During the mid-60's, he toured Europe and recorded for Monument and ABC/Dunhill, among others. Reportedly, he was disillusioned by his ordeal with fame, and his behavior became erratic. He attempted a comeback on Warner Brothers in 1972 with Rainbow Road, an accomplished southern soul workout. Though the album featured the debut recording of Dennis Linde's "Burning Love" (which Elvis rode to glory a few months later), it sold poorly. Alexander's last chart hit came in 1975 on Buddah, a remake of an older composition, "Every Day I Have To Cry"; strangely, no album followed. By 1980, the defeated artist had dropped out of sight completely.

Despite all this, Arthur Alexander was vitally important to the development of soul, if only because he was one of the first black singers to write many of his songs. More profoundly, his laid back, moody style was picked up by singers across the South, eventually give rise to the genre of "country soul" that came to full fruition with songs like "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay" (Otis Redding), "Rainy Night In Georgia" (Brook Benton), "Patches" (Clarence Carter), and "Drift Away" (Dobie Gray). You can also hear Alexander's influence in the latter-day work of Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, Elvis Costello, and others.

It's a crazy world where all these bright stars orbit around this unsung little planet, but, thankfully, Arthur Alexander experienced a bit of a comeback shortly before his death. First, he released the lovely Lonely Just Like Me to critical acclaim, then Razor & Tie issued The Ultimate Arthur Alexander, a well-selected (though poorly-annotated) collection of his work. Following his demise, Razor & Tie cobbled together a fine tribute album, Adios Amigo, and Warner Brothers reissued Rainbow Road (with some bonus single tracks) under the title: Rainbow Road: The Warner Bros. Recordings.

So, the Ultimate CD is recommended as the simple, obvious choice for beginners, and the Adios Amigo tribute is valuable as a gateway to understanding Arthur Alexander's broad influence. The English label Ace, however, has issued The Greatest (early 60's Judd and Dot recordings) and The Monument Years (1965-1972); together they constitute a much richer examination of Athur's contribution to rhythm & blues. Deep soul aficionados will appreciate the whole funky bunch. [top of page]