Taylor Hicks My Idol: Wherever I Lay My Hat

There's a line in "Soul Thing" that says,
The road can be your friend, or the devil in disguise.
To me, that sentiment rings all too true.
Read the life stories of your musical heroes and you'll see that, regardless of what vehicle they chose to get around in, the road could be heaven or hell".
~Taylor Hicks~

"Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road."

Smack in the middle of a dream come true, the time had come for Taylor Hicks to start his own nationwide tour in late February of 2007.

"We began close to home in some of the beautiful old theaters and bigger clubs across the South, and it's my fervent hope that this tour doesn't really end until the day I die."
Taylor Hicks ~ 'Heart Full Of Soul'

Taylor tells us that as he stood on stage night after night singing, he experienced the stunning sensation of being smack in the middle of a dream come true.
He felt as if he was finally in exactly The Right Place, and at peace with himself in a way he had never been before.

Yesterday I was attempting to organize some of my videos from Taylor's tour, and I ran across his performance of "Call Me The Breeze" from the Innsbrook Afterhours Concert in Virginia.

I was on the road right along with Taylor back in July of 2007, though not on a tour bus :-)
What an awesome road trip that was beginning with his concert in Hagerstown, on to Innsbrook, and ending with his concert in Louden.

Thinking about my wonderful road trip, got me thinking about Taylor rolling down the roads on his cross country tour last year.
Wondering if the road had been his friend, or whether he felt a bit like a dust devil?!?

"Call Me The Breeze" has always seemed to me to be another anthem for Taylor, along with "Soul Thing", "Gonna Move", "The Long Way Home" and "The Right Place".

Listening to "Call Me The Breeze" brought to mind a beautiful poem that I recently ran across and the author graciously allowed me to reprint and share here.
I think you'll find that it really hits home!

~On The Road Again~
Well, I've been all hemmed in, but I'm ready to move on.
To set free my old shackles and croon another song.

I want to push on ahead, run freely with the wind,
to travel on a new path of light, where I've never been.

Lift up my steps with new courage, so my spirit will be free.
Brave to change the patterns of life, that have always been me.

I'll leave the past behind, for that's where it belongs.
No more will I replay over and over the memory of wrongs.

Take me where the sun shines bright, the birds woo with their call.
Mountains shelter silver skies of joy, and it is cold no more.

I want to get back on the road and travel straight ahead.
No more turning off the level track, or by my whims be led.

Lord, keep me travelling light, shed me of all traits ...
that slow the journey onward, with such heavy weights.

I would feel the sun warm on my back, soft breezes in my face.
No dark cloud to slow me down, from this steady pace.

Come on, let's ride ... come lift your head up high.
We're embarking on an adventure that will take us to the sky.

Derry's Poetry From The Heart
(used with permission ~ Thank You Derry!)

A thank you to Ragsqueen too for her Innsbrook and Philadelphia, Ms photos!

Taylor Hicks ~ "Call Me The Breeze"
Innsbrook After Hours Concert, Glen Allen, VA

video capture by:
(Thank You!)
video screencaps: by Bloom

If you have visited the link for Derry's poems you know that On The Road Again was originally written for a cowboy, interesting, we have been wondering if we will soon be seeing a stetson hiding Taylor's silver headlight!

"Wherever I Lay My Hat, that's my home"

I-65 Headed North out of Nashville

Your comments and musings are welcome,
I hope you enjoyed today's ride down memory road!

Today's cup

The road to success is not straight.
There is a curve called Failure,
A loop called Confusion,
Speed bumps called Friends,
Red lights called Enemies,
Caution lights called Family.
You will have flats called Jobs.
But, if you have a spare called Determination,
An engine called Perseverance,
Insurance called Faith,
And a driver called Jesus,
You will make it to a place called Success.

I vividly remember sitting in the parking lot of Walmart last December with my friend

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Taylor's just released CD was playing and we were sobbing and hugging!

It was finally here!!

Woo hoo and we had the bonus track!!

I immediately fell in love with Taylor's "Wherever I Lay My Hat",

and it tugs at my heart and moves me every time I listen to it.

I was quite surprised when I learned that it was originally by Marvin Gaye.

I couldn't remember ever hearing it before and then realized

it was recorded before Marvin came to Motown.

I grew up surrounded by the sounds of Motown, listening and dancing to the the songs of Glady's Knight & The Pips, The Supremes, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Marvin Gaye ... just to name a few.

I love Taylor's take on WILMH, and though I like Marvin Gaye ...
can't say I care for his original version.

It's doesn't move me or make my heart go ping.

I'm probably showing my limited exposure to music here ...

but I had never heard of Paul Young either.

I guess by the 80's I had already pretty much stopped listening.

Raising 5 kids I already had enough noise in the house

:-)

"Wherever I Lay My Hat" was written by Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, and first recorded by Marvin Gaye in 1964.

Almost 20 years later

Paul Young's version of the song was a UK number one single for three weeks in July 1983.

23 more years passed

Then Taylor Hicks put his own soulful spin on it and recorded it for his self-titled CD "Taylor Hicks"