Happy Big Bird Day from RHINO 🦃 this year we are especially thankful for timeless music, the musicians who made it, and the subscribers that keep it alive by listening and showing love. We are thankful for YOU!

*Eddie Floyd’s* life illustrates how success in the music business can arise from collisions and connections. Floyd, born in 1937 in Birmingham, Alabama, was the child of a nurse and a steel worker. Confined at 13 to a state juvenile detention center for fighting with his school principal, young Floyd sang in the facility’s choir and learned music theory. Released at 16, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, to live with his aunt and uncle in 1953. His uncle, a figure in the Motor City music scene, had founded two seminal recording labels. That year Eddie, with Mack Rice, started a vocal group, The Falcons. Steeping himself in the trade, Floyd built a name around Detroit. The Falcons, with Wilson Pickett singing lead, had a hit in 1959 with “You’re So Fine,” followed in 1962 by “I Found A Love.” In 1963 Floyd moved to Washington, D.C., allying with Al Bell to establish the Safice label, for which Floyd made his first recordings. When Bell was recruited to the burgeoning Stax label in Memphis, Floyd came along, reveling in a Southern music scene that strongly reminded him of Detroit and its interlocking lives. He wrote and produced, collaborating with Stax studio stalwart Steve Cropper of Booker T. & The MG’s and in time renewing ties to former bandmate Pickett, for whom he wrote the chartbusting “634-5789 (Soulsville USA),” a nod to Motor City girl group The Marvelettes’ 1962 hit “Beechwood 4-5789.” In 1966, as Floyd and Cropper were holed up at the Lorraine Motel trying for a number on the theme of superstition for Otis Redding, a summer storm hit Memphis. The explosive weather inspired the line, “Like thunder and lightning, the way you love me is frightening,” sung for the demo by Floyd. At Jerry Wexler’s urging, Stax cut “Knock On Wood,” which rocketed to #1 and became a classic. Floyd never had a bigger hit, but he went on to decades of productivity and performance. He’s still at it at 88. – Michael Dolan

Eddie Floyd – Big Bird – Mono
Album: Rare Stamps
Album Released 1969 on Stax

_Written By:_ Eddie Floyd, Booker T. Jones

_Performed By:_

Eddie Floyd — vocals
Booker T. Jones – keyboards
Donald Dunn – bass
Al Jackson Jr. – drums

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