Almost Hits: James Carr - The Dark End Of The Street (1967)

If you know "The Dark End Of The Street" at all there's a very good chance you've heard one of the many cover verions of James Carr's original, 1967 single. Subsequent renditions of the song have been released by artists as diverse as The Flying Burrito Brothers, Elvis Costello, Aretha Franklin, Peter Green, The Commitments, and Bruce Springsteen. I've recently been made aware of at least twenty-five interpretations of it by a friend who says it's his all-time favorite breakup song.

"Dark End" was composed by two legends, Dan Penn and Chips Moman, who wrote the entire song in just about a half hour. Penn said their goal was to write "the best cheatin’ song. Ever!"  and in the opinion of many, they succeeded.

The record was never a mainstream hit. It climbed to #10 on the Billboard R&B chart, but it only made it to #77 on the Hot 100 which means most top 40 radio stations never added it to their playlists. Carr released numerous other singles that did moderately well with the R&B audience, but none successfully crossed over. 

There is no doubt in my mind that Carr's original version would have become a gargantuan classic if more people heard this emotional ballad with a sad ending because its lyrics should resonate with a whole lot of people. The song is a must listen for anyone who ever participated in an illicit love affair and understands their actions were wrong. “At the dark end of the street/That’s where we always meet/Hiding in shadows where we don’t belong/Living in darkness to hide our wrongs.”

Carr (1942 – 2001) was often hospitalized due to a lifelong battle with mental illness that severely hampered his career. His total recorded output consisted of just four albums and a handful of singles. Despite his limited repertiore, the Memphis native was held in very high esteem. Steve Huey, a writer for AllMusic, said he was "one of the greatest pure vocalists that deep Southern soul ever produced."

Sadly, Carr died of lung cancer at age 58, possibly without ever realizing the impact his best-known record had on many artists who heard it.

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Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that failed to reach the top 20 on the American Billboard Hot 100. Many have become classics despite what their chart position would indicate.