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It's All Over: The OKeh Years, Vol. 1
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Barnes and Noble
It's All Over: The OKeh Years, Vol. 1
Current price: $13.99
Barnes and Noble
It's All Over: The OKeh Years, Vol. 1
Current price: $13.99
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Born in Florida, where he was stricken with polio as a young child,
spent his young adulthood in Detroit, where he never let his need for crutches prevent him from performing whenever he could, and by the time
signed him and relocated him to Chicago in the early '60s,
had developed into a thoroughly professional singer with an incredibly controlled and emotive baritone. Placed on
's
subsidiary and given songs to work with from songwriters like the great
,
quickly became the epitome of what was then called big-city
, turning out records marked by strong production, orchestration, horns, and full massed backup vocals. His voice was so strong, however, that it easily became the central anchor in any production he was involved with, and there really is no singer in the history of
or otherwise, quite like
. This wonderful set contains
's complete debut album from 1965,
, with ten bonus tracks added in, and given the quality on display here, it is truly amazing that
didn't enjoy more high chart action than he did. His voice and approach, which really had more in common with singers like
than the
singers of the day, anticipates the so-called
movement by some three decades, and if
singers can be said to croon, well,
invented the technique. The
album was itself cobbled together from whatever singles and B-sides
had on hand when
's version of the title tune,
's gorgeous
went Top Ten on the
charts in 1965, but largely because of
's huge, steady vocals, the album now seems much more unified in concept than it actually was. Not surprisingly, some of the best songs here were written by
, including the aforementioned
the brilliant
and a pair of previously unreleased
gems,
and
It would be unfair to think of
as simply a
interpreter, though, since whatever he sang he made completely his own. Nearly forgotten these days,
is due for a rediscovery, and
seems committed to bringing his complete body of work back into print.
is a great start. ~ Steve Leggett