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Otis Redding, the greatest soul singer who ever lived, was his man and would be his man forever, wasn’t any question of that. But there were others. He especially liked James Carr, the personification of deep soul, a gut-wrenching, from-the-bottom vocalist who seemed to be intimate with heartache and pain. Also, O. V. Wright, the self-proclaimed Ace of Spades who brought muscle and real emotion to every track he cut, and Solomon Burke, a survivor who always surprised and could work up a head of steam like no other, his songs often climaxing in thrilling ways.
To find his bounty, Strange visited small record stores in Shaw and Petworth, and spent too much money at the Soul Shack, on 12th and G, and Super Music City, down on 7th. He only bought albums that he felt were keepers, those that he suspected he would still be listening to in thirty years: Otis Blue and The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, Aretha’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, and the one full-length that every brother and sister he knew seemed to own, James Brown’s legendary Live at the Apollo.
But mainly Strange was a collector of singles. He would buy damn near any 45, unheard, if it carried one of “his” labels, because he had come to recognize that these labels had a certain sound. He’d been told by the counter clerk at the Soul Shack that it was session men from Booker T. amp; the MG’s who were doing most of the playing on the hottest songs, but he already knew, without having to be told, that Atlantic, Atco, Dial, Stax, and Volt shared musicians. You could hear the same rhythm and horn sections on cuts from Wilson Pickett, Otis, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Sam amp; Dave, Aretha, William Bell, Joe Tex, Joh
Whatever it was, it had gotten into Strange. He had even begun to catalogue the release numbers of each single he owned in a notebook he kept by the stereo. It was a sickness with him, almost an obsession, and he couldn’t talk about it or explain it, but what he did know was that when he listened to this music, it just about moved him to tears.
And here he was, feeling that way now. Sitting on the couch, his eyes closed, listening to James Carr singing his new one, “A Man Needs a Woman,” Goldwax number 332.
He heard a knock on his door and got up out of his seat. He looked through the rabbit hole and opened the door.
De
“Young D.”
“De
“What, you go
“Come on in,” said Derek.
Derek closed the door behind De
“You want a Coke, somethin’?” said Derek.
“Nah, I’m good.”
De
“Go
“You should.”
“Gotta get my own place first, I guess.”
“You should do that, too.”
De
Derek had heard this kind of remark from his brother before, usually said in a different way. But there was no jealousy or rancor in De
“I don’t have a pe
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
A silence came between them. The music ended, and the silence was amplified. Derek didn’t know why his brother had stopped by or what they were supposed to talk about now. Lately, they’d had less and less to discuss.
“Look here, De
“What?”
“I’m going out soon. Lydell and me are going by this party, over near Howard.”
“Can I come?”
“Wouldn’t be a good idea,” said Derek, too quickly. “I mean, it’s not like you’d know anyone, right?”
“Relax. I’m just playin’ with you, man. You and me don’t exactly swing with the same crowd.”
Derek was instantly ashamed for trying to talk his brother out of coming with him and Lydell. There was a time when he’d looked way up to De
“You’re welcome to stay here tonight,” said Derek. “Put some space between you and Pop. I know it’s been rough lately between you two.”
“Yeah, it’s been rough. On my side of things, it’s hard to live up to his expectations. But I can dig it. I been a disappointment to him, I know.”
Derek said nothing.
“Think I might have turned a corner, though,” said De
“How’s that?”
“Seein’ things more clearly, is all I’m trying to say.”
“Somethin’ happen?”
“Wasn’t like a lightning bolt came shootin’ out of heaven. It came to me slow. The point is, it came. What I was thinking was, a man’s got to have a plan.”
“True.”
“Doesn’t have to be a big plan.”
“I hear you.”
“You were talking about trying to hook me up with a job. I think I’d like to look into that. I mean, it would be something, right?”
“Sure would be,” said Derek. “It would be a start.”
“Nothing too strenuous, ’cause of this back of mine.”
“Right.”
“Anyway,” said De
“You’re welcome anytime.”
De
“You’re not go
“I don’t think so. Go
Derek stood and shook De
“I’m still me.”
“So we shouldn’t be expecting you to buy any tickets to this year’s policemen’s ball, huh?”
“I’m angry, man. I’m always go