James Carr- "You Gotta Have Soul" / "At the Dark End of the Street"

The story of singer James Carr is just one of the tragic tales of soul music. Born in Coahoma, Mississippi in 1942, James was brought up as the son of a Baptist preacher and sang in many gospel groups. In 1964, at the age of sixteen, he was singing with The Harmony Echoes when songwriter Roosevelt Jamison brought him to the newly formed Goldwax label. Goldwax had only been formed that year by music veteran Quentin Clauch, founding member of the Hi Records label, and Memphis pharmacist Rudolph V. “Doc” Russell who put up much of the capital to get the label going.

James Carr ended up having several hits on Goldwax including the classic “Dark End of the Street”, “You’ve Got My Mind Messed Up”, and “Pouring Water on a Drowning Man”. The tragic portion of Carr’s career is that he was not a mentally stable person. He suffered from heavy bouts of depression, and one time while on tour in Japan he became catatonic onstage from heavy doses of anti-depressants. There have also been tales of producers having to talk James down off the roof of the studio just to get his recordings done.

When Goldwax closed its doors in 1969, it effectively ended the career of James Carr. Several other labels, including Atlantic Records which contracted him for one single 1970‘s “Hold On“, expressed interest in signing him, but his behavior in the studio was so erratic that none of the deals ever stuck. Carr ended up living in a Memphis housing project with his sister through the ‘70’s and ‘80’s with his only output being a 1977 single “Let Me Be Right (I Don’t Want To Be Wrong)” for the River City label. He did attempt one other comeback in 1994 with the record Soul Survivor, but while his voice was as solid as ever, the recording was marred by a dated, synth heavy production.

James Carr’s voice should have landed him in the same echelon of performers as Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, or Otis Redding, but probably due to his mental problems his career never reached those heights. While I want to feature one of my favorite tracks of James Carr today, “You Gotta Have Soul”, I’m also going to include a soul stirring version of “At the Dark End of the Street”. Take time and listen to these, and I think you’ll find that the real tragedy of James Carr is that he has sadly been all but forgotten.

Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters - "A Quiet Place"

Recently I sent in a list of my top 10 songs to a podcast, and when I heard them read back, I immediately knew I'd left off something important. Today, while looking up some videos of Northern Soul songs (which is a whole different can of worms) Garnett Mimms popped up, and I knew what I had missed. The likelyhood is that even if you've never heard Garnet Mimms sing, you've heard one of his songs. First released in 1963, "Cry Baby" was a hit for Mimms and the Enchanters, but it's more common to hear the Janis Joplin version of the song when it pops up in commercials and such. "Cry Baby" is a great song, but it's not the song I'm going to talk about.

I'm not going to run down all of Mr. Mimms biographical stats, but if anyone is interested, there is a great article on Blackcat Rockabilly Europe, and you know that's for real because I couldn't have made up the name of that site if I wanted to. Anyhow, "A Quiet Place" is another song that came off a Carolina Beach music compilation that I got. I've always loved the vibe of the song, and it kicks right off with a lady crying out for, "Johnny, Johnny Dollar". Mimms captures the forlorn spirit of his long suffering and sleepless character, and for me, it always hits the spot when I feel like I want to get away.

It Will Stand by The Showmen

After a recent trip to Memphis, my love of R&B and Soul music has been opened up again, and so I wanted to start this blog in an attempt to spread the word about some of these great songs and groups. I named the site after a song by The Showmen, and so how could I not start out with their hit single from 1961, It Will Stand.

The Showmen were a New Orleans based group that hailed from Norfolk, Virgina, but I know them because of their connection to Carolina Beach music. Both It Will Stand and their single 39-21-40 Shape are classics of the sub-genre. It Will Stand is an anthemic song with a great beat, and I think it about covers the kind and style of music that I'll be talking about here. Of course, anyone who knows my movie blog can tell you that I like a wide variety of films, and my love of music is no different. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the first track.