Condition: Used
James Carr - A Man Needs A Woman
Label: Goldwax Records – GW-3002
Original Pressing MONO DJ Copy VERY RARE This is the holy grail for James Carr audiophiles, a mono copy of his second LP. As far as I know only radio stations received mono copies, all other pressings are stereo.
Format: Vinyl, Mono LP, Album
Record: VG VG+ several light scuffs
Cover: VG spine split 3 inches, top edge split all the way across, ringwear, cornerwear, some staining back cover, has Monaural sticker
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Rhythm & Blues, Soul
Tracklist
A1 A Man Needs A Woman 2:38
A2 Stronger Than Love 2:24
A3 More Love 2:36
A4 You Didn't Know It But You Had Me 1:50
A5 A Woman Is A Man's Best Friend 3:25
A6 I'm A Fool For You 1:54
B1 Life Turned Her That Way 2:29
B2 Gonna Send You Back To Georgia 2:10
B3 The Dark End Of The Street 2:20
B4 Sowed Love And Reaped A Heartache 2:20
B5 You've Got My Mind Messed Up 2:20
CLASSIC DEEP SOUL!!!
James Carr's Man Needs a Woman represents one of the high watermarks of Southern soul music. And beyond his tonal resemblance to Otis Redding, Carr was as distinct a voice as the genre ever produced.
Much more obscure than his first album, 'A Man Needs a Woman', for my money, is every bit the equal of its predecessor. Not least, naturally, since it includes "The Dark End of the Street" and "You Got My Mind Messed Up" once more, two all-time legendary waxings that I'll never tire off.
"A Man Needs a Woman", a sweet, country-soul tune written by O.B. McClinton, is another emotional tour de force that just spells out 'DEEPER Soul'.
To simply write that on A Man Needs A Woman, James Carr sings with unabashed and powerful emotion is one of the great understatements that surround this highly undervalued and overlooked southern r&b performer. A Man Needs A Woman is like a suspense thriller - it keeps building up to a climax and hinting towards unimaginable thrills, and even though you know it's going to happen, the fact that you don't know when is what sends chills down your veins. The material (including a few repeats from his debut LP) on A Man Needs A Woman, whether it be upbeat swinging affairs or ballads on the verge of tears, are consistent with the strongest stuff James has had to deliver. James takes every single song further than almost anyone else could, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say he's the most humble and emotive singer of all time. Each song is stretched to the point where it is going to break, and waiting for that moment is the true excitement of A Man Needs A Woman.
"Stronger Than Love" picks up the pace considerably, a fine stomping groove featuring some nice high-pitched backing vocals, whereas the plaintive, minor keyed "More Love" is a thinly disguised 'payback' song aimed at Carr's onetime girl. James is now expressing the virtues of his new lover, who's got 'more love in her little finger than [she] got in all of [her] heart.' Ouch...
The sentiment is continued on the more upbeat "You Didn't Know It But You Had Me", a fine beater, while Carr gets back in a lowdown pleading bag on the tender, slow "A Woman Is a Man's Best Friend", featuring that typical highly trebled Goldwax guitar and weeping horns.
The first side is completed with the frantic, sizzling "I'm a Fool for You". A well-oiled, crunchy R&B-romp featuring soulful second vocals by Betty Harris - the track surely comes across as a full-fledged duet. The interaction between the two is electrifying, especially on the chorus.
The flips opens on a decidedly moodier note, as Carr puts his spin on country singer Howard Harlan's "Life Turned Her That Way". Carr's tormented soul is laid bare on top of an incessant, punishing groove, one smothered in purring Hammond organs and fits of brass, as he laments on the disposition of his woman.
James' rendition of Timmy Willis' 1963 hit "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia" takes us right back to a run-down juke joint shakin' it up somewhere down a dusty Mississippi road, and the very country-esque "I Sowed Love and Reaped a Heartache" could've stirred up just as much noise 'at the other side of town'. A great, lazily rocking tune souled up by those fabulous pipes.
With the inclusion of "You Got My Mind Messed Up" and, especially, "The Dark End of the Street", what you have is a perfect platter of brilliant Southern Soul.
James Carr - You Got My Mind Messed Up
James Carr was the best of all the 60s soul singers. His songs are so full of emotion and honesty. He was one in a million.
James Carr put everything he had and was into singing. Sometimes I'm exhausted after listening to one of his records -- can't imagine what it was like to live it and bring it to life. Beautiful, agonizing and every superlative in between. Mount Rushmore of Soul ought to have Mr. Carr right next to Messrs. Cooke and Redding.
James Carr - The Dark End Of The Street
All the other versions of this song sound like what the lyrics are about-the consequences of an affair. But this one-it sounds like the end of the world, as if James is convinced he'll go to hell and that every bit of pleasure he can get from the world will come with a devastating price. Everything seems fated, beyond his ability to control. It's heart-wrenching.
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