James Carr - Biography
As biopics on legendary musicians have become something of a trend lately (“Ray,” “Walk the Line”), one can only speculate as to why a movie on the life of soul singer James Carr is not currently in production. Perhaps no one would go see it, as Carr, outside of a group of soul aficionados, is relatively unknown. But he is considered one of the greatest soul singers ever to hold a microphone, his success only out-shined by the charisma of soul heavy-hitters like Otis Redding and Percy Sledge. Had he been more prolific and career-savvy, he probably could have entered into the same league and recorded material as popular as “(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay.” Unfortunately, achieving a public persona with as much appeal as Redding's was not an option for Carr, as his life was plagued by mental illness, which made touring sporadic and recording difficult. By the time Carr died in 2001, he was an illiterate manic-depressive who had just spent a couple of decades in obscurity and had been fighting a long battle with lung cancer. His story was indeed legendary, albeit a legend known by very few, and a life story that is perhaps too sad for the movies.
James Carr , the son of a minister, was born on June 13th, 1942 in Coahoma County, Mississippi. The county was near Clarksdale, but soon the family left Mississippi altogether as his father relocated them to Memphis, Tennessee when James was very young. By the age of nine, Carr was singing in the church choir, getting his first taste of public performance. He continued to sing throughout his teens, joining up with several gospel groups in the Memphis area. In 1962, he was singing with the Harmony Echoes. The manager of that group, Roosevelt Jamison (who would later write the soul classic “That's How Strong My Love Is,” covered by Redding and the Rolling Stones), had long been dreaming of pursing a career in popular music without being so grounded in gospel. Carr shared this ambition, and the duo teamed up to begin shopping Carr's solo career in 1963.
Carr was rejected by the popular soul label Stax, home to Otis Redding and Sam and Dave. Luckily, Quinton Claunch, who had previously co-founded Hi Records (Al Green's label) and left on reportedly bad terms, took a shine to Carr and signed him to his label, Goldwax. The Memphis label was also home to O.V. Wright, the newly-secular singer who recorded the first version of Jamison's “That's How Strong My Love is” (a take that was pretty much immediately rendered irrelevant once Redding did his own version). Wright was also Carr's old singing partner from the Redemption Harmonizers. Carr began churning out a number of singles over the next two years for Goldwax, the first being a blues number called “You Don't Want Me.” In 1966, he finally hit with the O.B. Mclinton-penned “You've Got My Mind Messed Up,” a song that many see as prophetic of Carr's future mental state. However, it is merely a love song in which the protagonist can't eat or sleep because of his obsession with a woman, and really doesn't draw a portrait of a mentally ill man. And besides, as with every song Carr cut, he did not write it.
The song peaked at number seven on the R&B charts, the highest a Carr song ever reached. Among the next batch of singles he recorded and released was the one he has become best known for, “The Dark End of the Street.” This song marked the first writing collaboration between Dan Penn and Chips Moman and has gone on to be recorded by Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Clarence Carter, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Carr-fanatic Elvis Costello. Carr's version remains the definitive take in the opinions of soul aficionados and the songwriters themselves. His version hit number ten on the R&B charts and 77 on the pop charts. His debut album, You Got My Mind Messed Up (1966 Goldwax), soon followed, which also included the singles “Pouring Water on a Drowning Man” and “Love Attack.” It ran out of steam on the R&B charts at number 25, but is today considered a classic of deep Southern soul music.
Carr's chart success continued on into 1967, but in many other ways, he was in trouble. He had left manager and mentor, Jamison, in favor of Otis Redding's manager, Phil Walden. Jamison had not only managed Carr's career, but his mental state as well, keeping close watch on the man's mood swings and guiding him through his bouts with depression. At this point in his life, Carr needed Jamison more than ever, as the stress and anxieties that came with touring proved to be too much for him. He would often walk away from his crew while on the road, and before he or anyone else knew it, he would be lost. By 1968, his mental stability had been considerably diminished, a severe problem that was now manifesting itself in the recording studio. Though it took an extraordinary amount of time, he was able to complete his second album, A Man Needs a Woman (1968 Goldwax), a release that combined new songs with a few cuts off of his debut. But by 1969, when Carr was making his last recordings for Goldwax in Muscle Shoals, he could only stare into space for the most part, silently seated at the microphone. He pulled himself together for the recording of one song, the Bee Gees' “To Love Somebody,” which hit number 44 on the R&B charts.
Goldwax went bankrupt shortly after the session, and Capitol Records, who had previously offered to buyout the rest of Carr's contract, pulled out of the arrangement after learning of his withering mental stability. Carr soon signed with Atlantic, but released only one single with them, which came in 1971. He reunited with Jamison in 1977, signing to his new label, River City. Again, he released only one single. A tour of Japan was carried out in 1979, which went surprisingly well with one infamous exception; at a concert in Tokyo, Carr stood at the microphone and said nothing, only maintained a trance-like gaze, probably the result of the over-abundance of anti-depressants in his system. He moved back to Memphis and lived with one of his three sisters, Rose, in between living at institutions. He had more or less given up on his singing career, spending the better part of the eighties in a fog, barely present or aware.
With a proper prescription of medication, Carr became much more functional by the nineties, and in 1991, he cut an album with both Jamison and Claunch called Take Me to the Limit for their newly-revived Goldwax label. Reviews were mixed, but Carr impressed listeners and critics alike just by having turned in a finished product. He started touring again in America and Europe on the blues circuits. In 1994, Claunch had a new label called Soultrax, and Carr recorded another album, Soul Survivor.
Shortly thereafter, Carr was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away in a Memphis nursing home on January 7th, 2001. He was 58.
