Track listing
Show track credits
- 1 If It's Really Got to Be This Way
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
organ
-
electric piano
-
piano
-
drums
-
pedal steel
-
saxophone
-
- 2 Go Home Girl
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
piano
-
maracas
-
cowbell, background vocals
-
drums
-
pedal steel
-
saxophone
-
acoustic guitar, background vocals
-
background vocals
-
- 3 Sally Sue Brown
-
guitar
-
piano
-
maracas, claves
-
tambourine
-
drums
-
acoustic guitar
-
- 4 Mr. John
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
organ
-
piano
-
background vocals, electric piano
-
drums
-
pedal steel
-
saxophone
-
acoustic guitar, background vocals
-
electric guitar
-
- 5 Lonely Just Like Me
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
drums
-
acoustic guitar
-
- 6 Every Day I Have to Cry
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
piano
-
tambourine
-
organ
-
drums
-
saxophone
-
acoustic guitar
-
- 7 In the Middle of It All
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
piano
-
organ
-
drums
-
pedal steel
-
- 8 Genie in the Jug
-
guitar
-
piano
-
maracas, claves
-
tambourine
-
drums
-
acoustic guitar, background vocals
-
electric guitar, tambourine
-
- 9 Johnny Heartbreak
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
piano
-
maracas
-
organ
-
drums
-
pedal steel
-
saxophone
-
acoustic guitar
-
- 10 All the Time
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piano
-
organ
-
- 11 There Is a Road
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
organ
-
tambourine
-
piano
-
drums
-
saxophone
-
acoustic guitar
-
- 12 I Believe in Miracles
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
organ
-
electric piano
-
drums
-
pedal steel
-
acoustic guitar
-
background vocals
-
Rate/Catalog
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Review
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2 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter Deluxe Edition, Digipak
4 Reviews
By the time Arthur Alexander cut this comeback release in 1993 he'd been out of the limelight for nearly 15 years. Thirty years earlier he'd authored songs that stoked the imaginations of The Beatles ("Anna"), Rolling Stones ("You Better Move On") and others. Better yet, his southern soul recording of the latter was the first song ever waxed at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio. His seminal early sides were followed by terrific outings for Monument and Warner Brothers throughout the '60s and '70s, but he never garnered the commercial rewards his artistry deserved. By the end of the '70s, feeling unrewarded and ripped off by the publishers and record labels, Alexander retired from music industry to work with disadvantaged children.
Ironically, it was the same music industry, in the form of A&R executive Danny Kahn, that coaxed Alexander back into the studio. Having spied a rare Alexander performance at New York's Bottom Line in 1992 (represented here by a live take of "Anna"), Kahn signed him to the Nonesuch label and dispatched artist Ben Vaughn to produce an album in Nashville. Stars have rarely aligned so well for a comeback effort. Alexander's new songs were as striking as the originals he re-recorded, and his voice, lightly deepened and weathered by age was even more soulful than thirty years earlier. Original accompanists (plus a few younger players) provided brilliant backings for every track, and Vaughn's production removed the original '60s gloss to focus squarely on Alexander's voice and songs.
Vaughn wrote, "If heartbreak had a sound, it was this voice," and Alexander's final LP drove home the point. The early single "Sally Sue Brown" was reworked as an acoustic blues that loaded its signature guitar lick up front. The teary mid-70s "Every Day I Have to Cry Some" was given a bittersweet southern soul treatment of moody horns and a strong backbeat, with Alexander defiant and defeated at the same time. "If It's Really Got to be This Way" is stalwart in the face of loss, "Genie in the Jug" salves a wounded heart, and the gospel-styled "All the Time" laments a mortally wounded heart. The album's few lighter notes are the closing "There is a Road," and the faithful "I Believe in Miracles."
Originally released in 1993, the album was well received, and Alexander found himself in demand for interviews and performances. Hacktone's reissue augments the original dozen tracks with four live performances from NPR's "Fresh Air," together with interview segments that find Alexander gracious, happy to be performing, and seemingly at peace with the poor treatment he'd received the first time around. Four recordings captured by Ben Vaughn on a cassette recorder in a hotel room (including a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man") show Alexander compelling in just about any circumstance.
Sadly, just as Alexander's revival was gaining momentum he was felled by a heart attack only three months after the album's release, passing away days after a concert in Nashville. This musical epitaph deftly tells the final chapter of Alexander's career, from the artistic success of his comeback to the critical and commercial recognition that followed. This is an essential for all those who love southern soul and want to spend some quality time with the sound of heartbreak. [©2007 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]
Ironically, it was the same music industry, in the form of A&R executive Danny Kahn, that coaxed Alexander back into the studio. Having spied a rare Alexander performance at New York's Bottom Line in 1992 (represented here by a live take of "Anna"), Kahn signed him to the Nonesuch label and dispatched artist Ben Vaughn to produce an album in Nashville. Stars have rarely aligned so well for a comeback effort. Alexander's new songs were as striking as the originals he re-recorded, and his voice, lightly deepened and weathered by age was even more soulful than thirty years earlier. Original accompanists (plus a few younger players) provided brilliant backings for every track, and Vaughn's production removed the original '60s gloss to focus squarely on Alexander's voice and songs.
Vaughn wrote, "If heartbreak had a sound, it was this voice," and Alexander's final LP drove home the point. The early single "Sally Sue Brown" was reworked as an acoustic blues that loaded its signature guitar lick up front. The teary mid-70s "Every Day I Have to Cry Some" was given a bittersweet southern soul treatment of moody horns and a strong backbeat, with Alexander defiant and defeated at the same time. "If It's Really Got to be This Way" is stalwart in the face of loss, "Genie in the Jug" salves a wounded heart, and the gospel-styled "All the Time" laments a mortally wounded heart. The album's few lighter notes are the closing "There is a Road," and the faithful "I Believe in Miracles."
Originally released in 1993, the album was well received, and Alexander found himself in demand for interviews and performances. Hacktone's reissue augments the original dozen tracks with four live performances from NPR's "Fresh Air," together with interview segments that find Alexander gracious, happy to be performing, and seemingly at peace with the poor treatment he'd received the first time around. Four recordings captured by Ben Vaughn on a cassette recorder in a hotel room (including a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man") show Alexander compelling in just about any circumstance.
Sadly, just as Alexander's revival was gaining momentum he was felled by a heart attack only three months after the album's release, passing away days after a concert in Nashville. This musical epitaph deftly tells the final chapter of Alexander's career, from the artistic success of his comeback to the critical and commercial recognition that followed. This is an essential for all those who love southern soul and want to spend some quality time with the sound of heartbreak. [©2007 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]
Published
R2 271932 CD (2007)
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Wonderful blend of sweet southern soul and country oriented ballads
Published
The type of album that very few could pull off and make mildly interesting.
However time, age and authenticity can not simply be made up or bought.
It is interesting how talent or craftsmanship relates = in no way to success or recognition. Not to say that this is the album to end all albums but Alexander has an impressive delivery that is both smooth & understated, something R&B crooners could take note of so as not to sound so corny like the nu school has a hard time trying not to do.
isn't it interesting that more often than not it is the blue collar worker who turns out to have more to offer society than the seemingly uninspired glitter of celebrated elitism...
long fashioned & groomed by the courtyards & hallways of those devinely inspired // it can sometimes be overlooked like the deliberately slow process that shape our landscapes...
surrealists ridiculed them...
modernists attempted to expose them.....
yet the game is still played as long as money, capitalism & corporations persist, only the coat of arms has changed to logos....
none of these things matter now, truly...
distribution is a non-issue, things of importance can now be had by those with a willingness to search them out...
& certain items are no longer out of reach for those unwilling to pay collector's fees...
it is relevant and critical to understand that African American bluesmen & later (Rock'N Roll) artists handed down a tradition of dealing with topics that were seen as inappropriate or too suggestive for "white america", & moreso for radio play & so on ... so with their works are realized a greater sense of honesty & earthiness than the pop & rock acts of a paler complexion...
For Arthur Alexander.... voice trumps articulation ... as cliche & moderation sometimes triumph over expression...
but maybe in this sequel a return to the earthy roots that defines blues could have been traded for aesthetic, but it seems that snap-shotting the past was the supreme ideal ... ++
However time, age and authenticity can not simply be made up or bought.
It is interesting how talent or craftsmanship relates = in no way to success or recognition. Not to say that this is the album to end all albums but Alexander has an impressive delivery that is both smooth & understated, something R&B crooners could take note of so as not to sound so corny like the nu school has a hard time trying not to do.
isn't it interesting that more often than not it is the blue collar worker who turns out to have more to offer society than the seemingly uninspired glitter of celebrated elitism...
long fashioned & groomed by the courtyards & hallways of those devinely inspired // it can sometimes be overlooked like the deliberately slow process that shape our landscapes...
surrealists ridiculed them...
modernists attempted to expose them.....
yet the game is still played as long as money, capitalism & corporations persist, only the coat of arms has changed to logos....
none of these things matter now, truly...
distribution is a non-issue, things of importance can now be had by those with a willingness to search them out...
& certain items are no longer out of reach for those unwilling to pay collector's fees...
it is relevant and critical to understand that African American bluesmen & later (Rock'N Roll) artists handed down a tradition of dealing with topics that were seen as inappropriate or too suggestive for "white america", & moreso for radio play & so on ... so with their works are realized a greater sense of honesty & earthiness than the pop & rock acts of a paler complexion...
For Arthur Alexander.... voice trumps articulation ... as cliche & moderation sometimes triumph over expression...
but maybe in this sequel a return to the earthy roots that defines blues could have been traded for aesthetic, but it seems that snap-shotting the past was the supreme ideal ... ++
Published
From the time when he quit the biz in the early 70s until he was rediscovered in the early 90s, Arthur Alexander is most famous for driving a shuttle bus for senior citizens. How did it happen that one of the more pure and complete vocalists from our time was allowed to publicly disappear like this? Arthur Alexander fans all agree that if more people had been exposed to his music from the beginning, he'd be just as big as a Ray Charles or a Sam Cooke or an Otis Redding.
Lonely Just Like Me is Arthur's comeback of sorts. Arthur fans got him back in the studio in the early 90s, but as was Arthur's fate, big label bickering kept Lonely Just Like Me from being released until just before Arthur died in 1993. How an album as splendid as this can stay on the shelf is as puzzling as the rest of the oversights that happened to Arthur over his music career.
A country sheen gives a warm feeling to Lonely Just Like Me (you'll find familiar names like Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn and Donnie Fritts in the studio), but it's the soulful voice of Alexander that gets those little hairs on your arms standing up on end. Arthur's not a young man anymore by the time he sang these 12 songs, but from the opening line of "If It's Really Got To Be This Way," I was left stunned. The soft-but-strained soul ballad "All The Time" and the brooding "Mr. John" are two of the most moving songs I've heard. Arthur sounds almost exactly like he did in the early 60s. Gawd this man can sing. He defies explanation.
All of the songs on Lonely Just Like Me are Arthur Alexander originals, and some of them you'll even recognize from his 60s recording output. Unlike most artists who record new interpretations of their own songs years down the road, it's tough to determine which version of these songs, old or new, are better. And that just makes it even easier to enjoy these songs.
Lonely Just Like Me is Arthur's comeback of sorts. Arthur fans got him back in the studio in the early 90s, but as was Arthur's fate, big label bickering kept Lonely Just Like Me from being released until just before Arthur died in 1993. How an album as splendid as this can stay on the shelf is as puzzling as the rest of the oversights that happened to Arthur over his music career.
A country sheen gives a warm feeling to Lonely Just Like Me (you'll find familiar names like Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn and Donnie Fritts in the studio), but it's the soulful voice of Alexander that gets those little hairs on your arms standing up on end. Arthur's not a young man anymore by the time he sang these 12 songs, but from the opening line of "If It's Really Got To Be This Way," I was left stunned. The soft-but-strained soul ballad "All The Time" and the brooding "Mr. John" are two of the most moving songs I've heard. Arthur sounds almost exactly like he did in the early 60s. Gawd this man can sing. He defies explanation.
All of the songs on Lonely Just Like Me are Arthur Alexander originals, and some of them you'll even recognize from his 60s recording output. Unlike most artists who record new interpretations of their own songs years down the road, it's tough to determine which version of these songs, old or new, are better. And that just makes it even easier to enjoy these songs.
Published
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