In Search of Lost Souls

By now, the story of Howard Tate has become part of music industry lore. A brilliant debut album, a solid follow-up and then thirty years of silence. Tracked down by dedicated fans, he's found living in a small town, making ends meet as an itinerant preacher. He's reunited with his producer and goes on to create one of 2003's most transcendent records, appropriately entitled Rediscovered.

It's a great story, but it leads one to wonder: Was this a fluke? Was Howard Tate the only "lost soul" out there waiting to be returned to glory? Or are there others who created eternally wonderful soul music, only to be lost in the shuffle, victims of bad luck, bad timing or bad living?

The Reluctant Soul Man

At first listen, O.V. Wright is as familiar and comfortable as an old coat. Permeated with the classic Memphis sound of Sam & Dave and Otis Redding, his music is warm, beautifully produced and instantly accessible. But listen again -- this is a man in pain, a tortured soul spilling out his agony in astonishingly honest fashion. A successful gospel singer, Wright turned his back on his church roots to seek fortune in the secular world. He found misery, struggle and an early death, succumbing to his demons at the age of 41. What he left behind, however, is some of the most gripping soul music you've (most likely) never heard. The lyrics are powerful, the music is riveting and the performances are unforgettable.

The Soul of O.V. Wright is his final testament, a grand and sweeping compilation lovingly compiled by MCA. The best of Wright's work with Houston's Backbeat label and with Willie Mitchell's legendary Hi label (the home of Al Green) is represented. A must own for anyone remotely moved by great soul music.

The Tiny Powerhouse

Best remembered for her timeless hit "I Can't Stand the Rain", Ann Peebles is certainly among the most underrated performers of the past quarter century. A tiny performer with a big voice (she described herself in one classic track as "99 pounds of soul"), Peebles brings the grit of Etta James with more than a hint of honey. Impeccable timing, marvelous phrasing and a feistiness that cannot be denied help create a thoroughly unique and ingratiating sound. Like Wright before her, Peebles teamed with Willie Mitchell and Hi Records and, also like Wright, was overshadowed by the greatness of Al Green's Hi output. But just one listen to Peebles threatening to "Tear Your Playhouse Down" will let you know that she was -- and remains to the this day -- the real deal.

Still only in her 50's, Ann Peebles certainly has much more great music to share with us. To get ready for what comes next, bone up on her classic hits with The Best of Ann Peebles: The Hi Records Years (The Right Stuff Records) featuring 21 smoking tracks from the little lady with the big voice.

The Soulful Classicist

Donnie Hathaway isn't exactly unknown. In fact, most music fans have heard of him and many can even recall a few of his smash hit duets with Roberta Flack. But, for the hunter of Lost Souls, the recorded output of this tragic soul man is eye-opening indeed. Trained in classical and jazz traditions, Hathaway was an exceptionally talented arranger, composer and pianist. After serving as a sort of apprentice for Curtis Mayfield, Hathaway struck gold creating soundtrack hits (including the theme from the TV series Maude) and with the smooth soul duets he recorded with Flack (including "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get To You". Troubled by depression, he was found dead on the sidewalk outside a New York hotel after a 15-story fall. And, for most people, that's where the story ends.

But to get to the real Donnie Hathaway, skip the greatest hits collections and return to his masterpiece -- his first solo record Everything Is Everything. A boundary-pushing tour de force, the album finds the prodigiously talented Hathaway seeking nothing less than to redefine soul. Surprising arrangements, powerful, socially conscious lyrics and that memorable, memorable voice make for one of the most richly-textured soul records ever recorded. He was to reach these heights one more time, with his 1973 release Extension of a Man, an equally ambitious -- and equally remarkable -- piece of work.

The Enigma

In digging through the astonishing recorded output of Memphis' Stax/Volt label, there may be no bigger mystery than that presented by Ruby Johnson. A gifted vocalist with an emotional subtlety found in few of her contemporaries, Johnson had all the tools for stardom. Unfortunately, she never came close. Only a handful of the sides she cut for Stax were released, and those fared poorly. She quit the music business, took a government job and lived quietly until her death in 1999.

That she is remembered today is the result of the only full-length album of her work ever released -- the 1993 compilation I'll Run Your Hurt Away. Twenty one slices of pure jaw-dropping Memphis soul, most never before released, carved a permanent place in music history for a woman who had long since given up hope of musical fame.

The Troubled Hero

That James Carr can be considered a hero has little to do with his amazing voice, or with his role as the originator of the stone-cold classic "Dark End of the Street". James Carr was a hero because, every day of his life, he fought back against crippling mental illness to carry on with a career that brought joy to lovers of great soul music for decades. Through bouts of institutionalization and incapacitation, James Carr kept coming back, creating brilliant soul music at times when the world had written him off.

The Essential James Carr (Razor & Tie) is a fine place to start exploring James Carr's extraordinary abilities. Also, look for his reissued albums on the Kent label.

In this age of "American Idol", when "soul" is often confused with the ability to perform vocal tricks, it's useful to look back on these "Lost Souls" to remember what the genre is really about. They were often unlucky, sometimes troubled, usually overlooked, but these men and women truly brought the soul, leaving pieces of themselves on slabs of vinyl for us to marvel at all these years later.

Let these lost souls be lost no more. May they find the peace -- along with the honor and recognition -- they so richly deserve.

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