James Carrr - The essential Goldwax Recordings

James Carr (June 13, 1942 – January 7, 2001)

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

"One of the greatest pure vocalists that deep Southern soul ever produced, James Carr is often mentioned in the same breath as Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, and Aretha Franklin in terms of the wrenching emotional power in his delivery. Or at least he is by hardcore soul aficionados; despite producing several classic R&B singles and some of the most intense country-soul ever waxed, Carr never achieved the pop crossover success that could have made him a household name, and his material wasn't always as distinctive as that of Stax artists like Redding or Sam & Dave. Ultimately, though, Carr's greatest obstacle was himself: he was plagued for much of his life by severe depression that made pursuit of a career -- or, for that matter, even single recording sessions -- extraordinarily difficult, and derailed his occasional comeback attempts.

James Carr was born June 13, 1942, in Coahoma County, MS, near Clarksdale; his father, a minister, moved the family to Memphis when Carr was very young. Carr began singing in church at age nine, and performed with several area gospel groups in his teenage years, including the Harmony Echoes (though not, as legend had it, the Soul Stirrers). Both Carr and Echoes manager Roosevelt Jamison had been harboring ambitions for careers in secular music, and the two began looking for a solo deal for Carr in 1963. Stax turned him down, but in late 1964 he caught on with Goldwax, a Memphis label started by Quinton Claunch (who'd earlier co-founded Hi Records) that, in its early days, also featured O.V. Wright (with whom Carr had sung in the Redemption Harmonizers). Over the next couple of years, Carr cut several singles that ranged from Motown-ish pop to soul-blues, searching for the best stylistic match for his richly expressive baritone.

Carr finally hit in 1966 with the country-soul ballad "You Got My Mind Messed Up," a Top Ten R&B hit that earned him comparisons to Otis Redding. It kicked off the prime period of Carr's recording career, and among his next few singles was his clear-cut masterpiece "Dark End of the Street." Given a tortuously intense performance by Carr, "Dark End of the Street" was a bleak tale of adultery that marked the first songwriting collaboration between Dan Penn and Chips Moman; although the song was recorded by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Linda Ronstadt, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Carr's original version still stands as definitive. Featuring other hit singles like the Redding-esque "Love Attack" and the exquisite "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man," Carr's 1966 debut LP You Got My Mind Messed Up is also considered a classic by many Southern soul collectors.

Despite Carr's first flush of success on the R&B charts over 1966-1967, things were not looking up. Carr signed on with Phil Walden, Otis Redding's manager, in 1966, but without Roosevelt Jamison around (he'd served as Carr's caretaker just as much as his manager), Carr found himself unable to deal with the stress of touring; he frequently wandered off alone and got lost. By 1968, his mental state had deteriorated greatly, making even recording sessions a challenge. He was able to complete a second LP, 1968's A Man Needs a Woman, but in Muscle Shoals for his last Goldwax session in 1969, he simply sat at the microphone and stared into space, singing only one song (the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody"). Not long afterward, Goldwax went bankrupt; wary of the singer's instability, Capitol rescinded an offer to buy out his contract, and although Carr signed with Atlantic, he released only one single in 1971.

In 1977, Carr released one single on the small River City label, which was run by Roosevelt Jamison. Two years later, he undertook a tour of Japan that started off well; however, at the Tokyo gig, Carr -- apparently having taken too many anti-depressants -- stood motionless at the microphone as though in a hypnotic trance. He returned to Memphis, where he lived with his sister (in between institutionalizations), and spent much of the '80s barely conscious of the world around him. With medication, his condition improved to the point where Jamison and Quinton Claunch cut an album with him in 1991 for a revived Goldwax. The record, Take Me to the Limit, received mixed reviews, although its very existence was an achievement in itself. Carr was even able to return to the road, touring the blues circuits in America and Europe. In 1994, he released another album on Claunch's new Soultrax label, titled Soul Survivor. Unfortunately, Carr was soon diagnosed with lung cancer, and spent several years battling the disease before finally succumbing on January 7, 2001."

Searching for a pair of Z.Z. Hills

 Dr Hepcat and I have managed to assemble all the Z.Z. Hill material except for these two albums - this is a call to our Southern Soul fans to see if we can fill these last 2 holes in his discography. The first is the first Malaco album - the other appears to be his last record on the 601 label.

Lou Johnson - With You In Mind & more

 After the Sweet Southern Soul session and album one might think Jerry Wexler would have kept Lou around, but timing is everything and around this time two factors conspired against Lou. First, Wexler had become dazzled by a new talent named Donnie Hathaway, second Johnson had developed an increasingly problematic heroin habit. I would guess that both were in play in Atlantic dropping Johnson.

Johnson struggled with the habit until 1970 when he moved home to his mother's house in NY to get clean. By 1971 Lou was clean and looking for work, when in the lobby of the CBS building he ran into Allen Toussaint whom he knew from a 1966 session in New Orleans. Once he had confirmed that Lou had put his habit behind him, Toussaint invited Lou down to New Orleans for 30 days that resulted in this album.

I'm guessing that most of you know by now that the SeaSaint band of the time would have included The Meters, the horn section would be Gary Brown and company, the backup singers include Eldridge Holmes and Toussaint....you get it. Oddly enough, the excellent Toussaint penned ballad that is used as the album title, isn't on the album!

Anyway, once the album is finished, Marshall Seahorn deigns to release the album on one of his own labels, but instead sells it to Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter at Stax/Volt. Well okay, they had a better distribution network, but be it intentional or not there was a prejudice against non-homegrown products at Stax and the promotion/distribution teams never really got on board behind the album. The album went predictably nowhere and that was essentially the end of Johnson's solo career.

I am going to tack on here a goody from Kent records that our Shares Ninja patsoul kindly left in the shares - it contains all of Lou's earlier work with Burt Bacharach and his first New Orleans tracks with Toussaint from 1966. Together with the earlier post, this pretty much completes the Lou Johnson story.

Grey Ghost

For those of you who have read the opening  introduction piece here, the name of the Grey Ghost may be vaguely familiar. I was curious to figure out the reference and then suddenly Cliff was chortling about finding this rarity cheap. If you want the full  excellent story and obituary from the Austin Chronicle please visit this link.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/1996-07-26/532322/

Here is the abbreviated version:
" Pianist Roosevelt T. Williams, better known as "Grey Ghost," entertained Central Texas audiences from the 1920s through the 1990s with his jazz-tinged barrelhouse blues. Once called the "Thelonious Monk of Blues," Williams was born Dec. 7, 1903, in Bastrop. Armed with basic musical training as a teen, he used his good ear to absorb African-American, Anglo, Mexican, and Eastern European styles pouring out of area dances and roadhouses. Williams often traveled to and from gigs by slipping onto empty boxcars, which earned him the Grey Ghost appellation. In 1940, folklorist William Owens made a field recording of Grey Ghost singing "Hitler Blues" after hearing him perform at a Navasota skating rink. The song was mentioned in Time magazine and ultimately broadcast over BBC radio in an Alistair Cooke story about the American musical response to World War II. Although the notoriety of "Hitler Blues" did not make Grey Ghost a star, he became a familiar figure in East Austin clubs like the Victory Grill and Fat Green's during their postwar heyday. In 1965, local music historian Tary Owens recorded several Grey Ghost songs, which led to festival appearances alongside Mance Lipscomb and Janis Joplin. After years of relative obscurity, Owens tracked down Grey Ghost again in the mid-Eighties, introducing him to a new generation of blues fans via regular gigs at Antone's and the Continental Club. The city proclaimed Dec. 7, 1987, as Grey Ghost Day, and he was voted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame the following year. Grey Ghost's one eponymous solo album was released in 1992 on Owens' Spindletop label. He also appeared on Catfish's Texas Piano Professors compilation alongside Erbie Bowser and Lavada "Dr. Hepcat" Durst. Grey Ghost passed away on July 17, 1996, at age 92. – Greg Beets

Guitar Slim - Sufferin' Mind

"Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do". It is a song that is listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Slim had a major impact on rock and roll and experimented with distorted overtones on the electric guitar a full decade before Jimi Hendrix.

Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States. His mother died when he was five, and his grandmother raised him, as he spent his teen years in the cotton fields. He spent his free time at the local juke joints and started sitting in as a singer or dancer; he was good enough to be nicknamed "Limber Leg."

After returning from World War II military service, he started playing clubs around New Orleans, Louisiana. Bandleader Willie D. Warren introduced him to the guitar, and he was particularly influenced by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. About 1950 he adopted the stage name 'Guitar Slim' and started becoming known for his wild stage act. He wore bright-colored suits and dyed his hair to match them, had an assistant follow him around the audience with up to 350 feet of cord between amplifier and guitar, and would occasionally get up on his assistant's shoulders, or even take his guitar outside the club and bring traffic to a stop. His sound was just as unusual — he was playing with distorted guitar more than a decade before rock guitarists did the same, and his gospel-influenced vocals were easily identifiable.

Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" (1953) featured an early example of an electric guitar solo with distorted overtones. His first recording session was in 1947, and he had a minor rhythm and blues hit in 1952 with "Feelin' Sad", which Ray Charles covered. His biggest success was "The Things That I Used to Do" (1954). The song, produced by a young Ray Charles, was released on Art Rupe's Specialty Records label. The song spent weeks at number one on the R&B charts and sold over a million copies, soon becoming a blues standard. It also contributed to the development of soul music.

He recorded on a few labels, including Imperial, Bullet, Specialty, and Atco. The recordings made in 1954 and 1955 for Specialty are his best.

His career having faded, Guitar Slim became an alcoholic, and then died of pneumonia in New York City at age 32. Guitar Slim is buried in a small cemetery in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where his manager, Hosea Hill, resided."

Staple Singers - Amen! & Why

The Epic releases were not particularly well represented in the previously offered Staples box so only a few of these songs have been previously offered in our Sunday services. Yet another lovely gift from the Elder Clifford.

The Staple Singers straddled the Sacred and Secular worlds like no group before or since. The enormously influential guitar stylings of Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the 'deep beyond her years' vocals of Mavis Staples, and the exalted harmonies of Pervis and Cleotha Staples created a singular sound that somehow managed to be earthy and soaring at the same time.

1965’s Amen! and 1966’s Why were their second and third albums and the first pair of studio recordings for the Epic Label. Both were produced by Nashville Legend Billy Sherrill. Includes the hit “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)".

Liner Notes by Gene Sculatti, Remastered by Mike Piacentini at Battery Studios in NewYork

CD Debuts for Both Albums

The Faithful Harmonizers - New York Grassroots Gospel

More rare Gospel from Cliff's tape vaults!

The Harmonizers sound is a fascinating mix of the old and the new, drawing from both pre-war and post-war gospel quartet traditions. The close harmonies, strong bass line and syncopated phrasing hearken back to the Jubilee quartets of the 30's. Reverend Vernella Kelly's lead vocals, however, are straight out of post-war hard gospel. Their mix of old and newer material further underscores their blending of traditions.

This group was first formed in the 40's in Queens. The members here are Rev. Vernella Kelly of Sarasota, Fl; bass singer Wilburt Huntly of Monroe, NC; baritone William Ray of Fayetteville, NC; tenors Geneva Ray and Clara Mackay of Sumter, SC.

Charlie Story and His All Stars - New Yok Grassroots Gospel

Another rerun from that old box of tapes long forgotten in Cliff's archives.

This group blends prewar and post-war singing traditions from the South (the members are from Georgia and the Carolinas) but their group was formed in Brooklyn.

I am proud to be able to offer this rare and historic series but there is no doubt that these singers were recorded beyond their vocal primes, yet still they retain a charm for those willing to open their ears.

Here is a link to a fine Opal Louis Nations article about Charlie and the All Stars.

Dan Brantley - Mystery Man

We've explored some pretty obscure guys over the years, but his guy may well take the cake on that score. I have no idea where he is from or what his history might be, I can't even find a single photograph of the man. Usually one can trust good Sir Shambling to uncover something about such guys, but even he was only able to come up with a small discography that is likely incomplete.

So what I HAVE managed are 10 tracks (Dr Hepcat came up with better copies of 3 of them) that reveal a fine voice and similar writing talent (he penned most of his songs), but uneven production and backing. These represent roughly half of his known output so any additions would be much appreciated (don't try pulling Sir Shambling's copies, they have deliberate audio anomalies in them). Any info or a picture would be a blessing as well.

William Bell - This Is Where I Live

"William Bell aces his return to the legendary Stax label with "This Is Where I Live," an excellent album built on the foundations of his songwriting and vocal skills.

In the '60s, Bell performed or wrote a handful of blues and soul classics like "Everyday Will Be A Holiday" and "Born Under A Bad Sign," and he continues to uphold those high standards even on the cusp of age 77.

His clear, smooth tenor lends authority and honesty to the 12 songs produced by John Leventhal, best known for his work with wife Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin. Leventhal plays most of the instruments and co-wrote nearly every song with Bell, proving a sympathetic and inspiring partner. His "no frills, no clichés" approach hits the bullseye.

Bell, who founded his own record label and left Stax in the mid-'70s, sings about his Memphis roots and musical journey on the title track, while "More Rooms" cautions that for a marriage to last, remember that "there's more rooms in a house ... than the bedroom."

Bell's take on "Born Under a Bad Sign," which he wrote with Booker T. Jones, alters the classic guitar riff and is more a weary lament than a complaint. "Poison in the Well" is sung by a victim of love over a Robert Cray-style groove, and the second line from the refrain of "All the Things You Can't Remember" is "I'm still trying to forget."

After a fallow decade, "This Is Where I Live" proves that in the right company Bell is still an enduring source of brilliance." By Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Jimmy Hall & The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Collective - Build Your Own Fire (An Eddie Hinton Tribute)

By Jim Santella, AllAboutJazz

"This down-to-earth blues album by Jimmy Hall and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Collective comes as a tribute to an unsung member of the southern blues community. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Eddie Hinton (1944-1995) was one of those guys who held genius in the palm of his hand but couldn't handle it in the end. We've known other jazz and blues artists who followed a similar course. It's always tough on those who were close to the center of it all. When Hinton passed on at age 51, he left behind many compositions and recordings to remember him by. Some of those compositions, however, had fallen by the wayside. This album brings eleven of Hinton's songs to life with southern-fried blues passion.

With Build Your Own Fire, Jimmy Hall and this selected band of blues regulars resurrects that music with flair. There's plenty of heart to go around. Vocals, harmonica, guitars, organ, bass and drums come together in contemporary blues band fashion to make things happen.

Hall delivers with authority. He's got the genuine spirit to move people in ways that the blues has always intended. His soulful reading of these songs, coupled with complementary asides from the band, keep that flame alive. "Build Your Own Fire burns with a blues/rock backbeat that centers on Hall's extended lyric message. Unlike most blues tales of woe and sorrow, this one uplifts with a message that encourages us to get back on track, make your own way in the world, and make sure that positive things happen to you.

Elsewhere, the album attempts to allay our fears and ease our difficulties by tellin' stories that relate to our everyday lives. Hall's soulful voice and blues harp put the message right there in our laps. He's a comfort to all, and a beacon of strength for blues lovers the world over."

Track Listing: Still Want to Be Your Man; Salty; Here I Am; Poor Old Me; Coming After You; Cover Me; Build Your Own Fire; It's All Wrong; Watchdog; What Will I Do Without You; I Found a True Love; Coming After You (bonus track); Salty (bonus track); interview by David Hood on Eddie Hinton.
Personnel: Jimmy Hall: vocals, harmonicas; Clayton Ivey: keyboards; Larry Byrom: guitars; Greg Martin: guitars; David Hood: bass; Jonathan Dees: drums; Delbert McClinton: vocal (1); Kira Small: vocals (2, 12), Bruce Dees: vocal (3).

Eddie Hinton - Live at Rosa's Cantina 1979

Dr HepCat brings us another chapter in our Eddie Hinton saga - a live set from Atlanta with the band The Nighthawks. This was recorded in 1979 and includes some killer covers of great songs from Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett.

Huey 'Piano' Smith - Don't You Just Know Know It

Yep - it's a new Huey collection from our fave Unky - 4 extra tracks compared to the previously posted Westside version and slightly better sound!

more EDDIE HINTON

Nothing useful to add to KC's previous biographical sketch. I had never heard of the dude before (although obviously I must have heard him playing on some of our favourite Southern Soul classics) but I am knocked side-ways by the surprise of discovery.

There are a couple of "best of" collections out there - pulled together, it says here, from a total of eight albums. And thus my current quest is to track them all down.

"Dear Y'All" is evidently only Volume 1 of the maybe retrospectively conceived and packaged "Songwriting Sessions".   There is also Volume 2 - "Playin' Around" - out there beyond my reach somewhere.

This one here - "Beautiful Dream" - is Volume 3.

The other little treasure is an unreleased early project made in collaboration with Jim Coleman (his story is included inside the package).


These shares are the result of serious scavenging from other original posters somewhere else - I pretend no credit for ripping 'em, just for audacious jackdaw-like thievery and a wish to share the benefit.


The Songwriting Sessions Volume 3 - "Beautiful Dream" MP3 @ 320

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9r7raymo7o8zunz/Songwriting_Sessions_Volume_3_-_Beautiful_Dream.7z

The Coleman-Hinton Project - "Lost and Found" MP3 @ 320
http://www.mediafire.com/download/24b0fbq4wgh5hgj/Coleman-Hinton_Project_-_Lost_And_Found_%281969-71%29.7z