Soul blues is a form of blues that, as its name implies, fuses soul music with traditional blues music. It is a form of blues that was pioneered by African-American musicians in the South. Among the music form’s early champions were the late Bobby “Blue” Bland and Z.Z. HIll. Although a number of prominent blues musicians, such as B.B. King and Robert Cray, are known for soul blues, few artists epitomize what the sub-genre is as much as Johnny Rawls.
Soul blues, as performed by Johnny Rawls, is an entertaining and sometimes intoxicating form of blues, but it also seems an anachronistic throw-back to an earlier era as some of its most prominent performers have passed on. If there was an endangered species list for music forms, soul blues might be on it. Rawls’ own mentor, O.V. Wright, who was known as the giant of Southern soul and for whom Rawls’ latest album is named, died of a heart attack in 1980 at age 41. Rawls also worked with Z.Z. Hill, who died in 1984, also of a heart attack. Ike Turner died in 2007 and Bland passed away last June. But in Rawls and other artists such as the highly-entertaining Holmes Brothers, soul blues has standard-bearers that still live to carry the genre into the future.   A small number of younger musicians like Ellis Hooks have embraced the form, although its influence can be heard in the work of many current blues musicians.
Rawls was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and attended school in Purvis, Mississippi, where he learned to play saxophone and clarinet, as well as the guitar. In the mid-1970s, while still in his 20s, Rawls joined Wright’s band until Wright’s death in 1980 and pressed on with the same band, known as the Ace of Spades Band, until 1993. In 1994 he collaborated with fellow band-mate L.C. Luckett to release the album Can’t Sleep At Night.  Rawls released his first solo album, Here We Go, in 1996 and has released a string of 13 albums since, including 2012’s Soul Survivor, which somewhat capture’s Rawls’ status as one of the last of a musical breed.
Remembering O.V. brings out the soul of soul blues. While some musicians who play soul blues, such as Cray, display their fantastic guitar skills prominently, Rawls’ music – at least on Soul Survivor and Remembering O.V. –  is all about his soulful singing. On Remembering O.V., a horn section and backup singers help create that seductive soul sound.  Soul singing veteran Otis Clay joined Rawls to provide vocals on several songs, and The Iveys provided background vocals. Johnny McGhee joined on guitar, Dan Ferguson on keyboards, Richy Puga on drums, Robert Claiborne on trombone, Mike Middleton on trumpet, and Andy Roman on Sax.
Remembering O.V.  is a good example of soul blues. Along with recent releases by the Holmes Brothers, including 2010’s Feed My Soul and the just-released Brotherhood,  Rawls’ music demonstrates how engaging soul blues can be.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.