Dallas Blues Festival
Floyd Taylor:
The mention of the name "Taylor" in any conversation about true R&B and Soul Music certainly brings to mind the Legendary Johnnie Taylor. And legendary he was, even in his own time.
Marvin Sease:
Despite a lack of attention from most print sources and other common avenues of publicity in the blues world, Marvin Sease has turned his smooth, X-rated ladies' man persona into a cottage industry complete with merchandising in the Deep South. Sease straddles the line between blues and gospel-drenched soul, much like fellow Southern singers Johnnie Taylor and Tyrone Davis, but his often racy lyrics and concert performances, coupled with the advantages of major-label distribution, have ensured Sease a strong following, particularly among female fans enamored of his signature song and breakthrough jukebox hit, the provocative, innuendo-laced "Candy Licker." Born in Blackville, S.C., Sease got his start by joining a gospel group in nearby Charleston called the Five Gospel Singers, and moved to New York at age 20, where he joined another gospel group called the Gospel Crowns. Preferring R&B, though, Sease put together a backing band (called Sease) featuring his three brothers. When this venture failed, Sease began singing to pre-recorded backing tracks at local dances and clubs, self-released several 45s, and eventually scored a regular gig at a Brooklyn nightspot called the Casablanca. Gunning for greater success, Sease recorded a self-titled LP in 1986 featuring one of his most popular songs, "Ghetto Man," and began working the South's so-called chitlin circuit of ghetto bars, rural juke joints, and blues festivals. While shopping the LP, released on his own Early label, to record stores, Sease stumbled upon a contact who eventually got him a deal with Polygram, which re-released the LP on London/Mercury in 1987 with the addition of the newly recorded, ten-minute track "Candy Licker." "Candy Licker" became an underground success on jukeboxes across the South; it was too explicit for radio airplay, but audiences -- especially female ones -- flocked to see Sease in concert. Over the next ten years, Sease recorded a string of albums for London/Mercury (Breakfast, 1987; The Real Deal, 1989; Show Me What You Got, 1991) and the New York-based Jive (The Housekeeper, 1993; Do You Need a Licker?, 1994; Please Take Me, 1996) that sold consistently well, although none have yet matched the performance of Marvin Sease, which hit number 14 on Billboard's R&B chart and number 114 on the pop chart. Several more releases were issued before the '90s came to a close: Bitch Git It All (1997), Hoochie Momma (1999). Women Would Rather Be Licked was issued in early 2001. The live CD and DVD Live with the Candy Licker both appeared in 2005.
Mel Waiters:
R&B singer Mel Waiters was born and raised in San Antonio, TX, where in 1974 he began his performing career at local teen clubs; after a stint as a radio deejay, he was awarded a government contract to entertain at military bases across the southwest. Debuting with 1997's Suki-Suki Man, he quickly followed with the LP I'm Serious, notching a hit with the single "Hit It and Quit It." Upon signing with Malaco/Waldoxy, Waiters returned with Woman in Need in 1998; Material Things followed a year later, and in mid-2000 the singer resurfaced with I Want the Best.
Willie Clayton:
As long as he's been recording (from 1969 through the 2000s), one might think that Willie Clayton is an old geezer. No way -- he was just past the age of 40 when he hit his commercial stride with a couple of blues-soul albums for Ace that sold well to the Southern market (where the two interrelated idioms have never been deemed mutually exclusive).
After his debut single for Duplex, "That's the Way Daddy Did," went nowhere, Clayton left Mississippi for Chicago in 1971. Like his older Windy City compatriots Otis Clay and Syl Johnson, the young singer ended up contracted to Hi Records in Memphis, where he worked with producer Willie Mitchell and the vaunted Hi rhythm section. Hi issued a series of fine Clayton efforts on its Pawn subsidiary, including "I Must Be Losin' You," "It's Time You Made Up Your Mind," and "Baby You're Ready," but none of them hit. Finally, in 1984, Clayton enjoyed a taste of soul success when his "Tell Me" (produced by General Crook) and "What a Way to Put It" for Compleat Records nudged on to the R&B charts. Let's Get Together, Clayton's 1993 album for Johnny Vincent's Ace logo, was a smooth soul-blues hybrid dominated by originals but titled after Al Green's immortal hit. Simply Beautiful, his Ace follow-up, found Clayton mixing dusties by Rev. Al, Aretha Franklin, and Arthur Crudup with his own stuff. It's About Love followed in 1999.