Arthur Alexander
Wikimp3 information about the music of Arthur Alexander. On our website we have 22 albums and 56 collections of artist Arthur Alexander. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Arthur Alexander represents Soul genres.
Biography
[Edit]Although his songs were covered by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley, country-soul pioneer Arthur Alexander remains largely unknown to the general listening audience — nevertheless, his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his contemporaries. Born May 10, 1940, in Florence, AL, Alexander was the son of a bottleneck blues guitarist who performed each Saturday night in the blues joints scattered throughout the region. Rooted as much in white country music as black R&B, Alexander was still in the sixth grade when he joined a gospel group dubbed the Heartstrings. After high school, he worked as a hotel bellhop, befriending Tom Stafford, an R&B-obsessed white kid who fancied himself a lyricist — Alexander began adding melodies to his words, and through Stafford was introduced to a likeminded crowd of fledgling musicians including future legends Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Billy Sherrill, and Rick Hall. In 1958 Alexander partnered with Henry Lee Bennett to write "She Wanna Rock," which Stafford then sold to Decca Records; country singer Arnie Derksen recorded the song a year later, and in 1960 Alexander made his solo debut for Judd Records with the gritty blues number "Sally Sue Brown," written and produced with Stafford and credited to June (short for "Junior") Alexander.
During the summer of 1961, Alexander and Hall crossed the Tennessee River to build a recording studio in the town of Muscle Shoals, transforming an abandoned tobacco warehouse into one of the most fabled facilities in popular music history. The first record incubated within Muscle Shoals was Alexander's 1962 classic "You Better Move On." The product of the singer's roots in both country and R&B, its earthy, backwoods flavor anticipated the deep soul popularized by Memphis labels like Stax and Hi, reaching number 24 on the national pop charts following its release on Dot Records. Later covered by the Rolling Stones, "You Better Move On" earned Hall enough money to begin work on a new Muscle Shoals Studio, but the deal with Dot effectively halted his collaboration with Alexander, who arguably never reached the same heights again. Dot producer Noel Ball next assigned the singer the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil composition "Where Have You Been All My Life," which barely scraped the Top 60. Worse, the label buried the Alexander original "Soldier of Love" on the flip side. But his third Dot effort, the self-penned "Anna (Go to Him)," was a Top Ten R&B smash and was later covered by avowed fans the Beatles, who also recorded "Soldier of Love."
Although singer Steve Alaimo enjoyed considerable success in 1963 with the Alexander-penned "Every Day I Have to Cry," Alexander himself struggled to deliver a follow-up — "Go Home Girl" couldn't even crack the Hot 100, and after a series of little-heard singles such as "You're the Reason," "Ole John Amos," and "Detroit City," Dot terminated his contract in early 1965. Alexander soon resurfaced on the Sound Stage 7 label with "(Baby) For You," but after "Show Me the Road" a year later, he did not release a new record until 1968's "I Need You Baby." Accounts vary as to the circumstances dictating Alexander's fade from recording and touring at this time — he later admitted to suffering a long and debilitating illness, and there were rumors he became something of an acid casualty well before psychedelia blossomed in full. Sound Stage 7 issued a single a year for the remainder of the decade — "Love's Where Life Begins" in 1968, "Another Place, Another Time" in 1969, and "Cry Like a Baby" in 1970 — but otherwise he was almost completely absent from music for the latter half of the 1960s, albeit reportedly cutting a session for ABC/Dunhill that remains unreleased.
In 1971 Alexander resurfaced as a staff songwriter at Nashville-based Combine Music, working alongside the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Billy Swan, Tony Joe White, and Donnie Fritts. Combine executives soon orchestrated a recording deal with Warner Bros., and he entered Chips Moman's renowned American Studio in Memphis to record his first LP in a decade, a self-titled affair highlighted by readings of Dennis Linde's "Burning Love" (later a smash for Elvis Presley) and the Penn/Fritts collaboration "Rainbow Road," as plaintive and beautiful a record as Alexander ever made. Neither the album nor its accompanying singles made any noticeable commercial impact, however, and he soon exited Warner Bros., finally giving up on Nashville three years later and returning home to Florence. There he signed to Buddah, going back to Muscle Shoals to cut his own rendition of "Every Day I Have to Cry," a minor hit that would prove his final commercial success of note. "Sharing the Night With You" appeared the year following, and after one last effort for Music Mill, the aptly titled "So Long Baby," Alexander quit the music business altogether, driving a social services bus for a living. Elektra/Nonesuch coaxed him out of retirement to make a comeback album, 1993's Lonely Just Like Me, but while on tour in support of the record he fell ill, passing away in Nashville on June 13, 1993.
Title: Rainbow Road: The Warner Bros. Recordings
Artist: Arthur Alexander
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Country
Title: The Best of Arthur Alexander
Artist: Arthur Alexander
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Country, Funk
Title: You Better Move On: His Impressive 1962 Debut Album (Bonus Track Version)
Artist: Arthur Alexander
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Fabulous Songs Of '62, Vol. 2 - 50 Original Recordings
Artist: Shirley Bassey, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Etta James, James Brown, Paul Anka, Dean Martin, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Mary Wells, Ben E. King, Del Shannon, Bruce Channel, Carole King, Sam Cooke, Clyde McPhatter, Joey Dee, Ketty Lester, Solomon Burke, Arthur Alexander, Jimmy McGriff, King Curtis, Chuck Jackson, Esther Phillips, Gary U. S. Bonds, The Falcons, The Starlighters, The Mar - Keys, The Contours, Claudine Clark, Bent Fabric, The Drifters, Smokey Robinson, Bobby Bland, Charlie Gracie, Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Ford, The Noble Knights, Barbara George, Larry Finnegan, The Sensations, Frank Sinatra, The John Barry Orchestra, Jerry Wallace, Dennis Turner, The Miracles, The Cookies, The Marvelettes, The Crystals, Stan Getz, Don Gardner, The A. F. O. Studio Combo, Vocal Accompaniment The Love-Tones, Band Ohio Untouchables
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Jazz, Pop
Collections
Title: Chills & Fever - The Dot Records Story (CD1)
Genre: Rock & Roll, Rockabilly, Pop
Title: Chills & Fever - The Dot Records Story (CD2)
Genre: Rock & Roll, Rockabilly, Pop
Title: Chills & Fever - The Dot Records Story (CD3)
Genre: Rock & Roll, Rockabilly, Pop
Title: Beat Of The Pops Vol. 31
Genre: Rock & Roll, Pop
Title: Soul Sounds Of The 60's (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Pop
Title: Slip & Slide Blues Vol. 1
Genre: Blues
Title: MOD The New Religion
Title: Try A Little Tenderness
Title: Various Artists - The Muscle Shoals Sound
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: Covered By The Beatles Volume 1
Genre: Rock, Rock & Roll, Pop
Title: Cruisin' In The 60's (CD3)
Title: Mojo Presents: Songs The Beatles Taught Us
Genre: Rock & Roll
Title: Where Southern Soul Began: 3 1957-1963 (CD2)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Sweet Soul Music 63
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Gospel, Funk
Title: Sweet Soul Music: Voices From The Shadows
Genre: Soul
Title: Essential Alabama Blues
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Blues
Title: A Soul Awakening From Sacred To Secular (CD3)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: The Whole Burbank Catalog (CD1)
Genre: Rock, Blues Rock, Folk Rock
Title: Soul For Dancers 2 Out On The Floor Firecrackers (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Country
Title: Please Relase Me - The Soulful Side Of Country
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Country, Pop
Title: The Many Faces Of The Beatles (CD3)
Genre: Rock & Roll, Rockabilly, Pop
Title: Mod Music - Ska, Soul, Blues & Jazz
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Jazz
Title: RandB Masters Vol. 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: The Songs That Got Them Started (CD1)
Genre: Rock & Roll, Pop
Title: Soul Vibration 75 Original All-Time Classics (CD3)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: The Best Of Soul Album 6 1953-1962
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: 100 Northern Soul Classics (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Funk
Title: The History Of Rhythm And Blues 1957-1962 (CD3)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Jazz
Title: 100 Hits The Blues (CD4)
Genre: Blues
Title: Die Slow Van Toen Vol. 8 (CD1)
Genre: Rock, Pop, Easy Listening
Title: American Soul Connexion (1954-1962) (CD2)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: American Soul Connexion (1954-1962) (CD3)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: These Arms Of Mine - The Birth Of Southern Soul (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Rhythm & Soul 100 (CD2)
Title: The Soul Of The Memphis Boys 2020
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Funk
Title: Rhythm 'n' Blues Remasters (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Deep Rhythm & Blues (All Tracks Remastered)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Featuring albums
Title: Muscle Shoals Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: The Bottom Line Archive: In Their Own Words, Vol. 1 (Live)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Songwriter/Lyricist