Eargasm

{{Infobox album

| name = Eargasm

| type = studio

| artist = Johnnie Taylor

| cover = Johnnie Taylor - Eargasm.png

| alt =

| released = March 1976

| recorded =

| studio = United Sound Systems, Detroit; Muscle Shoals Sound Studios; Sundance Studios, Dallas

| genre = R&B, soul

| length = 34:45

| label = Columbia{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBVjDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA3192|title=Goldmine Record Album Price Guide|first=Martin|last=Popoff|date=September 8, 2009|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781440229169 |via=Google Books}}

| producer = Don Davis

| prev_title = Super Taylor

| prev_year = 1974

| next_title = Rated Extraordinaire

| next_year = 1977

}}

Eargasm is an album by the American R&B singer Johnnie Taylor, released in March 1976 on Columbia Records.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnnie-taylor-mn0000198162/biography|title=Johnnie Taylor Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic}}{{cite book |last1=Aletti |first1=Vince |title=The Disco Files 1973-78: New York's Underground, Week by Week |date=2009 |publisher=DJhistory.com |page=171}} The album contains "Disco Lady", which was a No. 1 pop hit for four weeks, and achieved the first platinum certification for a single, with two million copies sold.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-02-me-36672-story.html|title=Johnnie Taylor; Singer Had Hit With 'Disco Lady'|date=June 2, 2000|website=Los Angeles Times}} Eargasm was Taylor's first album for Columbia Records, after many years spent recording for Stax.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/nyregion/johnnie-taylor-62-soul-singer-had-hit-with-disco-lady.html|title=Johnnie Taylor, 62; Soul Singer Had Hit With 'Disco Lady'|work=The New York Times |date=June 18, 2000|via=NYTimes.com}}

The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200; it spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Soul Albums chart,{{cite magazine |last1=Mayfield |first1=Geoff |title=Remembered |magazine=Billboard |date=Jun 17, 2000 |volume=112 |issue=25 |page=108}} and peaked at No. 41 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4129a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums – June 5, 1976}} Taylor's most commercially successful album, Eargasm achieved gold status in 1980 and platinum status in 2001.{{cite news |last1=Wells |first1=Chris |title=Obituary: Johnnie Taylor |work=The Guardian |date=15 June 2000 |page=1.26}}{{cite journal |title=Gold Record Albums |journal=Ebony |date=Feb 1980 |volume=35 |issue=4 |page=92}}{{cite magazine |last1=Pesselnick |first1=Jill |title=Platinum Albums |magazine=Billboard |date=Dec 22, 2001 |volume=113 |issue=51 |page=52}} The album's second single, "Somebody's Gettin' It", was also a hit.{{cite news |last1=Spencer |first1=Leigh |title=Johnnie Taylor |work=The Independent |date=5 June 2000 |location=Obituaries |page=6}}

The album helped Taylor earn the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's award for the 1976 "Entertainer of the Year".{{cite journal |title=SCLC: Presidential Candidates Don't Know About Poor |journal=Jet |date=Sep 2, 1976 |volume=50 |issue=24 |page=21}}

Production and marketing

The album was produced by Don Davis.{{cite news |title=Johnnie Taylor Finishes New Album, Sets '76 Concert Tour |work=Chicago Metro News |date=December 13, 1975 |page=17}} Recorded in Dallas and Memphis, the backing musicians included Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/mr-somebody-6395133|title=Mr. Somebody|first=Robert|last=Wilonsky|website=Dallas Observer}}

The scholar Houston Baker contends that "Disco Lady" was among the first R&B singles to be advertised to white record buyers; this was part of a 1970s practice of major labels signing veteran black musicians, and then focusing on crossover hits rather than career growth.{{cite book |last1=Echols |first1=Alice |title=Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture |date=2010 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |page=23}}{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Brian |title=Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations |date=1998 |publisher=University of California Press |page=423}}

Critical reception

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/eargasm-mw0000311827|title=Eargasm – Johnnie Taylor {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic}}

| rev2 = Robert Christgau

| rev2score = C+{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=689|title=Robert Christgau: CG: Johnnie Taylor|website=www.robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=Muze |volume=8 |page=65}}

| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=694}}

}}

Robert Christgau thought that "Taylor's commitment to the traditional soul style remains unimpeachable even when he accedes to material as modish as the likable but lightweight 'Disco Lady'."

AllMusic deemed "Disco Lady" "the song of year", writing that "the rest of the album was standard soul, but this was overlooked in the rush". The Rolling Stone Album Guide determined that "the songwriting is nowhere near as punchy or pointed as on the Stax records; however, Taylor throws down some heavy gospel-style testimony."

The Dallas Observer, reviewing the album's 1999 rerelease on compact disc, called it "a wonderful record ... full of la-de-de, la-da-dum-da choruses and it-don't-hurt-me verses; the man could sing about infidelity and made it signify even among the most faithful." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram concluded that "Taylor had the good sense to mix strings with the sort of horn-based soul that made him a star on Stax in the '60s and come up with a Memphis/Detroit/Philadelphia hybrid."{{cite news |last1=Ferman |first1=Dave |title=Johnnie Taylor, Eargasm, Columbia |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=April 23, 1999 |location=Star Time |page=19}} Music Week wrote that "the album is full of classy urban ballads and tidy midtempo grooves, with only 'It Don't Hurt Me Like It Used To' in true disco tempo."{{cite journal |title=Johnnie Taylor Eargasm |journal=Music Week |date=Jan 18, 2013 |page=51}}

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = Eargasm track listing

| title1 = Disco Lady

| writer1 = Albert James Vance, Don Davis, Harvey Scales

| length1 = 4:25

| title2 = Please Don't Stop (That Song from Playing)

| writer2 = Don Davis

| length2 = 2:55

| title3 = Don't Touch Her Body (If You Can't Touch Her Mind)

| writer3 = Don Davis

| length3 = 3:13

| title4 = I'm Gonna Keep On Loving You

| writer4 = Don Davis, Richard Morris

| length4 = 4:00

| title5 = You're the Best in the World

| writer5 = Norma Toney

| length5 = 3:18

| title6 = Running Out of Lies

| writer6 = Perry Jordan

| length6 = 4:50

| title7 = Somebody's Gettin' It

| writer7 = Chico Jones, Clarence Coulter, Don Davis

| length7 = 4:01

| title8 = It Don't Hurt Me Like It Used To

| writer8 = Herbert Ross, Perry Jordan

| length8 = 3:13

| title9 = Pick Up the Pieces

| writer9 = Don Davis, Fred Briggs, Kent Barker

| length9 = 4:50

| total_length = 34:45

}}

Personnel

Johnnie Taylor – lead vocals
Bruce Nazarian, Don Davis, Emmett Smith, Glen Goins, Jimmy Johnson – guitar
David Hood, Michael Henderson, Bootsy Collins – bass
Barry Beckett, Bernie Worrell, George Rountree, Melvin Griffin, Rudy Robinson – keyboards
Jerry Jones, Richard "Pistol" Allen, Roger Hawkins, Zachary Slatter – drums
Carl Austin and the Detroit Fisher Theatre Strings – strings, horns
Eli Fontaine – alto saxophone
Brandye – backing vocals
Bobby Eaton – backing vocals arrangements
Bernie Worrell, David Van De Pitte, Don Davis, Wade Marcus, Rudy Robinson, Sonny Sanders – arrangements

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" \|+ Chart performance for Eargasm ! scope="col"\| Chart (1976) ! scope="col"\| Peak position
{{album chart\|Canada\|41\|chartid=4129a\|rowheader=true\|access-date=October 24, 2022}}
scope="row"\| US Billboard 200{{cite magazine\|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1976-04-24/\|title=Billboard 200: Week of April 24, 1976\|magazine=Billboard\|access-date=October 24, 2022}} \| 5
scope="row"\| US Soul Albums (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/r-b-hip-hop-albums/1976-04-17/\|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Week of April 17, 1976\|magazine=Billboard\|access-date=October 24, 2022}} \| 1

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Chart performance for Eargasm

! scope="col"| Chart (1976)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

{{album chart|Canada|41|chartid=4129a|rowheader=true|access-date=October 24, 2022}}

scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1976-04-24/|title=Billboard 200: Week of April 24, 1976|magazine=Billboard|access-date=October 24, 2022}}

| 5

scope="row"| US Soul Albums (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/r-b-hip-hop-albums/1976-04-17/|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Week of April 17, 1976|magazine=Billboard|access-date=October 24, 2022}}

| 1

Certifications

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|award=Platinum|type=album|artist=Johnnie Taylor|title=Eargasm|accessdate=24 October 2023|relyear=1976|certyear=2001}}

References

Category:1976 albums

Category:albums arranged by Wade Marcus

Category:albums produced by Don Davis (record producer)

Category:Columbia Records albums