Quinton Claunch, who had co-founded Hi Records in 1957, sold his share of the company in 1959. Five years later, in partnership with local pharmacist Rudolph V. Russell, he re-entered the music business, when together they set up Goldwax Records in Memphis in 1964. They signed a distribution deal with Vee-Jay Records in Chicago, until that company closed down, and then with Bell Records in New York from 1966. Vee-Jay distributed the Goldwax 100 series, Al Bell’s company dealt with the Goldwax 300 series.
They signed a fairly small number of artists and had some success with O.V. Wright, Spencer Wiggins, Wee Willie Walker and the Ovations, but the biggest name on the label was James Carr.
James Carr
James Carr was born in 1942 in Coahoma, Mississippi, but moved to Memphis while still a young child. His father was a Baptist preacher and James started singing in church, performing as a member of various Gospel groups, including the Harmony Echoes. He went to Stax for an audition, but they turned him down, so he tried his luck at Goldwax Records, making his first recordings there in 1964. It was in 1966, with his sixth Goldwax single, “You’ve Got My Mind Messed Up”, that he finally made a breakthrough. The song went to number seven on the Billboard R&B chart and number sixty-three on the Pop chart.
Eight more singles followed over the next three years, including another chart entry in 1967 with “The Dark End of the Street”, number ten on the R&B chart and number seventy-seven on the Pop chart. The song was written by Dann Penn and Chips Moman, recorded at Royal Studios, and has become a classic. Percy Sledge was the first to cover the song, followed by many more artists across a variety of genres. Outstanding versions are not hard to find. Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex and Linda Ronstadt are amongst the artists who have recorded the song. In the UK there are excellent versions by Richard & Linda Thompson, Elvis Costello and June Tabor. They are all worth a listen.
When Goldwax closed in 1969, James Carr carried on working at a variety of labels. Eventually he returned to Goldwax Records, which had been resurrected, to record again, despite on-going health problems. An album entitled “Take Me to the Limit” was issued in 1991. He died in Memphis in 2001.
O. V. Wright
Overton Vertis Wright was born in Lenow, Tennessee, in 1939. He started singing in church and joined various Gospel groups, including the Sunset Travelers and the Harmony Echoes, where he sung with James Carr. That group was managed by Roosevelt Jamison, who also starting writing songs with Wright, as they planned a move from Gospel to secular music. Jamison made a demo tape of songs with James Carr and Wright, which he took to Jim Stewart at Stax. Unfortunately, Stewart thought the Gospel style was too dominant and he turned down the chance to sign both singers.
Jamison then took the tape to Quinton Claunch, who loved the songs and the singers. He signed both. Wright’s first release was “That’s How Strong My Love Is”/ “There Goes My Used To Be” in 1964. It was possibly recorded at FAME Studios, as Claunch was a friend of Rick Hall, FAME’s owner. Goldwax’s first release (“Darling” by the Lyrics), also in 1964, was recorded there. If that is the case, then perhaps The Keys, who are listed on the single as the backing group, are the FAME rhythm section. “That’s How Strong My Love Is” was soon covered by Otis Redding and later by the Rolling Stones and many other artists. It is a classic of Deep Soul, an encouraging start for O.V. Wright.
Sadly, that first single on Goldwax was the only one for Wright. He became caught up in a contract dispute that resulted in him leaving the label.
Spencer Wiggins
Spencer Wiggins was born in Memphis in 1942. His mother sang in the choir at the local Baptist church and encouraged her son to take an interest in Gospel music too. Like many of the people whose stories are told in this book, Wiggins attended the Booker T. Washington High School in the city, where he formed a Gospel group, the New Rival Gospel Singers, which included his brother Percy and his sister Maxine. On leaving school, he moved to secular music, setting up an R&B group, the Four Stars, with Percy and David Porter. Porter later became a top songwriter, co-writing a large number of songs at Stax Records with his partner Isaac Hayes.
Quinton Claunch became aware of Wiggins, when he heard him singing in various Memphis clubs. He signed Wiggins and produced his first single, “Lover’s Crime”, in 1964. It was written by Isaac Hayes and recorded at American Sound Studios. The song was released on the Goldwax subsidiary label Bandstand USA. Wiggins went on to record eight more songs for Goldwax, but none made the charts. The two best of these are “Uptight Good Woman”, written by Jimmy Johnson, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and “I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Loved You)”, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals with Duane Alman on guitar.
When Goldwax Records closed in 1969, Wiggins signed for FAME Records. “Double Lovin’”, one of his two FAME singles, finally took him into the national charts in 1970, when it reached number forty-four on the Billboard R&B chart.
In the mid-seventies, Wiggins moved to Florida and became active in the Baptist church again. In 2003 he released a Gospel album on Tavette Records called “Keys to the Kingdom”.
In 2006, on the Kent label, a collection of the songs that Wiggins had recorded for Goldwax appeared: “Spencer Wiggins: The Goldwax Years”, which has allowed a new generation to discover his talent.
The Ovations
The origins of the group go back to the early nineteen-sixties at Stax, when William Bell was lead vocalist for the Del-Rios. Two other members of that group, Louis Williams and Nathan Lewis, later formed the Ovations with Elvin Lee Jones. Roosevelt Jamison brought the new group to the attention of the owners of Goldwax Records in 1964, who signed them and recorded “Pretty Little Angel” and then “It’s Wonderful To Be In Love”. The second of these entered the charts, reaching number twenty-two on the Billboard R&B chart and number sixty-one on the Pop chart. Their second chart entry came in 1967 with “Me And My Imagination” (number forty on the R&B chart), a song written by Quinton Claunch and Bill Cantrell. During this period, the Ovations also toured as a support act for James Brown, James Carr, Percy Sledge and Gladys Knight.
When Goldwax closed in 1969, the Ovations split up. Williams resurrected the group’s name in 1971, with three new members, Rochester Neal, Bill Davis and Quincy Billops Jr. The new Ovations had two further chart singles on the Sounds of Memphis label, the second of which was a cover of the old Sam Cooke song “Having a Party”. It reached number seven on the R&B chart and number fifty-six on the Pop chart in 1973. They disbanded soon after.
