#o.v. wright

O.V. Wright - Ace Of Spades

He sang blues so deep and so raw. Slow burns, deep moans, pure ache.

Decades later, Hip-Hop musicians found him in vinyl. O.V.’s pain was living its second life. Chopped, looped, and rapped over by UGK, 8Ball & MJG, and half the Southern rap scene. Even the RZA knew: you don’t fake that kind of soul. 

"That's How Strong My Love Is" - O.V. Wright (With The Keys) 

LABEL: Goldwax 106 (B-side of "There Goes My Used To Be"), 1964. 

 INFO: O.V. Wright was one of the Memphis soul singers that most retained his original gospel roots on his R&B records. This soul classic was written by Roosevelt Jamison and alternate stories have him being rejected by Jim Stewart upon bringing the demo tape of Wright singing the song to Stax. Another, and to me more likely, story has Jamison bringing just the lyrics to Stax and seeing Steve Cropper, who subsequently kept the words, but without having heard the demo, was forced to come up with a new chord progression. Hence, the 3/4 I-V-IV progression of Otis compared to the 6/8 I-VIm-(IV-V) of O.V. Wright. 

O.V. Wright - I'd Rather Be (Blind, Cripple or Crazy) (1973)

You like Al Green?  Try O.V. Wright.  His vocals are a bit more gritty, but the production by Willie Mitchell is very similar.