ARTHUR ALEXANDER
Singer-songwriter Arthur Alexander is best known for remakes of his songs by others. Allmusic.com said of Alexander, “His music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his contemporaries.”
He was born in Sheffield, Alabama on May 10, 1940. His mother and sister sang in church while his father played the blues in local juke joints, accompanying himself on slide guitar. In the sixth grade, Arthur joined a gospel group called the Heartstrings. After he finished high school, he worked at the Sheffield Holiday Inn as a bellhop.
There are different versions of how Alexander came to record for Rick Hall at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The singer himself spoke of being introduced to Hall by a lyricist named Tom Stafford. Hall believed that Alexander’s mother worked for the Stafford family as a maid. Donnie Fritts, a session guitarist at FAME, averred that Stafford had auditioned the Heartstrings and singled Alexander out as the group’s towering talent.
Whatever the case, Alexander made his first single, “Sally Sue Brown,” for Judd Records in 1960 as June Alexander (short for “Junior”). In late 1961, he recorded the self-penned “You Better Move On,” which Rick Hall produced. Released on Dot Records, it reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1962. It also produced remakes by the Rolling Stones, the Hollies, and George Jones & Johnny Paycheck (as a duet).
In 1962, the Beatles recorded a live set in Hamburg, Germany, that included three songs first done by Alexander: “A Shot of Rhythm & Blues,” “Where Have You Been (All My Life),” and “Soldier of Love.” They also recorded his ballad “Anna” on their 1963 debut album, Please Please Me. (Alexander’s 1962 original was a top ten R&B hit that would inspire an episode of the Fox-TV sitcom, “Married...With Children.”)
In 1963, Steve Alaimo became the first to record Alexander’s “Every Day I Have to Cry Some.” It reached #46 in Billboard and charted again when Alexander himself waxed it in 1975.
In the middle ‘60s, he changed labels to Sound Stage 7. Despite some fine recordings, commercial success eluded him. In April 1966, Alexander toured England. By the early ‘70s, he was on Warner Brothers, for whom he recorded a self-titled album. One of its tracks, “Burning Love” (not written by Alexander), became a #2 hit for Elvis Presley.
His final charted single, in 1976, was “Sharing the Night Together” (also not written by Alexander), a remake of which by Dr. Hook went to #6 in 1978. As the decade drew to a close, Alexander left the music business and spent many years working as a bus driver.
By the ‘90s, there was growing interest in his catalog, prompting Alexander to attempt a comeback. He recorded Lonely Just Like Me, his first album in twenty-one years, and signed with Nonesuch/Elektra in 1993. Unfortunately, on June 9th of that year, Alexander succumbed to a fatal heart attack. He was fifty-three.
Other acts who recorded Arthur Alexander’s songs include C.J. Chenier, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, Billy “Crash” Craddock, Mink DeVille, Bob Dylan, the Gentrys, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Humble Pie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger McGuinn, Esther Phillips, Otis Redding, Dusty Springfield, Joe Stampley, Joe Tex, and Ike & Tina Turner.
Rock critic Dave Marsh included both "Anna" and "Soldier of Love" in his 1989 book, The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.
Charted singles:
“You Better Move On” (1962) Pop #24
“Where Have You Been (All My Life)” (1962) Pop #58
“Anna” (1962) R&B #10, Pop #68
“Every Day I Have to Cry Some” (1975) Pop #45
“Sharing the Night Together” (1976) R&B #92
