Dorothy Williams

Dorothy Williams first cut for Volt in 1964. The bluesy aggressive uptempo“Watch Dog” is well regarded but the deep ballad Closer To My Baby is in a different class. Check out the way Dorothy growls over certain phrases to push up the emotional temperature - lovely. The track has a rather odd feel for this period of Stax releases - no horns just a meandering tenor sax and a mixed backing group - but it is a real winner.

Dorothy's other 45 release came a year later. The bouncy nonsensical “Country Style” has a certain "grow on you" charm and was also used by Goldwax owners Claunch and Russell for blue eyed singer Ben Atkins at the end of the decade and leased out to Josie. But the uptempo “The Well’s Gone Dry” is a good showcase for Williams' no nonsense vocal delivery, which harks back to blues shouters like Big Maybelle. We could have done with more from this lady.

 

Note ~ Both sides of the Bandstand USA single can be found on various Ace UK compilations of Goldwax material.

 

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