Johnnie Taylor falls into the category of soul singers whose talents outweigh their commercial legacy, but “I Got To Love Somebody’s Baby” is an incredible cut from his debut Wanted: One Soul Singer that begs to be heard.  It’s not just the incredibly raw recording, or the scene-setting guitar intro. Taylor has an incredible ability to bend words to his will, no longer just a description, but the actual events themselves. Co-written by Stax Records stalwarts Isaac Hayes and David Porter, “I Got To Love Somebody’s Baby” is a bluesy narrative of a lover done wrong, a man who’s “got to love somebody’s baby/ cuz somebody, somebody, somebody, sure been lovin mine” and while the band is in peak form, like so many other great soul songs, it’s the vocal performance that drives it to perfection.

I Got To Love Somebody’s Baby – Johnnie Taylor