Chip Taylor Bio
Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight on March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer best known for writing two of the most recognizable pop songs of the 1960s, “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning.” Born and raised in Yonkers, New York, he began recording in the late 1950s under his birth name and later earned his first chart entry as Chip Taylor in 1962. Over the following decades he built a career as a behind-the-scenes writer whose songs were performed by the Troggs, Jimi Hendrix, the Hollies, Juice Newton, and Willie Nelson, among many others. In addition to writing, Taylor launched the independent label Train Wreck Records and continues to live and work in New York City.
Beyond songwriting, Taylor has performed as a singer, touring and recording in a folk and Americana style with collaborators such as Carrie Rodriguez. His songwriting catalog has reached across pop, rock, and country for more than six decades, making him a quietly influential figure in American popular music.
Early Life and Background
Taylor was born James Wesley Voight on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York, a city just north of New York City. He is the younger brother of actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight, the paternal uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and former actor James Haven, and the son of Elmer Voight and Barbara Voight. Growing up in a family with deep ties to the arts, Taylor attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, alongside his brothers.
After a brief and unsuccessful attempt to follow his father into professional golf, Taylor shifted his focus to music. In 1961, he enrolled at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut, where he studied for one year before committing himself fully to the music business. These formative years in Yonkers and New England gave him both the family grounding and the early discipline that would shape his songwriting voice.
Path to Songwriting
Taylor’s entry into the music industry came through a mix of performing and apprenticeship. He began recording in 1958, releasing singles on the King label and its DeLuxe subsidiary under the name Wes Voight with a group called the Town Three. His earliest releases included “Midnight Blues” and “I Want a Lover” in 1958, followed by additional singles as Wes Voight in 1959, some of which were issued in both mono and stereo, making them among the first stereo singles available.
He transitioned from performing under his birth name to writing and recording as Chip Taylor, scoring his first chart single with “Here I Am” on Warner Bros. Records in 1962. In 1963, he reached the Australian top 40 with “Sandy Sandy” as a member of the Town and Country Brothers. By the mid-1960s, Taylor had begun freelancing with collaborators such as Al Gorgoni, Billy Vera, Ted Daryll, and Jerry Ragovoy, first independently and then as an employee of a New York City music publisher. This period of steady craft work laid the foundation for the string of hits that followed.
Chip Taylor Career
Early Career (1958–1964)
During his earliest years in music, Taylor built a foundation as both a recording artist and an emerging songwriter. His first releases came on King and DeLuxe as Wes Voight with the Town Three, giving him firsthand experience in the studio and on the road. After switching to his stage name, he placed his first chart single, “Here I Am,” on Warner Bros. Records in 1962, and added a top 40 Australian hit with “Sandy Sandy” the following year.
These early recordings were modest in commercial reach, but they established Taylor as a working songwriter with a feel for pop melody. While performing with Al Gorgoni in the duo Just Us, he also began building the network of artists, producers, and publishers who would later record his material.
Breakthrough (1965–1981)
Taylor’s first major success as a songwriter came with “Wild Thing,” which was first recorded by Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones in 1965. The song became a worldwide hit in 1966 when the Troggs released their version, and it gained further fame through Jimi Hendrix’s iconic 1967 live performance of the song. “Wild Thing” has since been covered by the Runaways, the Muppets, and X, among others.
In 1967, Taylor and Al Gorgoni founded Rainy Day Records, distributed by Jubilee Records, which released the single “Night Owl” by a group called the Flying Machine that included a young James Taylor. The same year produced “Angel of the Morning,” which was first recorded by Evie Sands and later became a hit for Merrilee Rush and P. P. Arnold in 1968. A generation later, Juice Newton turned “Angel of the Morning” into a million-selling country-pop single in 1981. Taylor’s catalog of pop and country songs also includes “I Can’t Let Go” (Evie Sands, the Hollies, Linda Ronstadt), “The Baby” (the Hollies), “He Sits at Your Table” (Willie Nelson), “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)” (Lorraine Ellison, Janis Joplin), and “Any Way That You Want Me” (the Troggs, Melanie, American Breed, Juice Newton, and Lita Ford, among others). Shaggy drew on “Angel of the Morning” for his 2001 hit “Angel.”
Notable Works and Milestones
Taylor’s signature songs remain “Wild Thing” (1965) and “Angel of the Morning” (1967), two compositions that have been recorded by dozens of artists across multiple genres. In 2009, Ace Records released the compilation CD Wild Thing: The Songs of Chip Taylor, which gathered some of his best-known compositions as recorded by other performers. Together, these songs represent the most widely recognized achievements of his songwriting career.
Later Career (1993–present)
After a period away from performing that included years of professional blackjack and horse racing gambling, Taylor returned to music in 1993, beginning by singing to his dying mother, Barbara Voight. In 2001, he met singer and violinist Carrie Rodriguez at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, and the two began a productive Americana partnership. Their collaboration produced Let’s Leave This Town (2002), The Trouble With Humans (2003), and the critically acclaimed Red Dog Tracks (2005). Taylor’s double-CD Unglorious Hallelujah/Red Red Rose was described by Sonic Magazine as “a future classic” and “the best we’ve heard from Chip Taylor so far.”
In 2007, Taylor launched his own independent label, Train Wreck Records, expanding his role as a mentor and producer. He has toured and recorded with guitarist John Platania and fiddler Kendel Carson, producing both of their 2007 albums, and he has continued performing with his band The New Ukrainians, whose live sets almost always include “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning.” His 2011 album Yonkers, NY was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package, though it lost to the Black Keys’ album Brothers. In 2012, Norwegian singer Paal Flaata released Wait By the Fire – Songs of Chip Taylor, an album consisting entirely of Taylor’s compositions. Taylor’s song “On the Radio” was also featured in Season 2 of the Netflix series Sex Education.
Chip Taylor Family
Taylor was born into the Voight family of Yonkers, New York, the son of Elmer Voight and Barbara Voight. He is the younger brother of Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight, and he is the paternal uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and former actor James Haven. Taylor attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, alongside his brothers.
He was married to Joan Carole Frey starting in 1964, and together they had children and grandchildren. The couple were temporarily separated for several years beginning in the 1990s before reuniting. Joan Carole Frey died in June 2025.
Personal Life
By Taylor’s own account, he was a successful but unhappy professional gambler on blackjack and horse races in New Jersey from 1980 through 1995. He has spoken openly about the strain that his gambling addiction placed on him and his family, and he has described developing the “Church of the Train Wreck,” a self-help program he created for himself and others after a personal change of heart. Returning to music during this period, he began by singing to his dying mother.
Taylor continues to live in New York City. He and his wife Joan Carole Frey, to whom he was married from 1964 until her death in June 2025, had children and grandchildren together.