During the mid-60's, Alexander toured Europe and recorded for Sound Stage 7 (a Monument subsidiary) 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 Arthur Alexander, an accomplished southern soul workout (later reissued as Rainbow Road). Though the album featured the debut recording of Dennis Linde's "Burning Love" (which Elvis Presley rode to glory a few months later), it sold poorly. Alexander cut his last chart hits for Buddah in the mid-70's, including his first recording of "Every Day I Have To Cry," a song he had written for Steve Alaimo in 1963, and, improbably, "Sharing The Night Together," a song Dr. Hook would take to the Top 10 in 1979. Strangely, no album followed, and by 1980, a defeated Alexander 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 and eventually gave rise to the "country soul" subgenre 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 (mainly Dot recordings, plus "Everyday I Have To Cry Some"). Following his demise, Razor & Tie cobbled together a fine tribute album, Adios Amigo, and Warner Brothers reissued Arthur Alexander (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 several Alexander collections including A Shot Of Rhythm & Soul (1982) and The Greatest (1989), both Dot recordings, plus The Monument Years, which spans 1965 to 1972. Together they constitute a much richer examination of Arthur's contribution to music, though they don't encompass anything from the last 20 years of his life. Regardless, no collection is complete without a shot of Arthur Alexander's rhythm 'n' blues, and deep soul aficionados will appreciate the whole funky bunch. [top of page]