Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter

By the time Arthur Alexander cut this comeback release in 1993 he'd been out of the limelight for nearly 15 years. Thirty years earlier he'd authored songs that stoked the imaginations of The Beatles ("Anna"), Rolling Stones ("You Better Move On") and others. Better yet, his southern soul recording of the latter was the first song ever waxed at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio. His seminal early sides were followed by terrific outings for Monument and Warner Brothers throughout the '60s and '70s, but he never garnered the commercial rewards his artistry deserved. By the end of the '70s, feeling unrewarded and ripped off by the publishers and record labels, Alexander retired from music industry to work with disadvantaged children.

Ironically, it was the same music industry, in the form of A&R executive Danny Kahn, that coaxed Alexander back into the studio. Having spied a rare Alexander performance at New York's Bottom Line in 1992 (represented here by a live take of "Anna"), Kahn signed him to the Nonesuch label and dispatched artist Ben Vaughn to produce an album in Nashville. Stars have rarely aligned so well for a comeback effort. Alexander's new songs were as striking as the originals he re-recorded, and his voice, lightly deepened and weathered by age was even more soulful than thirty years earlier. Original accompanists (plus a few younger players) provided brilliant backings for every track, and Vaughn's production removed the original '60s gloss to focus squarely on Alexander's voice and songs.

Vaughn wrote, "If heartbreak had a sound, it was this voice," and Alexander's final LP drove home the point. The early single "Sally Sue Brown" was reworked as an acoustic blues that loaded its signature guitar lick up front. The teary mid-70s "Every Day I Have to Cry Some" was given a bittersweet southern soul treatment of moody horns and a strong backbeat, with Alexander defiant and defeated at the same time. "If It's Really Got to be This Way" is stalwart in the face of loss, "Genie in the Jug" salves romantic pain, and the gospel-styled "All the Time" laments a mortally wounded heart. The album's few lighter notes are the closing "There is a Road," and the faithful "I Believe in Miracles."

Originally released in 1993, the album was well received, and Alexander found himself in demand for interviews and performances. Hacktone's reissue augments the original dozen tracks with four live performances from NPR's "Fresh Air," together with interview segments that find Alexander gracious, happy to be performing, and seemingly at peace with the poor treatment he'd received the first time around. Four recordings captured by Ben Vaughn on a cassette recorder in a hotel room (including a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man") show Alexander compelling in just about any circumstance.

Sadly, just as Alexander's revival was gaining momentum he was felled by a heart attack only three months after the album's release, passing away days after a concert in Nashville. This musical epitaph deftly tells the final chapter of Alexander's career, from the artistic success of his comeback to the critical and commercial recognition that followed. This is an essential for all those who love southern soul and want to spend some quality time with the sound of heartbreak. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]

In some respects, this album can be considered a "reissue" - but really, it's more than that. It's the stark, simply beauty of Alexander's voice in the hotel room demos included here; the matter-of-fact 'Fresh Air' interview segments where Alexander discusses (with no bitterness) how the record business basically screwed him years and years ago; the heartening way he sings "Anna" at the Bottom Line.

The people who put this album - nay, this PACKAGE - together are true fans of Alexander's and you can feel it whether you're leafing through the scrapbook pages from his life (included in a nook behind the cover art) or whether you're marveling at how haunting Alexander's voice sounds after so many years.

It's easy to see why high-profile musicians (Rolling Stones, Beatles, Dylan, etc.) have always covered Alexander's music - he had a simple gift for songcraft and an honest heart that came through in his music.

Anna and Really Got to be This Way are my favorites. The studio recordings are worth many listenings. The Fresh Air interview is wonderful. He seems like such a nice guy -- in the interviews and as a singer, writer and in his choice of songs by others. The Fresh Air songs are great. The hotel demos are interesting to hear once. I also bought Greatest Hits, which I also recommend. These simple, direct songs stand up well to the test of time. John Lennon and Mick Jagger did not surpass him in their covers.