After our first Song Book compilation post one of the candidates mentioned by a commenter for a follow-up was Arthur Alexander.
In brief, he was a classic soul singer with quite a few ups and downs, his best known song probably being You Better Move On.
Despite a few hits during the 1960s he never really broke through and left the music business for many years. In 1990, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and began to perform again in 1993 due to renewed interest shown in his back catalogue.
His last album, Lonely Just Like Me, was his first in 21 years and received good reviews.
Unfortunately he suffered a fatal heart attack on June 9, 1993, three days after performing there with his new band, what a bummer…
Considering that his songs have been covered by a wide range of artists and groups, from The Beatles and the Stones to Marshall Crenshaw and Nick Lowe, it made a lot of sense.
Even more so considering there’s been no official release showcasing his songs’ impact over the years, only a few newly recorded tribute collections; Adios Amigo: A Tribute To Arthur Alexander (1994), Alan Merrill’s Double Shot Rocks (2003), and Donnie Fritts’ June – A Tribute To Arthur Alexander (2018).
Granted, these 3 albums contain some neat and respectful versions, but our focus here is on covers from the past.
One problem though was that some Arthur Alexander songs that are pretty well known were actually not written by him, he just recorded them first!
As a result classics like A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues and Burning Love are not included, sorry…
Anna (Go To Him, Every Day I Have To Cry, Genie In The Jug, Go Home Girl, If It's Really Got To Be This Way, In The Middle Of It All, Johnny's Heartbreak, Lonely Just Like Me, Sally Sue Brown, Soldier of Love, We're Gonna Hate Ourselves In The Morning, and You Better Move On
Recorded by the following artists:
The Beatles, C. J. Chenier And The Red Hot Louisiana Band, JD Fox & Sunset Travellers, Ry Cooder, Marcia Ball, Nalle & His Crazy Ivans, Arthur Alexander & Ben Vaughn, Nick Lowe, Bob Dylan, Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul, Clifford Curry, The Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, BZN, Dave Berry, The Derailers, Irma Thomas, Otis Redding, Donnie Fritts, Sugar Ray & The Blue Tones, Nursery Rhymes, and The Leaves
Link: https://mega.nz/file/CQ0x0bqb#TvOB0q4i7oyrc1TUhCfz9dUbBwsmu7prIVUnuNbUf40
ReplyDeleteQuestion: What is your favorite Arthur Alexander song/cover?
Tough one to call but i think I'll go for the Dan Penn song inspired by Arthur's life. Rainbow Road.
DeleteExcellent answer, thank you!
DeleteThank you, you put in a sneaky Dutch treat. I think I can do better: Linda van Dyck - You Don't Love Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CobGms5QE9A
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard for that Linda cover, wasn't aware of that one. For everybody else, the 'sneaky' Dutch treat was BZN!
DeleteThank you. I'd been thinking of compiling such an album, and you've saved me the trouble.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it Susan.
DeleteArthur Alexander was one of the artists featured in the American Explorers series, which Koen wrote about here:
ReplyDeletehttps://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/exploring-american-explorer-series.html
Ben Vaughn produced Arthur's album for that series, and the tribute album "Adios Amigo" was a Jon Tiven production. Koen and I wrote about Tiven here:
https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Jon%20Tiven
...and the music goes round and round!
Thanks Jonder for reminding us of these American Explorers posts!
DeleteIn 2001, French label Larsen released a LP compilation of Arthur Alexander covers called A Tribute to Arthur Alexander. 13 Garage Shots of Rhythm and Soul (LZ063). I don't think you mentioned it. Pretty much garage oriented including bands from various locations. I'm not sure if it is still available. Goes like this:
ReplyDeleteFleshtones - Keep her Guessing.
Waistcoats - Anna.
Lolitas - Sally Sue Brown.
Rapiers - You're the Reason.
Mersey Sect - A Shot of Rhythm and Blues.
Montesas - Pretty Girls Everywhere.
Sirens - You Better Move On.
Slow Slushy Boys - The Girl that Radiate that Charm.
Stanlet - Black Night.
Kek 66 - Soldiers of Love.
Neatbeats - Where Have You Been ?
Breadmakers - You Don't Care.
June Alexander - You Got It.
J from Europe.
Thanks J! Quite a surprise this tribute, never heard/read/seen it before anywhere...
DeleteFound it on discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/2272216-Various-A-Tribute-To-Arthur-Alexander
Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteFor me Anna. The first of his tunes I heard and on a Beatle LP. Can't do better than that!
Definitely The Beatles ANNA. John's raspiest vocal since TWIST & SHOUT!
ReplyDeleteClearly Anna is leading!
Delete