wrote in tandem with house guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1gLCO8HDtmhp1eWmGcPl8S">Steve Cropper</a>. In early 1966, their composition "634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)" became a number one R&B hit for <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Wilson Pickett</a>; around the same time, Floyd released his first single for Stax, "Things Get Better," which failed to chart. That summer, Floyd cut "Knock on Wood," another song he'd written with <a href="spotify:artist:1gLCO8HDtmhp1eWmGcPl8S">Cropper</a>; initially intended for <a href="spotify:artist:60df5JBRRPcnSpsIMxxwQm">Otis Redding</a>, the tune wasn't big with Stax management because it was strongly based on the chord changes of <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Wilson Pickett</a>'s "In the Midnight Hour." However, distributor Atlantic smelled a hit, and released the song nationally; their instincts proved correct, as "Knock on Wood" became Stax's third number one R&B hit by the end of the year (strangely, it barely made the Top 30 on the pop charts). Floyd followed his instant soul classic with several more Top 40 R&B hits over the next four years, including "Raise Your Hand," "Love Is a Doggone Good Thing," "On a Saturday Night," "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)" (his second biggest hit), and a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Sam Cooke</a>'s "Bring It on Home to Me."

In spite of diminishing commercial returns, Floyd stayed with Stax as a performer and writer right up to the label's bankruptcy in 1975. He spent two years with the Southern soul/blues label Malaco, recording the album Experience in 1977; while it was regionally popular, the Southern soul sound had long since fallen out of commercial favor. A brief stint at Mercury failed to remake Floyd for the disco age, and after recording with British mod revivalists <a href="spotify:artist:0QAboP7IkjMVbdk6htAvCL">Secret Affair</a>, he largely drifted away from the studio. Floyd attempted a comeback on Ichiban with 1988's Flashback album; the following year, he performed at President Bush's inaugural ball, and went on to tour with the Blues Brothers Band. In 1998, Floyd made a guest appearance in Blues Brothers 2000, and also performed "634-5789" with <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Pickett</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5rX1EodZfwxmW4fQX2Caot">Jonny Lang</a>. Meanwhile, countless artists have covered "Knock on Wood," most prominently a disco version by <a href="spotify:artist:7GPNaPWw3STF8NYp39pd8G">Amii Stewart</a> that topped the pop charts in 1979. While in his seventies, Floyd recorded the affirming Eddie Loves You, a project where he revisited some of his classic songs. The album was released in 2008 from a revitalized Stax Records, the perfect pairing of artist and label. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi