“Wild Thing” And “Angel Of The Morning” Songwriter Chip Taylor Dead At 86

Chip Taylor, the songwriter best known for "Wild Thing" and "Angel Of The Morning," has died. According to TMZ, the musician passed away yesterday (March 23) in hospice care, and the official cause of death is unclear. He was 86.

James Wesley Voight was born in Yonkers, New York on March 21, 1940. He was the brother of actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight, and the uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven. After failing to become a professional golfer like his father, he went into music.

In 1966, he scored his first big hit when the Troggs' "Wild Thing" took off and was performed live by Jimi Hendrix the following year. It was later covered by the Runaways, the Muppets, and X. "Angel Of The Morning" became a hit for both Merrilee Rush and P. P. Arnold also in 1967. In 1981 it became an even bigger hit for Juice Newton and was also later covered by Chrissie Hynde.

Other songs written by Taylor include Willie Nelson's "He Sits At Your Table," "I Can't Let Go" (Evie Sands, the Hollies, Linda Ronstadt), the Hollies' "The Baby," Johnny Tillotson's "Worry," and Barbara Lewis' "Make Me Belong To You." In 1993 he started recording and performing Americana music, and in 2007 he launched Train Wreck Records.