With iconic garage-punk trio the Oblivians, with the Parting Gifts (his collaboration with the Ettes’ Coco Hames and Jem Cohen), with a legion of other one-offs and defunct projects, and, for the past 13 years with driving rock ‘n’ soul revue the Reigning Sound, Greg Cartwright has chased various traces of American rock and pop to arrive at something singularly his. Still, with his legacy perfectly well cemented among garage-rock aficionados and discerning vinyl-heads, Cartwright is still chasing the unexpected. The Reigning Sound’s latest album, Shattered, is the band’s sixth proper full-length, a follow-up to 2009’s Love And Curses, and its debut for Merge. Cartwright will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on him.
Cartwright: Some of my favorite artists totally blur the lines of genre. Like artists who come from a background of country music but veer the listener toward jazz, Tex-Mex and R&B. Or vice versa, Soul singers who pull in elements of country, bossa nova and rock. Names like Arthur Alexander, Charlie Rich, Dan Penn and Doug Sahm come immediately to mind. Being hard to pin down may not always be the best recipe for commercial success, but each of these extraordinary performers has had a level of notable success, if not through their recording then through their songwriting. That said, their recordings are some of the most influential out there. ACE recently released a double LP of Penn’s recordings from his days in Muscle Shoals entitled The FAME Recordings, and it is essential. His classic 1972 album Nobody’s Fool is also available on CD thanks to Repertoire Records. The recordings of Alexander may epitomize country soul better than any other. Although his early recordings for Dot are where you’ll find his biggest hits, his ’60s recordings for Monument are, for me, his greatest. The ACE collection The Monument Years is a 28-track jaw-dropper of a disc. One of the highlights is “Set Me Free,” which was also cut by Rich. Both versions are great. Rich’s history goes back to Sun Records, and there are plenty of great songs from that period, but I’d like to focus you’re attention on his years at SMASH/Mercury documented on ACE’s It Ain’t Gonna Be That Way CD as well as his 1969 album for Epic, The Fabulous Charlie Rich, which, as far as I know, is not currently available on CD. Vinyl copies are easy to find, though. It sold well and is a landmark country soul LP. Finally, on to Sahm and maybe the best deal for a CD you will find this year, The Best Of Doug Sahm And The Sir Douglas Quintet, released by Mercury. It’s one of the finest curated compilations I know of and includes some tracks you will not find anywhere else. Even if you’re already a fan and have lots of his records, the song sequence and alternate takes/unreleased tracks here are worth the purchase.
