All-star tribute to legendary country soul singer-songwriter
When country soul singer-songwriter Arthur Alexander passed away in 1993 at the age of 53, he was in the middle of a comeback that finally saw him recognized and rewarded for his songwriting genius and the heartbreaking quality of his performances. His last album, Lonely Just Like Me, his first in over two decades, rang as true as anything he’d recorded previously, and was followed the next year by this multi-artist tribute. Alexander’s songs had long been a favorite of top-flight artists, with formative covers by the Beatles and Rolling Stones giving Alexander early crossover exposure. But the artists gathered for this seventeen-track set weren’t just looking for good material to foster their own burgeoning careers, they were acknowledging their debt to Alexander as a songwriter and artist.
The original rockabilly filly heats up her final session
If you’re going to cut a rock ‘n’ roll record – a real rock ‘n’ roll record – dropping eleven tracks in two days is the way to do it. Get everyone in a room, run ‘em through the songs once or twice and let it fly. It doesn’t need polish and pitch correction, it needs abandon and raw energy, and rockabilly singer Janis Martin had the latter two in spades. Recorded only a few months before she passed away, these sides find Martin’s voice deeper than her late ‘50s work as “the female Elvis,” and though she no longer had the tone of youth, she still had the fire. Longtime friend Rosie Flores (who’d coaxed Martin into the studio to sing on 1995’s Rockabilly Filly) pulled together a talented band of Austin-based musicians and produced this album of retro-rockabilly in 2007. It’s taken five years to get it released, but it was well worth the wait.
At the age of sixteen, R&B vocalist Edna McGriff scored a hit with only her second single, 1952’s “Heavenly Father.” But despite more solid outings on a half-dozen labels, she never again found true commercial success. Bear Family’s twenty-nine track anthology picks up the story in 1954 and winds through a multi-year tenure on Bell with backings from the Jimmy Carroll Orchestra, and one-offs for Brunswick, Felsted and Savoy. She and her producers ranged widely for material, covering many hits-of-the-day, including R&B, pop (The Chordette’s “Born to Be With You” and Sal Mineo’s “Start Movin’ in My Direction”), rockabilly (Lee Hazlewood’s “The Fool”), spirituals (“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”), folk revival favorites (“Freight Train”) and a trio of tunes from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song.
Though she was a sophisticated balladeer, her R&B numbers generate the most heat and vocal distinction. She hadn’t the bluesy grit of either Ruth Brown or Lavern Baker, but her energy really moves the former’s “Mambo Baby” and the latter’s “I Can’t Love You Enough.” At times she’s more kittenish, as on covers of “Sh-Boom” and “Dance with Me, Henry,” though, to be fair, even Etta James waited until 1958 to really hot-up the latter tune. McGriff could rock a bit, as she does on the clever multi-voiced, guitar-driven “Oh Joe!” She was a precise vocalist, and her control worked well on ballads, where the tremolo in her held notes added emotion. On rock ‘n’ roll tunes, such as the Bobettes’ “Mr. Lee,” her excellent diction feels at odds the song’s youthful exuberance.
Joan Osborne’s 1995 smash, “One of Us,” may be the best thing that ever happened to her commercial fortunes, but her inability to follow-up its chart-topping success is more likely the best thing that ever happened to her artistry. In the wake of the triple-platinum Relish, Osborne receded into touring, social activism, musical study and guest appearances, taking five years to issue a follow-up that couldn’t possibly repeat the success of her major label debut. But in failing to sell millions of copies, Righteous Love freed Osborne from the expectations of another lightning strike, and set her on a path led by musical muses. She explored classic and original soul, recorded country and Americana, and even reunited with the team that had produced Relish.
Her first set of soul covers, 2002’s How Sweet It Is, featured modern production that was at odds with the material’s grit. Her second set, 2007’s Breakfast in Bed, is the more direct antecedent to this new album, with funkier arrangements that seem to have been inspired by her terrific appearance in Standing in the Shadows of Motown. For her latest set of covers, Osborne’s picked songs in which she hears the blues, going beyond the standard I-IV-V to find songs that connect to the emotion. It’s a diverse set, ranging from blues standards popularized by Sonny Boy Williamson, John Mayall, Muddy Waters and Slim Harpo to soul sides from Ray Charles, Ike & Tina, Betty Wright, Bill Withers, Otis Redding and Al Green.
The album breaks from the gate in full stride with a propulsive version of Ashford and Simpson’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor” that heats up Ray Charles’ 1966 original. Drummer Aaron Comess and bassist Richard Hammond lay down a wickedly funky bottom end punctuated by Chris Karlic’s baritone sax, and the Holmes Brothers’ backing vocals push Osborne to great heights of protest. Osborne’s equally effective singing low and seductive, taking the band with her on Muddy Waters’ “I Want to Be Loved.” The song list features some deep singles, including Olive Brown’s R&B “Roll Like a Big Wheel,” and album tracks such as John Mayall’s solo “Broken Wings.”
Some of the better known tunes accrue layers from multiple earlier covers, such as how Willie Dixon’s “Bring it on Home” picks up notes from both Sonny Boy Williamson’s original and Led Zeppelin’s more lascivious cover, and James Moore’s “Shake Your Hips” picks up from Slim Harpo’s original and the Rolling Stones’ well-known remake. Others are sung in straightforward tribute to the originals, such as Betty Wright’s “Shoorah! Shoorah!” (with songwriter Allen Toussaint pitching in on piano), and at least one, “I’m Qualified,” keys entirely off a soul cover (by Clarence Carter) rather than the R&B original (by Jimmy Hughes).
Ray Charles live in 1961 at the height of his powers
1961 was a banner year for Ray Charles. The crossover seeds he’d sewn with Atlantic on 1959’s The Genius of Ray Charles had led him to bigger bands and orchestras and a contract with ABC. In 1960 he’d notched his first #1 on the pop chart with a cover of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind,” and by 1961 the demand for his concert appearances finally brought him to Europe, where he headlined the second-annual Antibes Jazz Festival in southeastern France. Charles performed four dates with the classic lineup of his octet, featuring Hank Crawford (alto sax), David “Fathead” Newman (tenor sax and flute), Leroy Cooper (baritone sax), Phillip Guilbeau (trumpet), John Hunt (trumpet), Edgar Willis (bass), Bruno Carr (drums) and the Raelettes (Gwen Berry, Margie Hendrix, Pat Lyles and Darlene McCrea).
The two full dates captured here – July 18th and 22nd – split their set lists between earlier titles recorded for Atlantic and then recent sides for ABC. The two sets repeat a few titles (“Let the Good Times Roll,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Sticks and Stones” and crowd-rousing versions of Charles’ first crossover hit, “What’d I Say”), but also add unique titles, including a swinging take of Charles then-current Latin-rhythm single “One Mint Julep” a celebratory performance of “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” (with Newman stepping to the front for a short solo), and a cover of Nat King Cole’s “With You On My Mind.” The band’s instrumental tunes give Charles an opportunity to show off his considerable talent as a pianist, and the fluidity with which the shows move between jazz, blues, R&B, gospel and pop is mesmerizing.
Originally released by Capitol in 1994 as a limited edition 2-CD set, this 52-track collection is now rescued from the high-prices of the secondary market with an affordable MP3 reissue. Minit Records was established in the early ‘60s in New Orleans by Joe Banashak, and distributed by Imperial. Minit was acquired by Imperial in 1963, but many of the label’s key sides and all of its biggest chart hits, starting with Jessie Hill’s “Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Part 2” and peaking with Ernie K-Doe’s chart-topping “Mother-in-Law,” came before the acquisition, and more importantly, before the departure of the label’s key asset: Allen Toussaint.
Toussaint had made a name for himself in New Orleans music circles as a teenager, and in a fortuitous reassignment of duties at Minit he started scouting new acts and then writing, producing and playing on their records. He infused each production with an irresistible dollop of New Orleans soul that made his records stand out from those produced on the coasts or in hot-spots like Chicago or Memphis. Toussaint is responsible for some of the labels greatest sides, including Benny Spellman’s “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette),” and its oft-covered flip, “Fortune Teller,” Aaron Neville’s “Over You,” Irma Thomas’ “Ruler of My Heart” and Ernie K-Doe’s “Mother-in-Law.”
Following Toussaint’s departure, the label continued to produce interesting records throughout the 1960s, as showcased on the second disc of this set. The label turned from the New Orleans style of its early singles to soul sounds influenced by Stax (especially its post-Atlantic work), Muscle Shoals and Motown. The results weren’t often as unique, but several singles scored on the R&B chart, and a few crossed over to pop success. Here you’ll find Ike & Tina Turner’s horn-driven soul cover of “I Wish it Would Rain,” electric boogaloo “I Wanna Jump,” and a gritty take on “Come Together,” Bobby Womack’s minor hit cover of “California Dreamin’,” Clydie King’s exuberant “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” and pre-Philly sides by the O’Jays.
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Irma Thomas’ lost early-70s soul sides
