O V Wright Soul Of O. V. Wright CD

Compilation producer: Andy McKaie.
Contains material recorded for the Duke-Peacock subsidiary, Back Beat, between 1964 and 1974.
Personnel: O.V. Wright (vocals).
Liner Note Author: Bill Bentley.
Recording information: 1964-1973.
The Soul of O.V. Wright isn't fancy, but it gets the job done. In that way, this solid 18-track compilation is just like its subject, one of the most underrated deep soul singers of his era. Although the Houston-based Wright had the grit of Otis Redding (minus Redding's occasional tendency to oversing) and the spiritual grace of Sam Cooke's pre-secular work, Wright only managed a couple of major hits on the R&B charts, and not even his best single, 1965's startling, Ray Charles-like ballad "'You're Gonna Make Me Cry,'" crossed over to the pop charts. Regardless, all 18 tracks here are sublime deep soul, from the testifying swing of his first single "'I Don't Want to Sit Down'" to his remarkable work with Willie Mitchell in the '70s. ("'I'd Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy'" is every bit the equal of any of Mitchell's better-known work with Al Green from the same period.) There is plenty more to savor where this came from, but The Soul of O.V. Wright is a terrific introduction to this amazing performer. ~ Stewart Mason
O.V. Wright is part of the Pantheon Of 1960s Soul, up there with Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding. He's not as well known as them--at least in America--but his songs have been covered by Redding, the Rolling Stones, Robert Cray, and Ann Peebles. Like Burke and Franklin, his vocal style was heavily based in Southern gospel music, passionately balancing the sacred and the secular. Wright fervently implored, pleaded, and howled his tales of love lost, strayed, thwarted, or shattered. "A Nickel and a Nail" is one of the finest distillations of no-way-out desperation ever recorded. Wright affirms his love to the heavens by crying out the dramatically devotional "I'd Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy." The music is prime Memphis rhythm & blues: full of sharp, terse guitar, rich Hammond organ, and gospel-informed background vocals--tight and funky but never slick.Entertainment Weekly (3/12/93, p.62) - "...These moving songs from 1964-74 resound with the basic truths and sweet eloquence of Memphis soul..."
- Rating: B+