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Originally published in MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide,
Gary Graff, Josh Freedom du Lac, and Jim McFarlin (eds.); Visible Ink
Press (Detroit, MI): 1998.
Born Overton Vertis Wright, October 9, 1939, in Leno, TN. Died November
16, 1980, in Mobile, AL.
Let's not mince words: O.V. Wright was the greatest deep-soul singer
ever. By the time he cut his first secular recording, "That's How
Strong My Love Is" for Goldwax Records of Memphis, Tennessee (1964),
Wright was already a well-known and successful gospel singer, having sung
and recorded with gospel groups such as the Spirit of Memphis Quartet
and the Sunset Travelers. Wright is by no means the only artist to abandon
the sanctuary of the church in search of the rewards and temptations of
the secular world. The pop recordings of Sam Cooke, Al Green, Aretha Franklin,
and Johnnie Taylor all make overt or oblique reference to the trauma of
this self-imposed exile. But in the work of no other artist, with the
possible exception of Green, does this exile play so central a role. Wright's
recordings are unmistakably the work of a spiritually troubled man. As
if to underscore the gravity of his choice, Wright's secular recordings,
more than those of any of his peers, cleave faithfully to the style, structure,
and most importantly the feeling and fervor of the deepest and most heartfelt
gospel music. The presence of this theme in all of his strongest performances--"You're
Gonna Make Me Cry," "Eight Men, Four Women," "Everybody
Knows (The River Song)," "Born All Over," "Heartaches,
Heartaches," "Memory Blues"--give them a timeless universality
that places them on a par with the hymns of Mahalia Jackson, the blues
of Robert Johnson, or the country music of Hank Williams.
There were two distinct periods in Wright's 15-year secular career, delineated
by the demise of his first record label, Back Beat, which had been owned
and operated by the don of Houston rhythm and blues, Don Robey. Midway
in his career, Wright migrated to Hi Records, where his longtime producer
Willie Mitchell was the principal talent director. Few artists in any
medium exhibit so huge a gap between artistic quality and commercial success
as O.V. Wright. Wright's two most successful records, "You're Gonna
Make Me Cry" and "Eight Men, Four Women," came early in
his career at Back Beat, and neither recording received any airplay outside
the circumscribed world of 1960s R&B radio. In fact, R&B radio
in the late 1960s, the heyday of southern gospel-inflected soul music,
is the only radio format during the years spanned by Wright's career in
which it is possible to imagine Wright's chilling statements from the
spiritual void finding a home. Wright is an artist whose reputation is
destined to grow with the historical perspective afforded by time.
Willie Mitchell's production values and house musicians (the Hi Rhythm
Section, among others) were essential elements in the brilliance of Wright's
recordings. Mitchell had achieved great commercial and artistic success
helping Al Green craft a new kind of Memphis soul music in the 1970s.
Undoubtedly motivated by the desire to help Wright achieve more of the
success and recognition that he so deserved, Mitchell attempted to adapt
this softer, more melodic sound to Wright's recordings during Wright's
later period at Hi Records. That this sound was not entirely suited to
Wright's unique gifts provides one explanation for the relative superiority
of the Back Beat recordings. Another factor is that, by all accounts,
the O.V. Wright who recorded for Hi was deteriorating from a drug habit
that ultimately claimed his life. A comparison of the photographs from
the BackBeat albums and the later Hi albums provides stark evidence of
his physical deterioration. He died in an ambulance, en route to the hospital,
at the age of 41, consumed by the music that haunted him and the life
that went with it.
Buy first:[The Soul of O. V. Wright] (MCA, 1992, prod.
Willie Mitchell) (5 bones) is the only readily available CD collection
from Wright's Back Beat period. It's not enough, not by a long shot, but
for now, it's the best there is, and it includes most of the essential
recordings. With track time so precious on a single CD that purports to
represent the best of these stirring performances, however, it's hard
to comprehend the inclusion of "Monkey Dog," a throwaway that
is of interest only as Mitchell & Co.'s take on the Bo Diddley beat.
Buy next: The most thorough and high-quality collection
of Wright's Hi material is [That's How Strong My Love Is] (Hi, 1991, prod.
Willie Mitchell) (5 bones).
Avoid: [Four and Twenty Elders], O.V. Wright and
the Luckett Brothers (Creed, 1991, prod. unknown) (2 bones), a half-hearted
attempt late in life by Wright to return to the fold with one of his former
gospel groups. Wright sounds sadly lost and uncommitted, and the music,
while not bad, is nothing special.
The rest:
- [If It's Only for Tonight] (Back Beat, 1965, prod. Willie Mitchell)
(5 bones)
- [Eight Men, Four Women] (MCA, 1967, prod. Willie Mitchell) (5 bones)
- [Nucleus of Soul] (Back Beat, 1968, prod. Willie Mitchell) (5 bones)
- [Memory Blues] (MCA, 1968, prod. Willie Mitchell) (4 1/2 bones)
- [Nickel & a Nail & Ace of Spades) [Back Beat, 1971, prod.
Willie Mitchell) (5 bones)
- [Memphis Unlimited] (Back Beat, 1973, prod. Willie Mitchell) (4 1/2
bones)
- [Into Something (Can't Shake Loose)] (Cream/Hi, 1977, prod. Willie
Mitchell) (4 bones)
- [The Bottom Line] (Hi, 1978, prod. Willie Mitchell) (4 bones)
- [Pledging My Love] (MCA, 1978, prod. Willie Mitchell) (5 bones)
- [We're Still Together] (Hi, 1979, prod. Willie Mitchell) (3 1/2 bones)
- [Gone for Good] (Charly, 1984, prod. Willie Mitchell) (5 bones)
- [Wright Stuff/Live] (Hi, 1987, prod. Willie Mitchell) (4 bones)
- [45's] (Hi, 1995, prod. Willie Mitchell) (4 1/2 bones)
Worth searching for:
- Like Hi labelmate Otis Clay, Wright was revered and appreciated more
in Japan than in the U.S. [The Complete Recorded Works for Back Beat
and ABC Label] (P-Vine, Japanese, 1991, prod. Willie Mitchell) (ABC
distributed Back Beat product briefly during the final years of the
label) is the collection that Wright's talent deserves; unfortunately
it has been out of print for several years.
- [Treasured Moments] (P-Vine, Japanese, prod. Willie Mitchell) is also
now out of print. It included 17 songs originally issued only on Back
Beat 45s.
- [Raisin' the Roof] (Mobile Fidelity, 1992, prod. Various) (4 bones)
is a reissue of the LP [On Jesus' Program] by the Sunset Travelers (Peacock,
1964, prod. Don Robey) (4 bones), along with reissued LPs by Rev. Julius
Cheeks and a post-Claude Jeter version of the Swan Silvertones. The
Sunset Travelers tracks include a couple of lead vocals by Wright.
- Another Wright vocal with the Sunset Travelers can be heard on [Bless
My Bones: Memphis Gospel Radio, The Fifties] (Rounder, 1988, prod. Doug
Seroff) (4 1/2 bones), a fine gospel collection that also includes the
Spirit of Memphis Quartet with Joe Hinton, the Dixie Nightingales (who
became Ollie and the Nightingales when they became a pop group), Queen
C. Anderson and the Brewster Singers, the Brewsteraires, and others.
Grover Blake, musical director of the Sunset Travelers, is quoted in
the liner notes as follows: "When I got O.V., we would let him
sing just one song, and he could just stand straight, wouldn't even
move, just stand. It was such a tremendous voice that when he'd get
to a certain peak in his voice, people couldn't stand it anymore...When
he left the Sunset Travelers he started with Pop. His first record he
cut was a hit in Pop, 'You're Gonna Make Me Cry'...He was a gospel lover.
He would come back in many times and sang with the group when he was
around or wanted to sing with them. But we didn't let him sing on programs,
because people knew he was singing rock and roll, and, you know..."
Influenced by: Rev. R.H. Harris (Soul Stirrers),
Sam Cooke, Rev. Morgan Babb (Radio Four), Rev. Claude Jeter (Swan Silvertones)
Johnnie Taylor, Willie Mae Ford Smith, Johnny Ace, Bobby Bland, Al Green,
Joe Hinton
Influenced: Otis Clay, Robert Cray
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