Felice Taylor (born Florain Corella Flanagan, January 29, 1944 – June 12, 2017) was an American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

singer, best known for her

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

in the late 1960s.

The Sweets

Born in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

, United States, Taylor began singing with her

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

Norma and Darlene Flanagan in a trio, The Sweets, who recorded two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, "The Richest Girl", for the Valiant

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

in 1965 and "Satisfy Me Baby" on the Soul Town label.

Solo career

Taylor's first solo recording, "Think About Me" on the Groovy label, was credited to Florain Taylor. Her greatest success came after signing for

Bob Keane Robert Verrill Kuhn (January 5, 1922 – November 28, 2009), professionally known as Bob Keane, and also sometimes known as Bob Keene, was an American musician, producer and the founder and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was the ...

's Mustang label, a subsidiary of Bronco Records. There she was teamed with the songwriters and record producers,

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

and Paul Politi, who co-wrote " It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)", a minor hit reaching No. 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 44 on the R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

in early 1967, and its follow-up " I'm Under the Influence of Love". A third single, " I Feel Love Comin' On", also written and produced by White and Politi was not released in the US, but reached No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart, when leased to President Records later in 1967. After leaving Bronco, Taylor recorded for

Kent Records Kent Records was a Los Angeles–based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was a subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records, which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's sin ...

, and later in the UK with members of

The Equals The Equals are an English rock band. They are best remembered for their million-selling chart-topper " Baby, Come Back", though they had several other chart hits in the UK and Europe. Drummer John Hall founded the group with Eddy Grant, Pat L ...

. In 1973, White's protégées

Love Unlimited Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American singer-songwriter Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Career Formed in 1969, the group included Barr ...

recorded new versions of "It May Be Winter Outside" and "Under the Influence of Love" and Barry White recorded "I Feel Love Comin' On" on the Love Unlimited Orchestra's top ten album '' Rhapsody in White''. Taylor herself seems not to have recorded after the early 1970s.

Personal life

She was married to Johnny B Taylor and had four children. She died in June 2017, aged 73. She was interred at the Riverside National Cemetery in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Felice Taylor discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Felice 1944 births 2017 deaths American rhythm and blues singers 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Musicians from Richmond, California Northern soul musicians Singers from California 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women President Records artists Burials at Riverside National Cemetery