May 9

O.V. Wright - 1973 - Memphis Unlimited

Posted by nikos1109

A masterpiece of deep Southern soul.

Listen to O.V. wail over the fading bars of Nothing Comes To A Sleeper - spine-tingling stuff. Simply amazing that no one has sought to rerelease any of his albums on CD yet. Hard-driving soul produced by Willie Mitchell.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of my original Back Beat record with covers.

Tracks
A1. I’ve Been Searching 2:34
A2. Nothing Comes to A Sleeper 3:14
A3. The Only Thing that Saved Me 2:30
A4. He’s My Son 2:45
A5. You Must Believe in Yourself 2:41
A6. Lost in the Shuffle 3:24
B1. I’d Rather Be Blind Cripple and Crazy 2:42
B2. Please Forgive Me 4:04
B3. Are You Going Where I’m Coming from 3:08
B4. Ghetto Child 3:29
B5. Memory Blues 3:29
B6. I’m Going Home 2:42

O.V. Wright is part of the Pantheon Of 1960s Soul, up therewith Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding. He’s not as well known as them–at least in America–but his songs have been covered by Redding, the Rolling Stones, Robert Cray, and Ann Peebles. Like Burke and Franklin, his vocal style was heavily based in Southern gospel music, passionately balancing the sacred and the secular. Wright fervently implored, pleaded, and howled his tales of love lost, strayed, thwarted, or shattered. The music is prime Memphis rhythm & blues: full of sharp, terse guitar, rich Hammond organ, and gospel-informed background vocals–tight and funky but never slick.

Memphis Unlimited was released on Back Beat Records and distributed by ABC, but it was arranged and produced by Willie Mitchell and has that classic southern Soul sound of Hi Records. Mitchell’s amazing production made everyone he worked with sound like Al Green like on I’ve Been Searching, You Must Believe In Yourself, I’d Rather Be Blind, Cripple, And Crazy, Are You Going Where I’m Coming From, and I’m Going Home (To Live With God). The other songs are decent as well, making Memphis Unlimited one of those few records you can listen to from beginning to end.

From the book “The Rough Guide to Soul and R & B” : Considered by many to be the greatest deep soul singer of em all, O.V.Wright may have crossed over from gospel, but he never truly left behind. More than the records of any other soul singer, Wright’s best releases were straight gospel records with different lyrics and they had an inensity of feeling that could be matched only by some of James Carr’s best sides.

Download link

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Date May 9th, 2008

49 Responses to “O.V. Wright - 1973 - Memphis Unlimited”

  1. houseinrlyeh Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

    I just want to say thank you for this album.
    I love the few songs of Wright I know, so this is making me really happy.

  2. DJ Abe Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    Thank you…..

  3. robert Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    Absolutely badass, O.V. is the man!

    Thanks for this!

  4. willjello Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    thank you for this deep soul masterpiece!

  5. invisiblenigma Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    This Is what soul is all about! Thanks Nikos!!

  6. andre Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 9:50 pm

    thanks for the ov, never heard this one before, thanks for puttin me up on some new stuff.

  7. arkane1 Says:
    May 9th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    Nikos! Thank you very much for sharing this LP. O.V. Wright is one of my favorite soul singers. Going to post a couple albums Saturday. Talk to you later. Peace and Blessings.

  8. jack_faith Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 4:01 am

    is it just me or is rapidshare completely dead? Their happy hours are rather ironic, as so much of the time seems to betheir unhappy ones where the links lead nowhere. They may be fast but sharebee, megaupload, zhare etc. are a lot more reliable

  9. Groovy Emmanuel Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 4:22 am

    Southern grooviness by the Willie/Overton magical combination. Sheer beauty. Back Beat was a Duke-Peacock subsidiary with more magic, which I dare say looking forward to find it here someday Nikos. Once again, big thanks bro.

  10. Lafayette Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 4:28 am

    Thanks, Nikos…perfect for balancing up a sunny saturday morning! :¬)

    /Lafayette

  11. Laker Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 6:43 am

    His records with Back Beat were fantastic. A great Soul Man. Respect.

  12. ANne Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 8:31 am

    thx

  13. mg Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Excellent artist and record! Great site!

  14. musicmeiho Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    Thank you.

  15. bob Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    I really like your collection here, nikos. Overton Vertis Wright was Soul.

  16. R Boogz Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

    Thanks. Been looking for some O.V. Wright for a minute.

  17. catacaldos Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    Wow,a true legend.Fantastic share,thanx a lot.

  18. marco bomax from Italy Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    great blog with great music

  19. squirrelwhisperer Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    thank you

  20. El Rosso Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 2:54 am

    Thanks!

  21. soulbrotha Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 3:27 am

    Finally, I get to hear some OV Wright! Thanks Nikos! :)

  22. John Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 7:28 am

    O.V. rules. Keep on with your fantastic LP’s collection. Thanks for the music lessons.

  23. Thal Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 11:41 am

    good job nikos

  24. Regina Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    fantastic!

  25. Mick Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 5:36 pm

    man, your music taste is soooooooooooo high. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

  26. SC08 Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    Thank you for this treat Nikos, very appreciated

  27. W Says:
    May 12th, 2008 at 1:40 am

    A mighty album! Thanks.

  28. nick Says:
    May 12th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    Still sounds great. Amazing album.

  29. Grizz Says:
    May 12th, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    Great stuff here. Love OV’s stuff. thank you very much!!

  30. T.A. Says:
    May 13th, 2008 at 4:45 am

    Another of your goodies. O.V was so great……….

  31. Sotiris Says:
    May 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    Very large! Perfect job Niko1109.

  32. Rich Says:
    May 15th, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    Cant wait to hear this one. thanx again nikos.

  33. cob Says:
    May 16th, 2008 at 2:31 am

    o.v. rulz. thx for all ur hard work! yr blog is da bomb!

  34. Les Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 am

    I’ve been wanting to hear something by O.V. Wright for a long time.
    Thanks for making it happen. There isn’t a better singer of soul out.

  35. Jazzsoulman Says:
    May 22nd, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    You’ve got such an incredible music taste. Thanks a lot for this soulful gem. I love O.V.’s voice

  36. Anonymous Says:
    May 25th, 2008 at 8:19 am

    I’ve been searchin, I’ve been searchin
    for an O.V album. Only heard about two handfuls of his songs before so this is really happy times.
    Thank you. Yes, the lost in tyme was a favourite of mine. Can’t really begin to say how many new artists
    I’ve found thrue that place.
    God bless.

  37. Jock Says:
    May 25th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Once again. You come up trumps. Fantastic.

  38. SP Says:
    June 28th, 2008 at 1:10 am

    Wonderful LP, what a singer! Thankyou for these posts,

  39. Johnny Robinson - Memphis High | Funk my Soul Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 9:19 am

    […] about Johnny Robinson please make a comment. Those who liked O.V. Wright and his amazing album “Memphis Unlimited” posted sometime ago, will adore this one too. […]

  40. BenTheBalladeer Says:
    September 20th, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    Hi, the link does not work anymore, is it possible to repost link
    thanks
    Ben

  41. nikos1109 Says:
    September 21st, 2008 at 1:43 am

    The link is working again. Enjoy!

  42. Chris Says:
    November 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pm

    Ahhhhh, more Willie Mitchell productions. Thanks for getting this O.V. joint on the page. PEace

  43. Dan Says:
    January 1st, 2009 at 2:26 am

    What a great record. Went back and listened to this again today and remembered I got it here first! Thanks so much for all the amazing hard work you put into this blog. This place is a dream come true for soul lovers!

  44. spc Says:
    February 13th, 2009 at 11:15 pm

    Thank you for this greaat album! Really enjoyed it, as I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve heard by OV Wright

  45. Mikey Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    Thanks so much for this fabulous music Nikos.

    The record was recently released on CD but the guys who remastered it turned the bass and drums up way too high.

    Conversely the balance on this vinyl rip is just right. Guess they should’ve left well enough alone.

  46. Becky Says:
    July 4th, 2009 at 11:34 pm

    I love O.V.Wright and have been looking for some of his syuff for ages. I can’t tell you how happy i am to have found this. You have FANTASTIC music taste. LOVE YOU!!!

  47. Jorge Says:
    July 20th, 2009 at 5:36 am

    Thanks for uploading this. Mikey brought it to my attention, and I will be sure to visit your blog again.

  48. besmel Says:
    December 30th, 2009 at 7:47 pm

    Thanx alot.

  49. Way Back Wednesday | Yours Truly Says:
    May 13th, 2010 at 12:46 am

    […] Produced by Willie Mitchell for Wright’s 1973 album Memphis Unlimited […]

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