WILD THING
Chip Taylor, writer of hit songs Wild Thing and Angel of the Morning, comes to Hamilton March 6
Chip Taylor has led a long and interesting life, to say the least. He’s best known as an American Hall of Fame songwriter, penning No. 1 hits like “Wild Thing” (The Troggs/Jimi Hendrix) and “Angel of the Morning” (Merrilee Rush/Juice Newton).
But he also spent more than a decade living the life of a professional gambler, so good at counting cards that he says the top casinos banned him from their blackjack tables.
Oh, almost forgot. Chip is also actress Angelina Jolie’s uncle and kid brother to Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight.
Chip gave up gambling back in the ’90s, but, at the age of 77, he’s still writing songs.
As a matter of fact, he just released a new album called “Fix Your Words” on his own Trainwreck Records label. His voice is brittle but the songs are strong. He’ll probably play a few of them — plus the hits — when he comes to Hamilton on Tuesday, March 6, to perform a show in the intimate confines of The Casbah.
Chip’s real name is James Wesley Voight, but we’ll call him Chip because that’s what everybody has known him by since he decided to give up his dreams of being a pro-golfer like his dad and become a full-time musician. Chip was born and raised in Yonkers, N.Y., and still lives in New York City. He’s got a lot of stories to tell and will no doubt share a few when he’s onstage at The Casbah as part of a tour that also includes Toronto’s Hugh’s Room.
On the phone from his home, Chip is happy to talk about old times as well about the new album, which is filled with songs looking back on his life with both fondness and regret. The track “When I was a Kid” focuses on the time he first heard music coming from his parent’s Motorola radio in the hallway that separated the kitchen from the boys’ bedroom in their old apartment in Yonkers. (Chip shared it with his two older brothers Jon and Barry, who grew up to be a renowned geologist — the three brothers are still close).
“I found country music when I was seven or eight years old and it changed my life,” Chip says. “I was always moved by the chill-thing, something in your body that gives you this amazing sensation. When I first heard country music I got that chill, all over my body.”
“When I was a Kid” references Luke the Drifter, a pseudonym Hank Williams used when recording spoken-word songs or “talking blues.” Chip was touched more by the Luke persona than the real Hank.
“It was the sadness,” he explains. “He had such a sad voice. When he talked he sounded like a common man, sincere, not trying to be clever. That just sort of wrapped around me and I think that influenced my writing more than anything.”
There was also the simplicity, a hallmark of Chip’s writing style. “You can’t get any simpler than ‘Wild Thing,’” he says.
“Wild Thing” came about after he was asked to write a rock and roll song by a New York band called The Wild Ones. “I hung the
phone up and started playing the guitar,” he recalls. “I loved the feel of the chords. I knew right away where it was going to go, but I didn’t know what I was going to say. I wanted it to be honest and real simple.
“I had the engineer turn the lights down in the studio. I came in with the chorus and after the chorus, I stopped and said something, then played the chorus again and stopped again, and said some more. Within 20 minutes the recording was finished.”
The Wild Ones recorded “Wild Thing” in 1965, but it went nowhere. A year later, however, a British band called The Troggs took it to the top.
“What’s important in that song is the silence,” Chip says. “I think if more writers understood that, they’d write better songs. There’s a lot of space in ‘Wild Thing.’ It lets you feel what you want to feel.”
“Angel of the Morning” combines three-chord simplicity with an aching sadness — the parting of lovers from the point of view of the woman. “I had seen a war movie the night before where the hero and the heroine were on opposite sides,” he explains. “It was a touching moment of them holding each other, perhaps never to see each other again.
“It wasn’t a one-night stand sort of thing. It was like the most beautiful love in the world. When I wrote the song I just had chills all over my body.”
Chip realized at a young age that he was a better songwriter than a golfer and, without ever learning to read music, fell in with the songwriting machine that centred around the Brill building in downtown Manhattan, working alongside Carole King, Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka. A string of hits followed. Among the acts who recorded Chip’s songs were Janis Joplin, The Hollies, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Fuller, Anne Murray, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
He had always been a gambler, but he took it on full time in the early ’80s and continued on a winning streak until the mid’90s. But Chip missed the fulfilment music gave him. He decided to return to songwriting, dropping gambling for good. He’s been writing and recording ever since. In 2016, Chip was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. His brother Jon spoke on his behalf during the ceremony.
When asked how many songs he’s written, Chip’s shrug of the shoulders is almost audible over the phone. “The better question is how many have I written in the last month,” he says. “I’ve got the next album already partly recorded and I like it a lot.”
At his age, he admits touring can be tough. He could easily retire, but the songs won’t let him.
“It’s like a therapist for me, my music,” he explains. “I think it would be much worst if I just stopped. I could go back to gambling. I was always good at that. But it doesn’t do it for me now. I just want to get lost in the music.”