Return to Rock-and-Roll Page.Eddie Floyd was a singer and songwriter who was prominent for a time in the 60's.
He was born in 1935 in Montgomery, Alabama, and grew up in Detroit. In 1955 he joined the legendary Detroit R&B group the Falcons. The Falcons' most successful record in terms of record sales was You're So Fine in 1959, one on which the lead was done by the late Joe Stubbs. Joe was the brother of Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops, and eventually he left to join the Contours. Eddie Floyd was lead singer with the Falcons for a time, and the group managed five hits on the R&B charts from 1959 to 1962. Wilson Pickett came on board with the Falcons in 1961 and took the lead on I Found A Love in 1962.
Encouraged by his friend Al Bell, Eddie Floyd went to Stax Records in Memphis. He wrote songs for the stable of stars at that label in the 60's, including Carla Thomas, William Bell, and Otis Redding. Many of the Stax records were backed up by Booker T and the MG's.
Eddie recorded for Stax and managed to put twelve songs in the Top 100 from 1966 to 1970. The most successful of these were Knock On Wood, I've Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do), and a cover of Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home To Me. More than any of his other accomplishments, many people today associate Eddie with his 1966 hit recording Knock On Wood, a song that was originally intended for Otis Redding.
Eddie also wrote songs for his bandmate from the Falcons, Wilson Pickett, after the latter had moved to the Atlantic label. Pickett had a big hit with a song that Eddie had co-written, 634-5789 (Soulsville, USA), in 1966. Eddie continued to write songs in the 70's, some of which became hits on the R&B charts.
Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, and Johnny Lang appear in the 1998 movie Blues Brothers 2000 and perform 634-5789. Floyd and Pickett play the proprietors of "Ed's Love Exchange," which according to the storyline in the movie can be reached at -- you guessed it -- 1-900-634-5789.
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