James Carr (singer)

James Carr

James Carr (June 13, 1942 - January 7, 2001), was a United States soul music singer.

Born to a Baptist preacher's family in Coahoma, Mississippi, Carr began singing in church and was performing in gospel groups and making tables on an assembly line in Memphis, Tennessee when he began recording in the mid-'60s for Goldwax Records, a small Memphis based label.

Carr first made the R&B charts in 1966 with You've Got My Mind Messed Up, followed by his most famous song The Dark End of the Street, written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman. Carr continued to record for Goldwax until the label closed in 1969 but failed to reach the same heights with his subsequent releases.

Unfortunately, Carr suffered from bi-polar disorder for most of his life which affected his career. This was sadly evident during a tour of Japan in the 1970s when he froze in front of an audience following an overdose of antidepressants and had to cancel the remainder of the tour. A resurgence in interest in his music, spurred by his portrayal in the 1986 book Sweet Soul Music, helped return Carr to the recording studio but failed deliver any further chart success.

While Carr was never as popular among general audiences as contemporaries like Otis Redding or Solomon Burke, his vocal performances on select tracks are still considered unmatched by many soul music and rhythm & blues fans.

James Carr died from lung cancer in a Memphis nursing home in 2001, aged 58.

Discography

LPs

• You Got My Mind Messed Up (1967) R&B: #25
• A Man Needs A Woman (1968)
• Take Me To The Limit (1991)
• Soul Survivor (1994)

Singles

• "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man" (1966) R&B #23, US #85
• "Love Attack" (1966) R&B #21, US #99
• "You've Got My Mind Messed Up" (1966) R&B #7 US #63
• "Let It Happen" (1967) R&B #30
• "The Dark End of the Street" (1967) R&B #10 US #77
• "I'm a Fool for You" (1967) R&B #42 US #97
• "A Man Needs a Woman" (1968) R&B #16 US #63
• "Freedom Train" (1969) R&B #39
• "To Love Somebody" (1969) R&B #44

Compilations

• Complete, Vol. 1 (1994)
• Complete, Vol. 2 (1994) Goldwax
• The Essential James Carr (1995) Razor & Tie
• 24 Karat Soul (2001) Soultrax
• The Complete Goldwax Singles (2001) Kent
• My Soul Is Satisfied/The Rest of James Carr (2004) Kent

External links

• James Carr Biography