Arthur Alexander Albums (4)
'Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter'
Release Date 8/21/2007
Tracks 26
Label Hacktone
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Arthur Alexander had been forgotten by nearly everyone short of hardcore fans of Southern soul when he was lured away from his day job as a school bus driver in Cleveland to cut a new album as part of Elektra Records' American Explorer series, and 1993's Lonely Just Like Me was a potent reminder of Alexander's estimable gifts as a vocalist and a songwriter. However, Alexander died of a heart attack at the age of 51 just weeks after the album was released, and while the story of his short-lived comeback brought him back to the attention of music fans (and prompted long-overdue reissues of his classic sides of the '60s and '70s), the album that brought him back to the spotlight didn't fare so well. With no artist to promote the album, Lonely Just Like Me promptly disappeared, and Alexander's valedictory effort seemed doomed to obscurity. However, the collectors at Hacktone Records have given his final recordings a second chance in the marketplace, and Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter is a splendid expansion of what was already a wonderful album. This disc includes the dozen songs from the album in remastered and resequenced form (the new running order is meant to conform more closely to the original intentions of Alexander and producer Ben Vaughn), as well as an appearance by Alexander on NPR's Fresh Air, four songs recorded in a Cleveland hotel room while Alexander and Vaughn were working out material for the recording sessions, and Alexander singing his 1962 hit "Anna" at New York City's Bottom Line in 1991 (this was the performance that prompted Elektra Records to give him a new record deal). While it might sound as if Hacktone has cluttered this disc with odds and ends, what's startling is how committed and compelling Alexander sounds regardless of the circumstances, whether he's singing an old Neil Diamond tune into a cassette machine or recording superb new compositions for his major-label comeback. There's a heartbreaking emotional honesty in his best songs, and he sang them with a voice that melded churchy grace with gritty home truths, and even though he'd been away from professional music making for close to a decade and a half when he cut this music, it's as moving and timeless as anything he ever recorded. Songs as good as "In the Middle of It All," "If It's Really Got to Be This Way" and "All the Time" only come around once in a lifetime, and thankfully, Alexander was given one last chance to share them with Lonely Just Like Me; this new edition only improves an overlooked classic anyone with an ear for vintage R&B will cherish. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Lonely Just Like Me'
Release Date 1/1/1993
Tracks 12
Label Elektra Nonesuch
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
As a songwriter, Arthur Alexander's work often dealt with people for whom happiness was dashed by unexpected tragedy, and his own life seemed to reflect this. Poor management and simple bad luck put paid to Alexander's brief moment of fame in the 1960's, and despite occasional flurries of activity, and bursts of chart activity, by 1990 Alexander was out of music, and, by most accounts, bitter about his experiences. However, producer and fan Ben Vaughn lured Alexander back into the studio in 1992 for a session released as part of Elektra/Nonesuch's "American Explorer" series, which previously gave Charlie Feathers, Johnny Johnson, and Boozoo Chavis their first hearing on major-label vinyl. Alexander's album, Lonely Just Like Me, proved that time had done very little to dim his gifts despite a long layoff from the studio. Alexander's voice shows a few slight signs of wear, but the blend of bluesy passion and southern grit that marked his best sides is still very much in evidence, and this collection of songs -- some new, most cherry-picked from his large and impressive catalog -- makes it clear that this gentle powerhouse of southern soul still had plenty to offer as both a singer and a songwriter, and the sessions (featuring appearances by legendary session hands and longtime admirers Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and Donnie Fritts) were the perfect match for Alexander's material. Lonely Just Like Me was released in early 1993, and only a few months later, Alexander died of a heart attack at the age of 51; it was the sort of fate that would befall the protagonist of an Arthur Alexander song, but at least Lonely Just Like Me gave this worthy artist a final, richly deserved, moment in the sun, and one could hardly have asked for a better summation of what he did so well as one hears on this album. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Fourteen tracks from the '60s: half previously unissued, a few from his rare Dot LP, a couple of tracks from obscure 45s, and a fine, more sparsely produced alternate version of the title track. Although this isn't as exceptional as his best stuff, it's fairly solid, and while the material isn't top-notch, Arthur Alexander's oddly reserved and affecting vocals are uniformly strong. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Arthur Alexander'
Release Date 1/1/1972
Tracks 12
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
While Arthur Alexander made a name for himself as a songwriter and vocalist in the early '60s, he was best known for the hits other folks had enjoyed with his songs (among them the Beatles and the Rolling Stones), while his performing career hit an unfortunate slump by the end of the decade. Alexander been out of the public eye for a few years when he scored a deal with Warner Brothers and cut a self-titled album in 1972. Alexander had great faith in the project, which was produced by Tommy Cogbill and featured the cream of the Muscle Shoals studio players, along with songwriting contributions from Dan Penn, Donnie Fritts, and Alexander himself. Sadly, the album flopped in the marketplace, but a listen to the results confirms this was the fault of the promotion men, not the artists; hitting a mid-point between deep Southern soul and country-leaning funk, Arthur Alexander showed he had only grown stronger and more impressive as a singer over the decade, and his songs, built from simple stories of love and loss, never failed to hit the home truth (it's a wonder that no one was able to pitch tracks like "In the Middle of It All" or "Love's Where Life Begins" to some of the more imaginative country acts in Nashville -- imagine George Jones wrapping his voice around either). Cogbill's production was rich but uncluttered with a deeply Southern feel, and the album won a richly deserved cult following among soul enthusiasts. After Alexander's unfortunate death in 1993, Warner Brothers released a retrospective CD, Rainbow Road: The Warner Bros. Recordings, which featured most of the cuts from the album, along with several single sides and unreleased tracks Alexander cut for the label; in either form, this is beautiful, heart-wrenching music that no one with a heart and a soul can walk away from without feeling its impact. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
