The Ace Greatest CD has much better sound quality than the Razor & Tie
Ultimate. My favorite Arthur Alexander song, "Where Have You Been(All
My Life)" certainly sounds much stronger and better mixed on the Ace
CD. Just listened to the Searchers version of that song.
--- In arthur_alexander@yahoogroups.com, "jackieb2wh" <jackieb2wh@...>
wrote:
>
> 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
> >
>