As 2000 ushered in a new millennium, it also reintroduced the soulful voice of Clarence Carter on Cameron Crowe's Grammy-winning soundtrack to Almost Famous.   Being the sole (pun intended) R&B gem on this compilation, Crowe embedded Carter's hit song, "Slip Away" into what is otherwise his definitive 1970s classic rock retrospective.  This is not to say that Carter is the only R&B artist found in the film proper.  On the contrary, Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" was masterfully used as an "eleven o'clock number" in the Plaza Hotel scene toward the conclusion of the film...but anchored toward the end of Crowe's soundtrack is Carter's song. To pay homage to Almost Famous, Clarence Carter is certainly an "incendiary" voice of renown.

In recent years, The Dynamic Clarence Carter, one of the soul star's finest offerings, was most commonly available in a limited CD pressing as an import remaster on Japan's Atlantic label.  (The 2000 U.S. reissue on the Collectables label is long out-of-print.)  A voice of this mettle rightfully deserves a kind of recognition akin to that of an Otis Redding since he helped bridge a gap left behind by the tragic passing of Redding.  Like Otis, Carter's voice and sound is a unifying one that has crossover appeal.  In 2016, Ace Records' Kent imprint has rightfully honored this exceptional artist with the superb treatment of what are arguably his two masterpieces: his debut album, This is Clarence Carter and a subsequent recording, The Dynamic Clarence Carter.  The two LPs, from 1968 and 1969, have been paired one on CD with five outstanding bonus tracks: 29 glorious Carter tracks in total!

One could easily argue that the cover of Carter's debut album This is Clarence Carter nearly presents everything one needs to know about Carter.  He's donned a basic sweater and his trademark shades, and is strumming a guitar that's as prominent as the artist himself.  The album cover reveals not just a soul singer, but a guitar player (and a blues-filled one at that) whose approach to music is as relaxed as his character - as mysterious as the shades obscuring his eyes.   On the surface, Carter may appear effortless, but underneath is a fiery, impassioned, legally blind singer and guitar player who brings the listener in close enough to feel the sting in his guitar strings.

In scrolling through the tracks of these two early Carter classic albums produced by Rick Hall at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, it is made clear that the singer's reach is a wide one as he delivers both soul and rock with equal ease.  He completely reinvents The Doors' classic "Light My Fire" and leaves his mark on a fine rendition of Jimmy Webb's timeless "Do What You Gotta Do."  Carter is as comfortable covering a soul/blues singer like Don Covay as he is the pop songwriting maestros Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil ("You've Been a Long Time Comin'") as he is penning his own simmering and sultry, Solomon Burke-esque original, "I Can't See Myself."  Whether intentional or not, Carter songs seemed to favor puns when alluding to his disability.  In fact, on one of Carter's most impassioned displays of vocals and guitar playing is on the lead song on The Dynamic Clarence Carter, "I'd Rather Go Blind."  It's on this song that Carter earnestly stings his lover with the line "I'd rather go blind than to see you walk away." Additionally, Carter liked to use 'slip' as a metaphor to reveal shadings of vulnerability, temptation and torture due to infidelities - not just on his famous "Slip Away" but also on his recording of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's "Slippin' Around."

The Kent label's reissue is certain to be one of the strongest soul offerings of 2016.  As an additional treat to these two classic albums, the bonus tracks are revelatory - especially the previously unreleased "There Won't Be Another Sunset." This song is worth the admission alone; it finely ties together this artist's modus operandi into a heartrending two minutes and fort-five seconds.  It's all here: A singer left "with nothing to say" but deal with the acceptance of a foreboding distance that is seemingly settling in between him and a soon to be distant lover. It's the clever, metaphorical title that leaves the listener with an opaque sense that a patient man is readying himself to move on from a "settling" relationship into a hopefully bright future. It's all here in less than three minutes.  Clarence Carter is not an artist to slip, nor slide away into the horizon line.  He is a soul singer and guitarist who is not to be missed.  This two-for-one release features a 16-page booklet with detailed liner notes by Dean Rudland; it's been well-remastered by Duncan Cowell.  An essential reissue.

Similar New & Noteworthy Reissues (to further enrich your Soul): Just check out about anything from the newly refocused Playback Records label, especially vocalist Joe Haywood's Warm and Tender Soul and The Crowns of Glory's gospel-influenced classic, Won't It Be Grand.

Clarence Carter, This is Clarence Carter/The Dynamic Clarence Carter (Kent CDKEND 444, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Do What You Gotta Do
2. Looking for a Fox
3. Slippin' Around
4. I'm Qualified
5. I Can't See Myself
6. Wind It Up
7. Part Time Love
8. Thread the Needle
9. Slip Away
10. Funky Fever
11. She Ain't Gonna Do Right
12. Set Me Free
13. I'd Rather Go Blind
14. Think About It
15. The Road of Love
16. You've Been a Long Time Coming
17. Light My Fire
18. That Old Time Feeling
19. Steal Away
20. Let Me Comfort You
21. Look What I Got
22. Too Weak to Fight
23. Harper Valley P.T.A.
24. Weekend Love
25. I'm Happy-Go-Lucky
26. She Ain't Gonna Do Right
27. Take Me, Use Me
28. There Won't Be Another Sunset
29. I'll Be Over After a While

Tracks 1-12 from This is Clarence Carter, Atlantic LP SD 8192, 1968
Tracks 13-24 from The Dynamic Clarence Carter, Atlantic LP SD 8199, 1969
Tracks 25-29 previously unreleased, rec. 1965-1967

All tracks stereo except Tracks 25-29 are in mono.