O.V. Wright born 9 October 1939

Overton Vertis "O. V." Wright (October 9, 1939 – November 16, 1980) was an American singer who is generally regarded as a blues artist by African-American fans in the Deep South; he is also regarded as one of Southern soul's most authoritative and individual artists. During his career, O.V. Wright achieved three gold records ('You're Gonna Make Me Cry', 'Eight men, Four Women' and 'Ace of Spade').

Wright grew up in Leno, Tennessee, a small town just outside of Memphis. He was somewhat of a child prodigy, performing solos in Church by the time he was six years old. He and his brother joined local Memphis Gospel group The Five Harmonaires, but it wasn't long before O.V. was asked to join the nationally known Sunset Travelers. They recorded for Don Robey's Peacock label in Houston, and O.V. made a few sides with them before returning home to Memphis. He got a job with the Sanitation Department, and sang with both The Jubilee Hummingbirds and The Harmony Echoes every weekend.

It was during this time that he was discovered (along with James Carr) by Roosevelt Jamison, a songwriter and manager. Their first pop recording as O.V. Wright and the Keys in 1964 was "That's How Strong My Love Is," a ballad later covered by Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones. It was issued on Goldwax, the label Wright signed to after leaving his gospel career. It was later determined that Don Robey still had him under a recording contract, due to his gospel group having recorded for Peacock.

                              

When his contract was shifted to Don Robey's Back Beat label, further R&B hits followed. Working with record producer Willie Mitchell, success continued on songs including "Ace of Spades" and "A Nickel and a Nail". Wright's hits were much more popular in the deep South. His biggest hits were "You're Gonna Make Me Cry" (R&B #6, 1965), "Eight Men, Four Women" (R&B #4, 1967) "Ace of Spades" (R&B #11, 1970), "A Nickel and a Nail" (R&B #19, 1971).The remainder of his 17 hits charted no higher than #20 on the R&B chart.

Wright was imprisoned for narcotics offenses during the mid-1970s,after which he released sides in 1975 and 1976 for the ABC label, including ‘What More Can I Do’ b/w ‘Hen Pecked Man’, and ‘Nobody But You’ b/w ‘Slow And Easy’, before relocating to the Hi Records label betwen 1976 and 1979. This led to a series of new album releases, commercial success did not follow his release from incarceration. Wright had open heart surgery in 1979, and the doctors advised him to take it easy, but drug problems took their toll and the end came too early for Overton Vertis Wright. It was in the back of an ambulance en route to a Birmingham hospital after he suffered his third heart attack on November 16, 1980. He was 41 years old.

Johnny Rawls joined Wright's backing band in the mid-1970s, and played together with Wright until the latter's death. The band then continued billed as the O.V. Wright Band for another 13 years, and toured and performed with other musicians over this time span. These included B.B. King, Little Milton, Bobby Bland, Little Johnny Taylor, and Blues Boy Willie.

It was in 2007 on the 27th anniversary of Wright's death, Southern music writer Preston Lauterbach went searching for Wright's grave -- but found there was nothing marking it in the cemetery where he was buried. Wright's widow, Alberta, recalls there was once a small piece of metal with his name. Now, even that was gone. Mr. Lauterbach posted this news on a Southern soul music message board. Red Kelly, a retired Long Island Rail Road conductor (whose blog http://redkelly.blogspot.com was an essential site for vintage soul fans) launched a fund-raising appeal on the Internet. He raised $2,000 from music fans around the world for a headstone.

(Edited from Wikipedia, Red Kelly, Soulwalking & The Wall Street Journal)