Sunday 13 June 2021

James Carr born 13 June 1942


 James Edward Carr (June 13, 1942 – January 7, 2001) was an American R&B and soul singer.

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 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. Both Carr and Echoes manager Roosevelt Jamison had been harbouring 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. Carr continued to have chart entries with his later singles on Goldwax, including "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man", but his greatest success and most critically acclaimed performance came in 1967 with his original recording of "The Dark End of the Street", written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman. The song reached number 10 on the R&B chart and number 77 on the pop chart.

Carr continued to record for Goldwax until the label closed in 1969 but failed to reach the same heights with his subsequent releases, though "A Man Needs a Woman" in 1968 reached number 16 on the R&B chart and number 63 on the pop chart, and he recorded an album of the same title. After Goldwax closed down in 1969, he released a single on Atlantic Records in 1971, and another on his manager Roosevelt Jamison's River City label in 1977.

Carr suffered from bipolar disorder for most of his life. This frequently found him unable to deal with the stress of performing and touring, which became most evident during a tour of Japan in 1979 when he froze in front of an audience following an overdose of antidepressants. Despite this he was dubbed "the world's greatest Soul Singer". However, he completed the Japan tour before returning to Memphis. 

Thereafter he lived with his sister but was frequently hospitalized. A resurgence in interest in his music, spurred by his portrayal in Peter Guralnick's 1986 book Sweet Soul Music, helped return Carr to the recording studio, and he was able to complete another album, Take Me to the Limit, for a revived Goldwax label in 1991. He also performed at festivals in the US and Europe, and released another album, Soul Survivor, in 1994.

He was diagnosed with lung cancer in the mid-1990s, and died in a Memphis nursing home in 2001, aged 58

(Edited from All Music & Wikipedia)

5 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “James Carr ‎– The Essential James Carr” (Razor & Tie 1995) go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/13232167/James_Carr_-_The_Essential.rar.html

01. You've Got My Mind Messed Up (2:23)
02. I'm A Fool For You (2:01)
03. You Didn't Know It But You Had Me (2:38)
04. The Dark End Of The Street (2:34)
05. Lovable Girl (2:27)
06. Stronger Than Love (2:27)
07. I Gotta Go (2:24)
08. Love Attack (2:54)
09. You Don't Want Me (2:38)
10. A Man Needs A Woman (2:42)
11. Come Back To Me Baby (2:02)
12. Forgetting You (2:56)
13. Pouring Water On A Drowning Man (2:41)
14. These Ain't Raindrops (2:30)
15. Freedom Train (2:20)
16. What Can I Call My Own? (2:42)
17. I'm Going For Myself Now (2:24)
18. Gonna Send You Back To Georgia (2:14)
19. Let It Happen (2:24)
20. To Love Somebody (3:17)


When the soul era of the mid-'60s was in full bloom, for a period of three years James Carr was the maker of some of its mightiest music. His warm, soulful voice could make the reading of virtually anything he touched (even his version here of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody") a transcendent event. He is also the mystery man of the genre, unlettered and imbued with an almost childlike innocence, disappearing for a decade after these recordings were made with charges of mental instability cropping up whenever his name is mentioned. But music this special doesn't come without a price and certainly Carr paid that price, not unlike the gospel singers who influenced him who sometimes sang themselves to death right on stage. But the music will always win out, because personal problems aside, the music James Carr made is as deep as Southern soul music gets, on an equal par with the best of a Sam Cooke or an Otis Redding. Tracks like "You've Got My Mind Messed Up," "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man" and his masterpiece, "The Dark End of the Street" are all justifiable classics of the genre, and this 20-track collection is where you go to get the big picture on an artist who deserves a much wider hearing. (AllMusic)

A big thank you goes to Denis who suggested today’s birthday singer and also for the loan of the above album.
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Here’s my contribution….

For “James Carr - My Soul Is Satisfied
- The Rest Of James Carr (Kent 2004) ” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/13232173/James_Carr_-_Rest_Of.rar.html

1. Pouring Water On A Drowning Man (Version 2)
2. Love Attack (Version 2)
3. What The World Needs Now Is Love (Complete Version)
4. She's Better Than You (Version 2)
5. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
6. A Woman Is A Man's Best Friend (Alt Mix)
7. A Losing Game (Alt Vocal #2)
8. Row, Row Your Boat (Alt Mix)
9. Hold On
10. I'll Put It To You
11. Let Me Be Right (I Don't Want To Be Wrong)
12. Bring Her Back
13. Hit And Run
14. A Woman's Got The Power
15. Hungry For Your Love
16. It's Sweet On The Backstreet
17. The Dark End Of The Street (2000 Version)
18. I'm Gonna Marry My Mother-in-law
19. That's When The Blues Began
20. Try My Love
21. Jordan River
22. He'll Be There Aka You've Got A Friend
23. My Soul Is Satisfied

My Soul Is Satisfied" covers virtually the entire span of James Carr's recording career, from 1967 to 2000, in a manner that befits the revered status of late great soul man. It features unissued and hard-to-find material from every stage of his career, including some of the best recordings you may have yet to hear.
One or two of the sources are sadly not of the standard that Kent would routinely entertain but James' fans would rather endure a bit of lo-fi here and there than to be deprived of a precious unissued performance.
With this release, at least one version of every traceable James Carr studio recording is now available on an Ace or Kent CD.(Kent notes)

Crab Devil said...

Thank you!

Bob Mac said...

Thanks for these, very nice albums.

Aussie said...

THANK YOU 4 THIS James Carr beautiful and is a shame that he we lost him young.thank you again from Aussie

rntcj said...

Hi!

Thanx for these. Know artist & his Hits but mostly "new" hears here.

Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj