Chip Taylor has given us plenty of memorable songs, from "Wild Thing" to "Angel of the Morning," during more than 55 years of songwriting. But with his new album, Whiskey Salesman, the Songwriters Hall of Fame member is giving us sights too -- a video for each of the 11 tracks, including "I Like Riding," premiering exclusively below.
The idea for the visual component of the album came to Taylor while he was working on Whiskey Salesman's title track in Parnell's, his home bar in Manhattan, where he regularly hangs out and watches the Golf Channel while tinkering with his songs. "I was there doing just that and singing along to 'Whiskey Salesman,' and I thought, 'Jeez, wouldn't it be nice if I had a camera here, somebody filming me just singing along?' and you'd get the feel of the bar and the people around it and my friends," Taylor tells Billboard. "I wasn't thinking about a fancy video -- just me sitting at the bar, singing along to my songs."
Taylor wound up recruiting Tom Hayes, a videographer who lives in his apartment building. Together they put together the song videos -- some in Parnell's and some in the apartment where Taylor lives with his wife Joan, as well as some other locations. "These are not typical videos at all, but they're good," Taylor says. "They're so heartfelt. I knew what I had in mind, and I loved doing it so much and did them the way I wanted to do them.” The clip for "Whiskey Salesman" will even be shown at the New Media Film Festival in June in Los Angeles, while "I Like Riding," which will be officially released on April 19, is one of the album's many "love songs for Joan," and documents the couple's fondness for traveling together.