Search - James Carr :: My Soul Is Satisfied/The Rest of James Carr

The rest... is great too

M. Buisman | Amsterdam, NL | 08/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On the cover stands a man, looking somewhat bewildered to the ground. Since his heyday in the late 60's he has grown older, his hair is still black but the goatee makes him look like an wiser man. It's a very well chosen picture for a man who once looked into space while he should have been looking at his Japanese fans.

The picture is from 1979. The name of this collection is called "My Soul is Satisfied", maybe a fitting title for a man who had died a few years before.



Carr's output is limited. Not always commercially viable, emotionally unstable and other things have led to only two real albums and a few singles on the Goldwax label. His number one claim to fame however is that it was Carr who recorded the definitive version of "Dark end of the Street".



From some vinyl LP's, some of them from Japan, Kent/Ace made a beautiful compilation. It features some tracks that are already known, but in different versions (Pouring Water / Love Attack / A Losing Game and more). It also has some songs from the Soultrax albums from the 90's. I was afraid that the quality would be as on 'Take me to the limit' but was happy it wasn't. The songs may not be great, just your regular soul/r&b/pop songs that sound 80ish, but it doesn't have the awful and tacky instrumentation that some of his songs have.



Don't buy this as an introduction to James Carr, for that get 'You Got My Mind Messed Up' or 'A Man Needs A Woman', for the real Carr fan: if you don't have this cd you're not a real fan. A higher quality outtakes-CD than most artists. And great quality."