O.V. WRIGHT

Overton Vertis “O.V.” Wright was a gospel-inflected singer whose body of work influenced the likes of Robert Cray and Taj Mahal.

He was born on October 9, 1939 in Lenow, Tennessee (about 25 miles east of Memphis). By age six, he was singing in church. During the ‘50s and early ‘60s, he worked with the Five Harmonaires, the Spirit of Memphis Quartet, the Luckett Brothers, the Highway QC’s, and the Sunset Travelers. He recorded several singles and an album with the latter group, starting when he was nineteen. (The album, On Jesus’ Program, came out on Peacock Records in 1964.)

While Wright was working the gospel circuit, he met songwriter Roosevelt Jamison, who also managed soul singer James Carr. Jamison signed Wright as a Rhythm & Blues singer and arranged a recording contract with the Memphis-based Goldwax Records. Wright had one release on the label, 1964’s “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” later covered by both Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones.

After the single came out, it was learned that Wright was still signed with Peacock Records in Texas, for whom his gospel group had recorded. So label chief Don Robey placed Wright on Peacock’s Back Beat subsidiary. On that label, he first made the national R&B charts with 1965’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry.”

Two years later, O.V. Wright enjoyed his biggest R&B hit, “Eight Men, Four Women.” The ethereal ballad told of a man who “dreamed that love was a crime.” The title referred to the twelve jurors who “found me guilty of loving you.”

In the middle 1970s, Wright did time in prison for drug offenses. In 1977, he signed with Hi Records in Memphis, whose artist roster included Al Green, Rufus Thomas, Ann Peebles, and Otis Clay. Wright recorded five albums for Hi, none of which sold particularly well.

In 1980, Wright underwent heart surgery. The doctor told him he would live one to six years; he lasted less than one. O.V. Wright died in Alabama on November 16, 1980, en route to the hospital, of a heart attack. He was forty-one years old.

His music was later sampled by a number of hip-hop artists. Ghostface Killah sampled “Motherless Child” on his 1996 Ironman album, the Wu-Tang Clan sampled “Let’s Straighten It Out” on their song “America,” and “Ace of Spades” turned up in “Recognize a Playa” by Slim Thug & The Boss Hogg Outlawz.

Charted singles:

“You’re Gonna Make Me Cry” (1965) R&B #6, Pop #86
“Eight Men, Four Women” (1967) R&B #4, Pop #80
“Heartaches, Heartaches” (1967) R&B #25
“What About You” (1967) R&B #46
“Oh Baby Mine” (1968) R&B #36
“I’ll Take Care of You” (1969) R&B #43
“Love the Way You Love” (1970) R&B #48
“Ace of Spades” (1970) R&B #11, Pop #54
“When You Took Your Love From Me” (1971) R&B #21
“A Nickel and a Nail” (1971) R&B #19
“I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled & Crazy” (1973) R&B #33
“I’ve Been Searching” (1974) R&B #62
“What More Can I Do (To Prove My Love to You)” (1975) R&B #82
“Rhymes” (1976) R&B #87
“Into Something (Can’t Shake Loose)” (1977) R&B #43
“Precious, Precious” (1978) R&B #50
“I Don’t Do Windows” (1978) R&B #91