Song:Anna (Go To Him)
Album:The Greatest
Though country soul pioneer Arthur Alexander never had the commercial success he deserved, songs like Anna and You Better Move On have been very durable and have been covered by many artists including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Alexander was also a big part of establishing Muscle Shoals as a recording industry hub. He was born May 10, 1940 in Sheffield, AL. Alexander's father was a local guitarist. Alexander started out in gospel. After graduating high school, he met lyricist Tom Stafford and the songs they wrote together led to Rick Hall. Hall planned to build a new recording studio in Muscle Shoals. After releasing the 1960 single Sally Sue Brown as June Alexander, Hall built his recording studio and Alexander's 1962 single You Better Move on was the first recording. It was a regional hit and Hall sold it to Dot Records and it reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later on the Rolling Stones covered the song. It financed Hall's recording studio. But Dot wanted Alexander to record with their producer Noel Ball. Anna was Alexander's third single and it reached #10 on the R & B Singles chart. John Lennon loved Anna and The Beatles covered it on the 1963 album Please Please Me. Alexander continued to record for Dot with little success and they dropped him in 1965. This Ace Records comp has all of his Dot recordings. Alexander had health problems in the late 60s and he recorded an unreleased album for ABC/Dunhill. Then he resurfaced in 1971 as a staff songwriter at Combine Music in Nashville. He recorded a 1972 album for Warner Bros. It didn't sell and after recording for Buddah in the mid-70s, Alexander left the music business and returned to Alabama to be a bus driver. He recorded occasionally. After his 1993 album Lonely Just Like Me was released by Elektra/Nonesuch, Alexander died of a heart attack while on tour in Nashville on June 9, 1993 at age 53. Here's a video of Anna (Go To Him) by Arthur Alexander.
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