Any cursory appreciation of the southern soul music genre usually points initially in the direction of Stax, Fame and Muscle Shoals. There are reasons for this of course, with those labels and studios pushing out some of the best popular music of the 20th century. Much less likely to receive recognition, but much loved by country soul buffs everywhere, is the output from the Goldwax label.
Known, if known at all, as the recording home of the great but ill-fated James Carr, the gold/yellow label produced more than its fair share of southern soul classics throughout the 60s; now that the Goldwax imprint has received the repackaging it deserves, perhaps the Goldwax roster will also receive the acclaim that its due.
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The Goldwax label was formed on 11th August, 1964 by Quinton Claunch and Doc Russell (the latter a pharmacist by profession and the man who put up most of the initial money required). Claunch had spent much of his time on the road as a travelling salesman although he’d combined the job with a series of ventures that kept him on the periphery of the music business – including a stint in a Muscle Shoals country band in the 1940s. Claunch had also appeared on and co-written a number of early sides for the Sun label and it was through his co-writer there, Bill Cantrell, that he got involved in the early development of the Hi label. Not for the first time, his concern about the insecurities of the music business led him to sell up his interests in the business and leave Hi (to his eternal regret).
It was when Claunch and Russell saw the success of both Stax and Rick Hall’s Fame enterprise that they decided to have a shot at their own label. From 1964 to 1970, the Goldwax label released around 60 or so singles, the first of them being ‘Darling’ by black vocal group The Lyrics. It didn’t set the world on fire, but it was a sizeable regional hit and it did prove that Claunch had a feel for the R&B market. Early on Goldwax was distributed by a Vee-Jay subsidiary but from 1966 onwards they were distributed by Bell.
One of the key turning points for the label was the arrival of two gospel singers, along with the writer Roosevelt Jamison – allegedly, and perhaps anecdotally (although Claunch has confirmed the story), turning up at Claunch’s home with demo tapes at midnight. One of the demos eventually became the wonderful single release by O.V Wright, ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’. The other singer to turn up that night was the great vocalist James Carr, a stunning performer but, as it turned out, singularly ill-equipped for success. He was the only Goldwax artist to enjoy consistent success on the R&B charts, although the Ovations scored a couple of minor hits. Spencer Wiggins, a truly fine and emotive singer, never even charted. ‘Dark End Of The Street’ is the classic for which Carr is particularly remembered, a desperate and forlorn tale of furtive and illicit love. It’s been recorded by many artists (a brilliant version from Aretha, an understated version from Percy Sledge, a Ry Cooder instrumental and a great country take from the Flying Burrito Brothers among them) but Carr’s is the most intense and probably still the best.
The Goldwax partnership never owned its own studio, preferring to utilise the resources available at Hi, American, Lynn-Lou and, occasionally, the Fame studios in Alabama. Even so, a Goldwax style began to develop – downhome, very obviously out of the church, usually featuring a horn section but with limited orchestration. At its best with trademark country soul ballads and possibly even more downhome than its Stax neighbour, it nonetheless produced more than its fair share of up tempo numbers. The label had access to a number of fine writers, including the aforementioned Roosevelt Jamison, George Jackson (Bob Seger’s ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ anyone…) and O.B McClinton, as well as Claunch himself and they were all at their best on deep ballads with a strong country influence.
The end of the initial Goldwax label came around 1969. Tensions had begun to appear in the relationship between the partners, and the personal relationships weren’t helped by James Carr’s increasing isolation and instability – it’s difficult to overestimate Carr’s importance to the label and they never really found a replacement or someone else of comparable stature. It might have been very different had they managed to hold on to O.V Wright after the success of ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’; but a label dispute with Duke / Peacock got in the way (O.V was contracted to Duke as a member of the Sunset Travelers and although O.V didn’t believe it included his work as a solo artist, Don Robey disagreed). Since you didn’t mess around with Robey at the time, Goldwax cut its losses, took the rights to the song but gave up on the artist.
The Ovations and Spencer Wiggins continued to work in Memphis with the Sounds for Memphis and XL labels, while Claunch took Carr’s contract to Atlantic. Doc Russell never really got involved in the music business again and died in 1989. Claunch continued to work in the business (even though he also went back on the road as a travelling salesman) and he finally resurrected the label in the mid 80s, recording artists such as Gwen McCrae and Margie Alexander. And of course he also produced James Carr’s ‘comeback’ albums “Soul Survivor” and “Take Me To The Limit“, both fine if limited sets.
There has been a fairly substantial and well put together reissue programme over the years and “The Goldwax Story – Volumes 1-3” on the Kent reissue label are worth a punt. Not all great, but enough on each release to warrant a look.
The Lyrics
The group’s first release, ‘Darling’, had the honour of kicking off the Goldwax story (technically before the label had formed). They were led by Percy Milem, who went on to record with Goldwax as a solo artist. ‘Darling’ has a doo-wop feel to it, did reasonably well at a regional level, but subsequent releases didn’t achieve any real success.
The Ovations
Led by the great Louis Williams, the group recorded in a variety of styles for the label. Predominantly remembered for Williams’ ability to sound uncannily like Sam Cooke – ‘I’m Livin’ Good’ is the Primer favourite, and Cooke’s influence is well to the fore on that particular track. The group reformed in the 70s (MGM) and were still recording in the 80s after releases on XL and Chess.
Wee Willie Walker
Dodgy name aside, Walker was another solid and underrated singer and ‘There Goes My Used To Be’ is a good, if unexceptional mid-paced effort with the usual horn and background vocal accompaniment. Other releases through Claunch were leased out to the Chess subsidiary Checker – Walker continued to record into the 70s for both the Hi (ironically) and Pawn labels. The Hi release ‘I Love Her’ is a excellent cheating soul ballad.
Spencer Wiggins
This guy was a great southern soul vocalist and he never had an R&B chart hit, let alone a sniff at the pop charts. At his best on deep soul ballads, he fared pretty well on up tempo tracks such as ‘He’s Too Old’. ‘Uptight Good Woman’ is a wonderful version of a fine song (also done by Laura Lee, amongst others). Maybe Spencer just didn’t get his tonsils around enough top quality material such as that track to make the breakthrough.
Timmy Thomas
Yes, this is the ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ man – early in his career he played jazz in the company of artists of the calibre of Donald Byrd and joined Goldwax predominantly as a session player. The self penned (along with Claunch and Rudolph Russell) ‘Liquid Mood’ was an instrumental 45 that showcased his keyboard work and scat singing.
Gene ‘Bowlegs’ Miller
A trumpeter, arranger and producer and one of the busier sidemen in Memphis throughout the 60s. He also cut instrumentals under his own name, and he release two singles for Goldwax. They were both very typical Memphis soul instrumentals (think Booker T. or the Mar-Keys). Miller continued in the business throughout the 70s and 80s as both a producer and occasional recording artist.
O.V. Wright
One of the greats of southern soul, he’s a key part of the Goldwax story (and vice versa), despite only the one single with the label. It was the Goldwax release (‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’) that helped Wright’s transition from gospel to secular music and it was the demo they cut at Stax (which Jim Stewart rejected) on which the Otis Redding’s version of the song was based.
From what you’ve said here, for anyone wishing to branch out from the usual Atlantic or Stax recommendations (as far as I’ve got so far), this looks like a potentially ripe area for exploration, especially as the label seems to major on that southern soul sound of the mid to late 60s that the big two had so much success with. What would you recommend as the best introduction to the Goldwax sound?
In one sense it’s easy to answer this question, purely because Goldwax is surprisingly well represented by an excellent reissue programme. Initially, The Goldwax Story Volumes 1-3 were released and are still available. Volume one would be the one to go for of these three single CD compilations, with arguably the best of the label’s output on that one CD.
Subsequently, the Complete Goldwax Singles compilations were released, again in three volumes, but this time they are all double CDs. Together they represent all the A and B sides released by the label between 1962-71. Personally, I think this is overkill unless you are a completist as much (some) of the Goldwax output was less than stellar. If you buy one, then Volume 2 is probably the pick of the releases, covering 1966-67. Whichever you go for, they can all be found at the usual on-line stores! If I had to make a choice for an introduction I’d go for the The Goldwax Story Volume 1
Hope this helps….
Sheila, I can add very little to John’s excellent reply. I included Goldwax in the Primer because I think that it’s an important label in the development of soul and was of course home to the wonderful James Carr, an extremely expressive but seemingly troubled vocalist on a number of very fine soul singles. But the label did have its fair share of filler. I would probably go with the first two volumes of the Goldwax Story and, if only buying a single CD, then Volume One is definitely the one to get.