James Carr: Dark End of the Street (1967)

 |   |  1 min read

James Carr: Dark End of the Street (1967)

One of the greatest, most pain-filled soul songs, Dark End of the Street was written by producer Chips Moman (Elvis, Aretha, Waylon and many more) and Dan Penn (whose writing credits are so legion as to be too long to list).

And, for what it doesn't say, it is one of the most ambiguous lyrics too. Although they wrote it as a cheating song.

That is certainly in there – “hiding our wrong” – but some have heard it as about an interracial relationship or one that goes across lines of class.

There is tremendous tension in it too (“they're gonna find us someday”) and the sense of guilt and secretiveness (“if we should meet just walk on by”).

James_Carr_The_Dark_End_of_the_StreetYou can see why – with all these aspects – it has appealed to country artists as much as soul singers and although there is probably no definitive version, James Carr's recording – the first – remains a classic.

Carr – who died in 2001 after an erratic career which saw him disappear for many years because of mental issues – was an exceptional soul singer to be spoken of in the same breath as Otis Redding, OV Wright, Percy Sledge and – when he was moved by the hurt into a jog on the spot/foot stomping energy – James Brown.

He poured pure ache into a lyric (Otis' These Arms of Mine), found it in his heart to forgive while nursing regret (the wonderful Harlan Howard ballad Life Turned Her That Way), reached beyond the personal into the universal (Freedom Train) and took the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody to a Southern consciousness.

71oe6LbFmfL._SL1200_He was church and secular wrapped up in Memphis soul.

The 20-track The Best of James Carr (Kent through Border in New Zealand) opens with The Dark End of the Street, includes all those other songs mentioned above as well as Pouring Water on a Drowning Man, William Bell's You Hurt So Good, the wonderful A Man Needs a Woman and many more.

Widely considered one of the greats, Carr started in gospel but emerged in the Sixties when soul music was coming of age and he fitted right in, bringing that deep understanding of pain and redemption to secular lyrics.

He wasn't without the funk either.

This Best Of is as good as best gets.

For more one-offs, oddities and songs with an interesting backstory go to From the Vaults.  

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Odell Brown: Mellow Yellow (1967)

Odell Brown: Mellow Yellow (1967)

The Chess label out of Chicago knew its way around the blues and funk so when swinging and finger-snap funk (like the Ramsey Lewis Trio's 1965 hit The In Crowd) was all over radio, the Chess... > Read more

Big Boy Groves: Bucket o Blood (1962)

Big Boy Groves: Bucket o Blood (1962)

Most songs inviting you to club promise a great night with dancing and drinking and fun times to be had. Ervin Groves from San Diego promising nothing of the sort with this song. In fact... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Bob Geldof: Which one do you want?

Bob Geldof: Which one do you want?

It is sometimes easy to forget -- and you suspect at times he does too -- but Bob Geldof is actually a musician. He was in musician mode when he came to town in April 91 because he'd released an... > Read more

Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra: Rockinghorse (Rhino)

Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra: Rockinghorse (Rhino)

The celebrity-guest collections and R'N'B Orchestra discs from Jools Holland have often been tasty but a few not entirely successful. This sometimes breathless rush of boogie-woogie piano, big... > Read more