In one of the most iconic moments in the history Rock & Roll, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his Fender Stratocaster guitar while performing “Wild Thing” at the Monterey Pop festival in 1967.
Taylor’s next-most-famous song, “Angel of the Morning” was a hit for Seattle’s Merrilee Rush, who took it to No 4 on the US chart in 1968. The song was memorably featured in the film Jerry Maguire.
Chip Taylor was born James Wesley Voight in Yonkers, New York, the son of Elmer and his wife, Barbara, a teacher and swimming instructor. He had two older brothers, one being Hollywood star Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy, Coming Home). He is uncle to actress Angelina Jolie.
Chip acquired the surname “Taylor” when King Records executives thought disc jockeys wouldn’t be able to pronounce “Voight”
After “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning,” Taylor left the music business to became a full-time gambler, frequently betting on horse races and developing expert card-counting skills at the blackjack tables, which prompted several casinos to ban him from their premises.
Having conquered what had become a damaging gambling addiction, he resumed his performing and recording career in 1993 and enjoyed a fruitful partnership with the violinist and vocalist Carrie Rodriguez, with whom he recorded a series of albums including Let’s Leave This Town (2002) and (my personal favorite) The Trouble With Humans (2003) on Taylor’s own Train Wreck Records.
Chip Taylor died 23 March 2026 *
Open / You Make My Heart Sang / Chip Taylor (May 31, 1940 – March 7, 2026)
– Chip Taylor “On the Radio” (R Spektor) from Sex Education, 2020
– Merilee Rush “Angel of the Morning” (C Taylor) 1968
– Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodrigues “Don’t Speak English” The Trouble With Humans (2003)
– Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodrigues “Let’s Leave This Town” Let’s Leave This Town (2002)
– Hank Wangford “Wild Thing” (C Taylor) Cowboys Stay on Longer, 1980
Birthday Girl
– Norah Jones & Josh Homme “Something Stupid” (C Parks)
Time, where did you go?
– Pozo Seco Singers “Time” (D Williams) Time, 1966
– Pozo Seco Singers “I’ll Be Gone” (M Merchant) Time, 1966
Mister Romantic
– John C. Reilly “Johnsburg, Illinois” (T Waits) What’s Not to Love, 2025
– John C. Reilly “You Don’t Know Me” (C Walker) What’s Not to Love, 2025
– John C. Reilly “Just Another Sucker on the Vine” (T Waits) What’s Not to Love, 2025
– John C. Reilly “What’ll I Do” (Fain) What’s Not to Love, 2025
Love is Everything
– Claudia Schmidt “Dulcimer Interlude” Out of the Dark, 1985
– Claudia Schmidt “San Diego Serenade” (T Waits) Out of the Dark, 1985
– Jane Siberry “Love is Everything” When I Was a Boy, 1993
– Jane Siberry “Sail Across the Water” When I Was a Boy, 1993
– Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman selections from The Carolan Album 1994
Dead Soldiers
– Joan Baez “Old Welsh Song” Baptism, 1968
– Joan Baez “I Saw The Vision Of Armies” (Walt Whitman) Baptism, 1968
– John Prine “Sam Stone” 1971
– Nina Simone “Angel of the Morning” (C Taylor)
– The Roches “Quitting Time”
Big Sweet Life / Something Stupid (again)
– The Wailin’ Jennies “Deeper Well” (D Olney)
– David Olney “Blues Don’t Care”
– John Dee Graham “Big Sweet Life”
– James Booker “Something Stupid” (C Parks)
THE HOBBLEDEHOY SET
– Cerys Hafana “Atasain” Angel, 2025
– Gwenifer Raymond “Banjo Players of Aleph One”
– Davy Graham “Lagan Love” / Hag Medley ” Irish Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes And Airs, 1979
– dialogue from The Banshees of Inisherin
– Breabach “Knees Up”
– Marianne Faithful “Scarborough Faire”
– Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman selections from The Carolan Album 1994
– June Tabor & Oysterband “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
– Tift Merrit “Finest Feelings” 2026
– Andrew Bird “Fake Palidrones” The Mysterious Production of Eggs
GOODNIGHT ANGELS
– Gerald Ross “Angel of the Morning” instrumental
– Sister Carol “Wild Thing” No More Walls 1979
– La Rondalla Potosina “Angel de Mañana”
CONTACT ME
- Comments on the show? Contact Mike Stevenson at [email protected]
CONCERT DATES
- Ontario’s Cat Clyde appears at Club Passim Cambridge, MA on Tuesday May 19
- Breabach performs at The Blackstone River Theater Cumberland, RI on Apil 19
- John C. Reilly is bringing his “Mister Romantic” show to Boston, with a scheduled performance at the Emerson Colonial Theatre on Thursday, July 23, 2026. This show is described as an intimate vaudeville experience featuring romantic songs from the Great American Songbook and beyond
- Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman (Irish Harp & Guitar) – Double Bill with Tommy Sands The Burren April 29
- Jane Siberry will perform at City Winery Boston April 9th
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