Little Johnny Taylor born 11 February 1943

Little Johnny Taylor (February 11, 1943 – May 17, 2002) was one of the finest practitioners of the style of R&B called soul blues, which merges the vocal approach of black gospel with the blues. He made recordings throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and continued public performances through the 1980s and 1990s. 

Born Johnny Lamont Merrett in Gregory, Arkansas, United States, he is frequently confused with his contemporary and near namesake Johnnie Taylor, especially since the latter made a cover version of the song that Little Johnny Taylor was most famous for, "Part Time Love" (1963), and the fact that both men began their careers as gospel singers. 

Little Johnny came to Los Angeles in 1950 and sang around with the Stars of Bethel (with whom he made his recording debut) and an early edition of the Mighty Clouds of Joy. By the late Fifties he was performing blues at local clubs.

Influenced by Little Willie John, Taylor briefly sang with the Johnny Otis Revue then debuted as an R&B artist with a pair of 45s for Hunter Hancock's Swingin' logo. 

However, he did not achieve major success until signing for San Francisco-based Fantasy Records' subsidiary label, Galaxy. His first hit was the mid-tempo blues "You'll Need Another Favor," sung in the style of Bobby Bland, with arrangement by Ray Shanklin and produced by Cliff Goldsmith.

                            

The follow-up, "Part Time Love", written by Clay Hammond and featuring Arthur Wright on guitar, became his biggest hit, reaching number 1 in the U.S. Billboard R&B chart, and number 19 on the pop chart, in October 1963. 

The singer also did fairly well with "Since I Found a New Love" in 1964 and "Zig Zag Lightning" in 1966, but most of his follow-ups were much less successful. 

He re-emerged in the early 70s on the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Ronn label, with whom he recorded in the Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The result was a series of stunning records, notably ‘Everybody Knows About My Good Thing’ (number 9 R&B) in 1971 and ‘Open House At My House’ (number 16 R&B) in 1972. While at Ronn, Little Johnny cut some duets with yet another Taylor, this one named Ted (no, they weren't related either).  

Though he recorded only sparingly during the 1980s and 1990s, he remained an active performer until his death, at the age of 59, in May 2002 in Conway Regional Medical Center, Arkansas.

(Edited mainly from Wikipedia)