Remembering Chip Taylor: The Songwriting Genius Behind 'Wild Thing' and 'Angel of the Morning'

Chip Taylor, the celebrated songwriter renowned for penning “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning,” has died at 86, his label Train Wreck Records announced Tuesday, March 24. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

Taylor leaves behind a legacy of songs that captured the zeitgeist. Over his six-decade career, his compositions were embraced by a diverse array of artists, including Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Linda Ronstadt, Shaggy, and Tina Turner.

Born James Wesley Voight in Yonkers, New York, in 1940, Taylor was the youngest of three sons, including his older brother, actor Jon Voight. Initially, he pursued golf, following in his father Elmer's footsteps, before embracing his musical calling in New York and adopting his stage name.

His breakthrough came with “Wild Thing,” a song that remarkably hit the Billboard Hot 100 three times. First, by The Troggs in 1966, then as a comedy recording by Senator Bobby featuring Bill Minkin, and again by Fancy in 1974. It was also famously covered by the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

Another of Taylor's success stories was “Angel of the Morning,” a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 twice by two different artists: first by Merrilee Rush & The Turnabouts and then by Juice Newton. It also charted on Hot Country Songs, thanks to versions by Connie and Newton.