Stax Soul Man Eddie Floyd’s Life Story To Be Published In August
The book includes interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper and others.
Stax Records’ celebrated soul man Eddie Floyd’s life story Knock! Knock! Knock! On Wood: My Life in Soul, co-written with British author Tony Fletcher, will be published by BMG Books on 11 August. It includes interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Bill Wyman, Paul Young, William Bell, Steve Cropper and others.
“A biography that has it all”
Actor Dan Aykroyd, who in the character of Elwood Blues in The Blues Brothers helped to bring vintage soul music to a new generation, says of the new volume: “A biography that has it all — the joys, adventures and challenges of being a consistent hitmaker and soul superstar. I’ve had the privilege of performing alongside Eddie in the Blues Brothers Band touring show and he’ll always move faster than me.”
Floyd will forever be best known by the song that lends its name to the book title, the 1966 R&B No. 1 ‘Knock On Wood,’ which he co-wrote with fellow Stax luminary Cropper. His other much-loved hits include ‘I’ve Never Found A Girl,’ ‘Bring It on Home to Me’ and ‘California Girl,’ and his songs have been recorded by Otis Redding, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Springsteen and countless others. Listen to uDiscover Music’s 2017 audio interview with Eddie, recorded while he was in London for the Stax Records Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.
Fletcher first interviewed Floyd when he was writing In The Midnight Hour: The Life & Soul of Wilson Pickett, published in 2017. He also wrote All Hopped Up and Ready to Go: Music from the Streets of New York, 1927-77 and biographies of R.E.M., Keith Moon and the Smiths.
In an interview with Pop Matters, Fletcher says of Floyd: “He was the consummate soul man. He lives and breathes Stax music and American soul history. It struck me how few of these southern soul singers have gotten to tell their own stories. Writing a biography is one thing, but I think it’s important that someone like Eddie got to tell his own story.”
Listen to the best of Eddie Floyd on Spotify.
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