Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood

My Life in Soul

Eddie Floyd, Tony Fletcher

• Publisher: Omnibus Press
• Year: 2020
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9781947026391
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

Known for the classics "Knock on Wood, " "634-5789, " "Raise Your Hand, " "Big Bird, " and "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do), " among others, Eddie Floyd's career as a soul legend spans over sixty years. His professional singing career began in Detroit in the 1950s as a founding member of the Falcons, considered "The First Soul Group." A solo artist and songwriter for Memphis's famed Stax Records from 1966 until 1975, Floyd has subsequently been the singer for the Blues Brothers Band and for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, while continuing to perform and record solo. In Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood, Floyd recounts how a three-year stint in an Alabama reform school shaped his young life; recalls the early years of R&B in Detroit alongside future Motown and Stax legends; discusses the songwriting sessions with Steve Cropper and Booker T. Jones that produced his biggest hits; addresses his complicated life-long relationship with the often-unpredictable Wilson Pickett; shares his memories of friend Otis Redding; reveals his unlikely involvement in the rise of southern rock darlings Lynyrd Skynyrd; and offers an insider perspective on the tragic downfall of Stax Records. With input from Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper, and others, Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood captures Eddie's tireless work ethic and warm personality for an engrossing first-hand account of one of the last true soul survivors.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 — All Money Ain’t for You
• Chapter 2 — Sent Up
• Chapter 3 — Baby, That’s It
• Chapter 4 — You’re So Fine
• Chapter 5 — I Found a Love
• Chapter 6 — Make Up Your Mind
• Chapter 7 — 634–5789
• Chapter 8 — Knock on Wood
• Chapter 9 — Hit the Road, Stax
• Chapter 10 — Get on Up, Big Bird
• Chapter 11 — I’ve Never Found a Girl
• Chapter 12 — California Girl
• Chapter 13 — Down to Earth
• Chapter 14 — Jamaica This Morning
• Chapter 15 — Talk to the Man
• Chapter 16 — Raise Your Hand
• Chapter 17 — Mother, Dear Mother
• Chapter 18 — Knock on Wood (Encore)
• Chapter 19 — Soul Is Back Again
• Chapter 20 — Everybody Needs Somebody
• Chapter 21 — I Got a Reason to Smile
• Chapter 22 — Ed’s Love Exchange
• Chapter 23 — Eddie Loves You So
• Chapter 24 — Eddie’s Going Shagging
• Acknowledgments