![]() By 1977 Arthur retreats to Cleveland to drive a bus and clean up his life, another faded soul legend. Racism and the vagaries of history, personality and dishonest accounting practices collude to push Arthur over the edge. ![]() ![]() A flirtation with drugs leads to full-blown addiction, mental collapse and a loss of family and career. His music is recorded by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. A young African-American man, ambitious and talented, rises through the emerging soul scene in Muscle Shoals and Nashville. How good was he? Ponder this quote by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, “When the Beatles and the Rolling Stones got their first chance to record, one did ‘Anna’ and the other did ‘You Better Move On.’ That should tell you enough.”Īrthur’s story, excellently told by songwriter/author Younger is an abject lesson in the perils of stardom. A glance at a list of artists who covered his songs includes country, blues, pop, new-swing and rockabilly artists. His music, a fusion of R&B, soul, country and pop rose to the top of American music and his voice was considered to be one of the great instruments of his times. Like many early African-American pioneers of popular music in the 1950s and 1960s he influenced virtually all of the major rock and roll artists of the era. ![]() ![]() University of Alabama Press ( May 15, 2000)Īrthur Alexander may not be a household name, but it should be. ![]()
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