At the Dark End of the Street

Most evenings nowadays I am at home, working on the computer privately and sometimes for my job. Or I go with my friends to have a drink and discuss worldpeace but mainly the sport and music. A few days ago I heard the great voice of an Australian singer who now resides in London and her name is Sia Furler but her artist name is just Sia. A cover of the great song of the Kinks (Ray Davies) "I go to sleep" was performed by her on a CD in the cafe where I was drinking. Click on the links and you'hear her with two different versions. If you like to sing along, click in the upper-right corner on "more info" and the lyrics appear. When further checked her on YouTube and on Wikipedia I ended up reading something totally different, about one of my old favourites in the 60'ies when I was a teenager. His name is James Carr (June 13, 1942 - January 7, 2001), and he was an American Rhythm & Blues and soul musical artist. I will never forget his voice which was better then many other soul singers those days.

But unfortunately (see hereunder the copy of Wikipedia about his career and life) he died a few years ago, too young. Enjoy the clip from his most famous song, "At the Dark End of the Street", 1967.
But also look at the clip where he sings (LIVE!!) a great version of "You got my mind messed up", a classic one and that only a few weeks, before he died of lung cancer. What a talent, what a great singer! Respect!
Next blog more about another idol of me, the long forgotten Joe Tex, the man who invented RAP!!!

Born to a Baptist preacher's family in Coahoma, Mississippi, Carr began singing in church and was performing in gospel groups and making tables on an assembly line in Memphis, Tennessee, when he began recording in the mid-'60s for Goldwax Records, a small Memphis based label.
Carr first made the R&B charts in 1966 with "You've Got My Mind Messed Up", followed by his most famous song "The Dark End of the Street", written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman. Carr continued to record for Goldwax until the label closed in 1969 but failed to reach the same heights with his subsequent releases.
Carr suffered from bipolar disorder for most of his life which affected his career. This was evident during a tour of Japan in the 1970s when he froze in front of an audience following an overdose of antidepressants. However he completed the Japan tour with much success. A resurgence in interest in his music, spurred by his portrayal in the 1986 book Sweet Soul Music, helped return Carr to the recording studio but failed to deliver any further chart success.
While Carr was never as popular among general audiences as contemporaries like Otis Redding and Solomon Burke, his vocal performances on select tracks are still considered unmatched by many soul music and rhythm & blues fans.
James Carr died from lung cancer in a Memphis nursing home in 2001, aged 58.