Freddie Waters - One Step Closer to the Blues

Another rerun of an earlier post - this one is for Lazz on a post from Preslives.

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.

 

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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.   

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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.   

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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.

Charles Walker - Number By Heart

Here is another great record made in 2003 by Nashville producer/guitarist Fred James for another fine and distinctive Nashville soul singer, Charles Walker.    There are striking similarities between Charles Walker and Freddie Waters - their backgrounds, their approach to singing, and the tremendous quality of the "comeback" work that they did for Fred James a decade ago.   Listen in particular to the similarity in delivery of “It Tears Me Up.”   That is no accident.  Charles Walker was present, and sang background vocals, at Freddie Waters’ One Step Closer to the Blues" session. 

 

Charles Walker worked the Chitlin’ Circuit for a number of years, and was also based in New York for a while in the 1960s with his band, Little Charles and the Sidewinders.  He recorded as early as 1959, but only managed to release a handful of singles before essentially retiring from music in the 1970s.   He became active again in the 1980s and early 1990s after relocating to Europe, and resumed recording after his return to the States in 1993.   “I’m Available,” recorded for Black Magic, and later re-released as "Leavin’ This Town” on Cannonball Records, announced the presence of a great R&B voice from the shadows. 

Since that time, Charles Walker has been primarily fronting a funk band, the Dynamites, and made several records with this unit.   While some of these records are quite nice, they do not showcase the real talent of Charles Walker, which is Deep Southern Soul.

Enter Fred James.   As was the case with Freddie Waters, Fred James set Charles Walker up with an optimal group of musicians and set of songs for “Number By Heart” for Zane Records.  The result again was magic, timeless and distinctive Southern Soul served up the right way.

Since the release of Number By Heart, I impatiently awaited the the follow-up.  It took seven years, but Fred James finally brought Charles Walker back in the studio again in 2010.  While the result, Soul Stirring Thing, may not quite reach the heights of “Number By Heart,” it is nevertheless a superb release in the same vein.  Those who enjoy “Number By Heart” would be well advised to pick it up.