Clarence Carter - This Is Clarence Carter / The Dynamic Clarence Carter '1968, 1969 [2016]

Tracks list

In early 1967 Rick Hall’s Fame set-up was missing a vital ingredient.
Despite all the success he had achieved as a producer, studio-owner, publisher
and record label boss, he had yet to sign an enduring artist. That was about to
change. The previous year a duo who recorded as Clarence & Calvin hired the
studio to cut a self-financed single. They had been working together for five
years and had just left a deal with Houston-based Duke Records. As he watched
them, Hall thought he had found his stars and urged them to come back and sign
with him. When the day came, only Clarence Carter appeared. At first, Hall was
dismissive of the singer’s pleas to be signed as a solo act but
eventually relented and gave him a go.
In their first year together, Carter placed a few singles on the R&B chart and
provided Etta James with one of her signature songs by writing ‘Tell
Mama’, but it wasn’t until his records switched from the Fame
label to the higher-profile Atlantic that big hits started coming. Essentially,
nothing had changed. His records were still recorded by Hall at Fame with the
same musicians but DJs seemed to take Atlantic releases more seriously. Everyone
involved thought ‘Funky Fever’ would be Carter’s
breakthrough but it was its flip, ‘Slip Away’, that hit the higher
reaches of the R&B charts, selling over a million copies. This success was
followed by ‘Too Weak To Fight’ also going gold.
The success of the 45s each resulted in an album. The first, “This Is
Clarence Carter”, gathered up most of his pre-hit A-sides and added a few
tracks no-one had heard before. The second, “The Dynamic Clarence
Carter”, comprised ‘Too Weak To Fight’ and its B-side, plus
pop covers and versions of Fame-published songs.
For this release we are also including a handful of previously unissued cuts
that have languished in the Fame vaults for the best part of 50 years:
‘I’ll Be Over After A While’, which was one of the demos
Clarence & Calvin recorded at Fame, three hitherto unknown songs and a demo of
Carter’s version of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham’s ‘She
Ain’t Gonna Do Right’.
If you want these albums on CD, this is the definitive issue.


Tracks:

This Is Clarence Carter (1968)
01. Do What You Gotta Do (2:31)
02. Looking For A Fox (2:15)
03. Slipping Around (2:32)
04. Im Qualified (2:20)
05. I Cant See Myself (2:26)
06. Wind It Up (2:36)
07. Part Time Love (2:38)
08. Thread The Needle (2:31)
09. Slip Away (2:31)
10. Funky Fever (2:51)
11. She Aint Gonna Do Right (2:29)
12. Set Me Free (3:06)

The Dynamic Clarence Carter (1969)
13. Id Rather Go Blind (3:01)
14. Think About It (2:44)
15. The Road Of Love (2:56)
16. Youve Been A Long Time Coming (2:48)
17. Light My Fire (2:51)
18. That Old Time Feeling (2:35)
19. Steal Away (2:41)
20. Let Me Comfort You (2:17)
21. Look What I Got (3:02)
22. Too Weak To Fight (2:18)
23. Harper Valley Pta (3:37)
24. Weekend Love (2:37)

Bonus Tracks:
25. Im Happy-Go-Lucky (2:21)
26. She Aint Gonna Do Right (2:40)
27. Take Me, Use Me (2:24)
28. There Wont Be Another Sunset (2:45)
29. Ill Be Over After A While (2:17)

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