Eddie Floyd : Knocking on Wood

Singer songwriter Eddie Floyd is best known for his work with Stax Records in the sixties.

His soulful renditions coupled with his fine lyrics made him one of the soul men the sixties was famous for.

Born in Alabama on June 25, 1937, Eddie Floyd grew up in Detroit. He was exposed to professional music early on as his uncle Robert West owned two record labels in the city, Lupine Records and Flick Records.

In 1955 Floyd co-founded the Falcons and with West’s help, signed to Mercury Records. However, initially their recordings did not have much impact. Several changes in personnel later they were joined by Joe Stubbs with whom they achieved their first pop hit You’re So Fine in 1959. More changes followed with Wilson Pickett eventually replacing Stubbs. The group then recorded I Found A Love, their first hit album. The album had backing vocals by the Primettes who would later become the popular Supremes.

When the Falcons split up in 1963, Floyd started working with Al Bell and his production company Safice. Bell eventually moved to Memphis to join Stax Records and Floyd followed in 1965. He then began working as a producer and song writer for Stax.

At Stax Floyd worked mainly with artistes William Bell and Carla Thomas as well as Solomon Burke, Sam and Dave, Johnnie Taylor and other Stax regulars. His biggest hit however came with Knock on Wood, co-written with Steve Cropper. Originally written for Otis Redding the song was ultimately recorded by Floyd himself. It was released in 1966 to a very positive response and won Floyd an R&B award. To date this is the song that that Floyd is most often identified with. Even later covers by artistes like Otis Redding Ella Fitzgerald, James Taylor and David Bowie have proved successful.

Another memorable Floyd track is 634-5789 which he wrote for former band mate Pickett , giving the artiste one of his biggest hits. Floyd performed the song with Picket in 1998’s Blues Brothers 2000 in which Floyd and Pickett also made an appearance. Floyd continued writing for Pickett even after the latter moved to Atlantic Records.
Floyd remained with Stax until the label folded in 1975. In all he recorded 12 Top 100 hits with label including Raise your Hand (1967),I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) (1968) , Big Bird(1968), in homage to Otis Redding, California Girl (1970) and Bring It Home To Me , a cover of Sam Cooke’s original.

After Stax, Floyd remained busy touring the US and Europe with the Stax Revue and appearing with the Blues Brothers Band. In 1977 he recorded the disco-based Experience on Malaco but clearly this was not his forte.

Floyd’s songs have been covered time and again with many contemporary artists scoring hits with them. Notable among these covers is Amy Stewart’s disco rendition of Knock on Wood and Bruce Springsteen’s Raise Your Hand. Floyd himself has performed with Paul Young, Tom Jones and Italian star Zucchero.

Floyd continues touring, occasionally teaming up with guitarist Steve Cropper, keyboardist Booker T Jones and bassist Duck Dunn, all friends from his days at Stax. His latest release was Eddie Loves You So in 2008, recorded on Stax’s new avatar Concord Music Group.