Artist: Luther Ingram
Profile:
While R&B singer Luther Ingram remains best remembered for the piercing 1972 ballad “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” he was also a gifted songwriter, teaming with Mark Rice to co-write the Staple Singers’ classic empowerment anthem “Respect Yourself.” Born November 30, 1944, in Jackson, TN, Ingram spent the majority of his adolescence in Alton, IL, launching his singing career in a group featuring his siblings. As a teen he also began writing songs, and later ventured out as a solo act, most notably opening for Ike Turner in East St. Louis. Ingram eventually migrated to New York City, where according to legend he briefly roomed with a then-unknown Jimi Hendrix. In 1965 he signed to Decca and cut his debut single, “You Never Miss Your Water,” followed by a cover of Jamo Thomas’ “(I Spy) For the FBI” on Smash. After little-heard efforts for indies Hurdy-Gurdy (“Run for Your Life”) and HIB (the instrumental “Exus Trek”), Ingram relocated to Memphis, signing to producer Jimmy Baylor’s fledgling KoKo label. Initial efforts like the 1967 single “I Can’t Stop” and the next year’s “Missing You” failed to generate much interest, but when Baylor negotiated a distribution deal with Stax Records in 1969, Ingram’s fortunes improved dramatically. Later that same year he scored his first R&B Top 20 hit with “My Honey and Me.” 1970’s “Ain’t That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)” not only cracked the R&B Top Ten, but also peaked just outside the pop Top 40.
With his recording career flourishing, Ingram expanded into freelance songwriting, partnering with R&B veteran Rice in 1971 for the Staples’ “Respect Yourself.” The single was a crossover smash, fall just shy of the Billboard Top Ten, and in the years to come received cover treatments by everyone from Joe Cocker to actor Bruce Willis. A year later Ingram notched a blockbuster of his own with “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” a potent tale of infidelity written by Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, and Carl Hampton. Ingram’s rich, intimate vocal proved a perfect match for the material, selling over a million copies and reaching number three on the pop charts, although country crossover queen Barbara Mandrell later scored a smash cover version as well. A series of R&B chart hits including “You Were Made for Me,” “Always,” and “Love Ain’t Gonna Run Me Away” followed, and in 1973 he returned to the pop Top 40 one final time with the sublime “I’ll Be Your Shelter (In Time of Storm).” At the peak of Ingram’s fame, however, KoKo ran into financial turmoil and during the remainder of the 1970s he issued only a handful of additional singles, all of them undermined by distribution and marketing issues. After more than a decade out of the limelight, Ingram signed to Profile in 1986 and resurfaced on the R&B Top 40 with “Baby Don’t Get Too Far.” The minor hits “Don’t Turn Around” and “Gotta Serve Somebody” followed, and in 1992 he wrapped his recording career with the Ichiban single “I Like the Feeling.” After years of health struggles including kidney disease and diabetes, Ingram died of heart failure on March 19, 2007. Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Luther Ingram’s final LP for Stax’s Koko imprint features ten songs written by Ingram, Tommy Tate, and Johnny Baylor (Ingram’s late, notorious manager; many feel his gangster tactics caused Stax’s end). In the past, Homer Banks, Carl Hampton, and others wrote Ingram’s songs; these fail to meet the previous standard. The best include the lilting “Do You Love Somebody,” which stiffed, and “Get to Me,” a little-heard single. “Ain’t Good for Nothing,” an upbeat stomper where he sings about not being good for anything but loving his woman, has Northern Soul appeal. Other solid cuts include “Do You Think There’s a Chance” and “Trying to Find My Love,” the B-side of “Get to Me.” To Ingram’s credit, he sings everything with passion: even the weak stuff. Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
Luther Ingram takes things deep deep deep here – working up that more sophisticated groove developed on earlier albums, into a slinky southern style that’s totally great – and pretty darn standard-setting all these many years later! As before, Ingram’s working with producer Johnny Baylor – who also handled the arrangements with help from Tommy “Bump & Hustle” Stewart – really capturing a new level of maturity that was happening in the southern scene of the time – a wave perhaps inspired by Al Green’s hits, but which really pushed forward in new directions for itself. Titles include “Time Machine”, “Do You Love Somebody”, “Do You Think There’s A Chance”, “Sorry”, “Get To Me”, “Faces”, “Ain’t Good For Nothing”, and “Funny People”.
Review By Soulmakossa:
Luther’s last KoKo album also is his finest, although it’s a tight call considering ‘Let’s Steal Away to the Hideaway’, its predecessor, already proved to be a wonderful Southern Soul LP.
Once more recorded in Muscle Shoals, ‘Do You Love Somebody’ did not chart, but ranks as one of the greatest albums of the genre, especially considering it was released in the glitterball era of disco dance music. As with ‘Let’s Steal Away…’, Ingram refused to pander to an audience obsessed with the dancefloor and superfluous rhythms.
“Do You Love Somebody”, his last Top 20 R&B hit, is a delicious mid-tempo groover featuring a hint of Philly in the string arrangement, but is bottom-heavy. Luther soars on the chorus, here.
My personal favorite has to be the lilting, gently paced ballad “How I Miss You Baby”, which is sparsely arranged and features one of Ingram’s finest vocals, especially on the breakdown of the song.
“Get to Me” borrows more than a fair share of Marvin Gaye’s erotic “Let’s Get It On”, both lyrically and musically, but is a fine uptempo ditty with some mean guitar work.
Ingram’s forte remained the mid-paced love ballad, and “Sorry” is another delightfully executed gem: a perfect, melodious cruiser riding a fatback, pounding groove.
The most unusual cut, as well as the hardest funkin’ one, undoubtedly is the socio-political vamp “Time Machine”, where blaxploitation meets Southern Soul. Ingram tackles eveything here from killing unborn babies ‘to hide wrongs’ and inner city poverty to tricky politics. This line says it all: “They got the bread, they got the meat, while the people in the streets can’t make ends meet”… Crucial stuff.
Up next is a Southern spin on the Barry White aesthetic: the bumpin’ uptempo gem “Do You Think There’s a Chance”, with its elastic bass lines and sock-it-to-me drums.
Tommy Tate, the other main KoKo artist, co-wrote the most downhome ballad here with the fine strutter “Trying to Find My Love”, but Luther is back in a funk mode on the hard driving “Ain’t Good for Nothing”, with its aggressive vocal approach, scorching guitars and blaring horns.
The LP ends with two unorthodox cuts that, to me, are also two of Ingram’s most beautiful waxings. “Funny People” is about how ‘friends’ desert you when you’re down and out. Set to a slightly bouncing groove, Ingram sings the introspective lyrics in unison with the bass line and even a sitar! Also, it has the backing singers from The Isaac Hayes Movement on board.
And then comes “Faces”… what to say about this jewel? Sung from the perspective of a grown man coming from a chaotic home with a hard drinking father and a philandering mother, this haunting ballad – with its soft piano touches and subdued strings – has Ingram singing the devastating lyric: “I find as I got older, those faces lied to me”. Goosebump-inducing, and a diamond in the Southern Soul genre.
I cannot praise this album – and its predecessor – enough. It’s true, hard, gritty Southern Soul, it’s melodious yet funky, and, to top it off, features one of the greatest male vocalists that ever lent a voice to recorded music. Five stars easily.
Album: Do You Love Somebody
Release date: 1977
Tracklist:
01. Do You Love Somebody
02. How I Miss My Baby
03. Get To Me
04. Sorry
05. Time Machine
06. Do You Think There’s A Chance
07. Trying To Find My Love
08. Ain’t Good For Nothing
09. Funny People
10. Faces
‘How I Miss My Baby’ On YouTube
Vinyl Covers, Labels & Promo (Click On The Thumbnails)
