"You Better Move On” has been covered by more than forty artists, including the Rolling Stones. Arthur quit his job as a bellhop, but like many other young stars of the day, the only money he made was from the endless touring on package shows, not from his royalties. It was Alexander’s hit that put northern Alabama on the map and Hall went on to lead Muscle Shoals’ transformation into a soul music mecca. Released on Dot Records, the record reached # 24 on the pop charts in 1962 and earned Hall enough money to begin work on a new Muscle Shoals studio, the now legendary FAME studio (Florence Alabama Musical Enterprises). In 1961, Alexander cut “You Better Move On” at a former tobacco warehouse in Muscle Shoals, which Rick Hall had turned into a recording studio. Bob Dylan would record “Sally Sue Brown” in 1988.
The record came out on Jud Phillips’s Judd label and was credited to June Alexander (short for Junior). The next year Arthur made his debut as a recording artist with “Sally Sue Brown”, co-written with Tom Stafford and Earl Montgomery. In 1958 Alexander partnered with Henry Lee Bennett to write “She Wanna Rock”, which was recorded by Arnie Derksen for Decca in 1959. Alexander began adding melodies to his words and through Stafford was introduced to a likeminded crowd of fledgling musicians, including future stars Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Billy Sherrill and Rick Hall. During this time he befriended Tom Stafford, an R&B-obsessed white kid who fancied himself a lyricist. After high school, he worked as hotel bellhop in Sheffield’s Holiday Inn. In the sixth grade he joined a gospel group, the Heartstrings. As a kid, he soaked up a wide variety of musical influences from the radio, from his parents and from cowboy movies. His father was a blues guitarist his mother and sister sang in church. A profound influence on the early 1960s British beat boom, Alexander’s songs have been recorded by artists like the Beatles (3 songs), the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ike & Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, the Searchers, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Ry Cooder, Dave Edmunds, Johnny Rivers, the Bee Gees, Robert Plant and others.Īlexander was born in Florence, Alabama, but grew up in nearby Sheffield. Born Arthur Alexander Jr.,, Florence, AlabamaĪrthur Alexander was a talented “country soul” and R&B singer who died too young.
0 kommentar(er)
