I'm diggin on O.V Wright
88SphereAddict
10 Posts
Since I cop this O.V Wright tape, i'm trippin on how Rza loop the O.V Wright voice on "Co-Defendant", it's so raw, it's brillant !
Comments
http://www.soulstrut.com/reviews/review/review_insert.php?item_id=2338
http://www.soulstrut.com/reviews/review/review_insert.php?item_id=2434
O.V. WRIGHT
Drowning On Dry Land/I???m Gonna Forget About You (Back Beat 72)
This is another strong 45 by O.V. Wright. He starts off with the slow and moody Drowning On Dry Land with some loud horn play at the beginning before Wright???s powerful singing comes in. I???m Gonna Forget About You sounds more like an earlier RnB tune.
Plus here are two reviews of LPs he released:
http://www.soulstrut.com/reviews/review/review_insert.php?item_id=684
http://www.soulstrut.com/reviews/review/review_insert.php?item_id=685
Even in his later years with Hi, he was still
recording in pretty much the same style (except
with the smooth 70's Hi sound behind him, of course)
and has a few good albums from the era. His version
of "Let's Straighten It Out" is a killer. Am I the
only one who thinks he sounds 117 years old on some of
those Hi tracks, though?
Also, although people throw money at all his early Back Beat
LP's, you can get his final LP for the label, "Memphis Unlimited"
for under $20 on eBay, and it's a solid album all the way through.
I have a thrashed OG of the "Nucleus of Soul" LP that Cheapo's just
let me have free because it was so wasted. It plays pretty well, though,
and I do play it. Last I knew, only a 90's-era anthology of 10 or 12 of his
tracks was legally available, whcih is a shame, since his catalog must
be pretty huge, considering how many LP's he put out.
GROSS-OUT ALERT[/b]:
True story (according to Hi Records' guitarist Teenie Hodges): O.V. recorded the entire Bottom Line album without his dentures, which is why he's slurring his "s"'s.
I have a thrashed OG of the "Nucleus of Soul" LP that Cheapo's just
let me have free because it was so wasted. It plays pretty well, though,
and I do play it. Last I knew, only a 90's-era anthology of 10 or 12 of his
tracks was legally available, whcih is a shame, since his catalog must
be pretty huge, considering how many LP's he put out.
You mean he put out a lot of 45's.
His album catalog was relatively small. Nine albums between 1965 and 1980. And his second long-player (Eight Men, Four Women) repeated a lot of the same songs from the first (If It Is Only For Tonight). His final album, Four & Twenty Elders, was a gospel LP on Creed (credited to O.V. Wright & the Luckett Brothers).
No, I meant LP's. In the context of what I was saying,
which was that only one 13-track CD is in print, compared to
the number of LP's he released. Actually, I think there is a Hi
CD available as well, so I was thinking mainly of his Back Beat
material, but his 4 LP's - plus b-sides - for the label warrant more than
a one-disc set. I was assuming that most of his many 45's were included
on the albums. Also, the CD has the less raunchy version of "Ace of Spades"
Less raunchy? What did they do, use an inferior alternate take? What they doin' differently? Never heard this.
I don't own the album to know for sure, but I believe
the one on the Ace of Spade/Nickel & a Nail LP is
different from the 45. I know the version on my CD
is different than the version on the ubiquitous "14 Golden
hits from the Vaults of Duke/Peacock" comp LP from the early 70's
that I know you must have owned at some point. That
was the first place I heard O.V. Wright, many years ago.
One is much more uptempo, and his delivery is a little
less polished.
You are correct, sir. The single is a different, rawer vocal take that is more of a duet (with himself?) than the LP version. The line "keep my baby in pain" on the 45 is actually followed with a laugh. Same backing track, to my ears.
His version of Let's straighten it out is a killer I think.
Indeed he sounds aged on that one...like he's missing a couple of teeth as well but it only adds to the flavor of the track.
Believe it or not, as common as that is, I've never owned that album. It's mainly because by now I have about 98% of the stuff on it. Some kind of way, I bought like the majority of the songs on that comp piece by piece through the years, on singles, albums and other compilations.
But I do have the followup, the one with the stacks of 45's on the cover (From The Vaults Of Duke-Peacock), which turns up just as often. That one has O.V.'s "You're Gonna Make Me Cry."