I like the CD "Ultimate...." better because it has my favorite song
on it (Every day I have to cry some). JB2wheeler--- In
arthur_alexander@yahoogroups.com, "nuzzster" <nuzzster@...> wrote:
>
> It's been a bit quiet here lately. Is there life out there? He -
l -
> lo!! Please reply - we don't want Yahoo to axe us.....
>
> Anyway, Acre Records (UK) are re-releasing the Arthur Alexander
> compilation, with new notes (but the same tracks, by the look of
it).
> Here's a copy of the blurb put out by Ace:
> http://www.acerecord.co.uk/content.php?page_id=59&release=829
>
> "Thirteen years ago, I was an employee of the US-based Country Music
> Association, and in Nashville on business. On Sunday 6 June I was
out
> and about at Nashville's sadly now-defunct Summer Lights music
> festival, which occupied several stages spread across several
streets
> and blocks, approximately between the Western edge of the Cumberland
> River and the Ryman Auditorium. I'd noticed that Arthur Alexander
was
> appearing at one of the smaller stages during the early evening, but
> I'd already arranged to meet a work colleague for dinner at roughly
> the time that he was due to hit the stage but I had no way of
> contacting him to blow said dinner off, "cellphones" still being a
> relative rarity in early 90s Music City.
>
> Not to worry, I thought. Arthur's making a comeback, he's just
> released a great new album, "Lonely Just Like Me", and doubtless
there
> will be other opportunities to see him, possibly even back home in
the
> UK – as he's always been popular with us Brits, he's bound to tour
at
> some point. But all the while I was still thinking, "hell, no, you
> should go, it'll be one of those things you can brag to your mates
> about in years to come". Eventually, I decided to head on up to the
> stage where Arthur was due to play, with a plan to check out at
least
> a bit of his 45 minute set before heading off to make my dinner
date.
>
> Once Arthur's show began, I couldn't tear myself away. Here was one
of
> my true soul heroes, appearing in person and singing not ten feet
away
> from where I was standing – a man whose UK 1960s tour I had not been
> able to witness as I was not old enough. Arthur was in wonderful
form,
> mixing songs from his new album with those Dot, Monument, Sound
Stage
> 7 and Warners classics from 30 years previously. At the end of his
> set, he smiled like a man who had just won the lottery and been
> promised a lifetime supply of free beer and sex, all at once. So
did I
> – and the fact that I had just seen the great Arthur Alexander
deliver
> a stormer of a set more than made up for the ear bashing I got from
my
> colleague for turning up for dinner almost an hour later than had
been
> arranged.
>
> The following day, local paper The Tennessean gave Arthur's set the
> glowing write-up it fully deserved. A couple of days later, Arthur
was
> again back in the paper – but sadly, this time in the obituary
column.
> He had dropped dead from a heart attack. How typical of his luck
that
> he should do so at a time when his life was in its most upward curve
> in decades. He's still mourned by his fans who regret the fact that
he
> recorded so infrequently, especially in what should have been his
> prime years as a singer and songwriter.
>
> Happily, his first label, Dot, did record him in the wake of his
> breakthrough hit with what is inarguably the first-ever Southern
soul
> record, You Better Move On. So much so that Ace was able to license
> and released two vinyl albums worth of his Dot sides and to compile
> the best of his Dot repertoire, under the wholly-accurate title of
THE
> GREATEST, as what has now become one of the longest-serving CDs in
the
> Ace catalogue.
>
> After 19 years, the CD's original packaging looked a bit meagre, and
> although Bill Millar's note was still an excellent read, we wanted
to
> bring the story right up to date. Bill didn't have time to do this
for
> us, but kindly asked Alexander's biographer Richard Younger to write
> fresh notes. Both of them contributed by lending photos and
> memorabilia for the package too. Thus it is that October brings a
> refurbished "The Greatest" to catalogue, with the same great music
> it's always contained but with a sparkling new sleeve and booklet
> design that honour Arthur's memory. Even if he'd only written and/or
> recorded You Better Move On and A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues, he would
> still be among the most important artists of his generation. That
his
> repertoire also included such essentials as Anna (Go To Him), Go
Home
> Girl, Soldier Of Love, Where Have You Been (All My Life) and (not
> included here) Every Day I Have To Cry Some merely reinforces that
> statement of fact.
>
> These recordings are not so much a part of deep soul's foundation as
> its corner-stone. If you know them and don't own them, you will need
> no persuasion of further purchase. If you don't know them, you
really
> need to get a shot of Rhythm and Blues, with just a little
rock`n'soul
> on the side, just for good measure. You may never now get the chance
> to see Arthur sing his songs in person, but owning "The Greatest" is
> the next best thing to being there.
>
> By Tony Rounce"
>
> Norman
>