Nashville is usually associated with Country Music rather
than R&B. Yet quite a number
of fine R&B artists came out of Nashville. Among soul singers, we have Earl
Gaines, Roscoe Shelton, and Charles Walker (the subject of my next post). Freddie Waters may have
been the most distinctive of all the Nashville soul singers, someone who channeled Sam
Cooke through his own unique sound and approach that is recognizable from the first
few notes.
Freddie Waters began his professional career in Nashville as
the lead singer in the Hytones, and was then signed as a solo act by Ref-O-Ree Records. His fine singles for that
label and live shows had enough success on the Chitlin’ Circuit to earn him a
recording session for Stax Records. Unfortunately, his output on Stax was limited to
only one 45: “Groovin’ on My Baby’s Love,” and his career fizzled after that.
Over the next 28 years, Freddie Waters had few other opportunities to record. He cut a few more singles for
the obscure October Records in Nashville, and then made a solid, if rather uneven, album for
TJ Records.
Fortunately, Fred James had enough sense to bring Freddie
Waters into the studio one more time in 2000 , fix him up with a dynamite band,
and produce this beautiful album for Black Magic Records. Two
months after recording One Step Closer to the Blues, Freddie Waters had left
us. For me, this stellar session reaches its absolute apex with the
cover of Percy Sledge’s classic “It Tears Me Up.” It tears ME up
every time I hear it, a true masterpiece and vivid demonstration of the
incredible under-appreciated talent of Freddie Waters.
