James Carr was born June 13, 1942 in Coahoma, Mississippi.
His father was a preacher and church was young James first stage. He began his
recording career in the mid 1960’s just as traditional soul music a la James Brown;
was transitioning to a “funkier” sound. His first label was Goldwax Records in
Memphis.
“You’ve Got My Mind Messed Up” was the first record which
actually made the charts. 1966 was the year he began to be noticed with the release
of his most enduring recording “The Dark End of the Street”, written by Dan
Penn and Chips Moman. James remained with Goldwax until they closed in 1960.
Health wise, Mr. Carr suffered from both mental as well as
medical problems. The former affected his career more than the latter,
sometimes resulting in panic attacks which left him speechless in front of an
audience. Anti-depressants only worsened the problem for him. For most of the
1970’s and 1980’s he was almost forgotten. It was Peter Guralnick’s book “Sweet
Soul Music” which brought him back into the public spotlight in 1986.
In January of 2001, at the all too early age of 58 years
young, Mr. Carr passed away from lung cancer. He was living in a nursing home
at the time. His voice is so reminiscent of Otis Redding’s that I mistook this
song for one of Mr. Redding’s when I heard it the other night in the film “Cold
in July.”
For more about this artist use this link to the blog "The B Side";
"Forgetting You"
As I prepare to lay down here alone dear
I can't help but to keep wishing that you were here
I done you wrong but now you are gone
what can I do?
don't make me live the rest of my life
forgetting you
it's too bad I didn't realize until you were gone
just what it meant to have a love like you for my own
but now that you've gone I can't go on
living here without you
don't make me live the rest of my life
forgetting you
Forgetting you
it will be so hard I know
but listen baby
how can I forget you
every day I love you more and more
come back to me
I'm lone and blue
don't make me live the rest of my life
forgetting you
how can I forget you
when every day I love you a little more
and a little more
how can I forget you
when you fill my heart with so much joy
how can I forget you
when I love you all so much
how can I forget you
when every day I need you by my side
Oh, I love you baby
I love you from the bottom of my heart
tell me
tell me that we will never part
I love you baby.
I heard this song for the first time while watching "The Good Neighbor" and had to know who sang it. I spent the rest of the afternoon listening to his songs. I feel like I found a secret treasure. The R&B mixes with gospel and even a little steel guitar. I'm sad that he had such a hard time and dues so early but I thank the person who decided to use "Forgetting You" in the movie. ��
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