Windy City denizens The Chi-Lites are amongst the very finest vocal groups in the soul music field. A Lonely Man is their best album, pressed on vinyl for the first time in half a century by ORG Music and available August 25 as part of that label’s Brunswick Records reissue series. Offering richness of voice, dynamic instrumentation, and vibrant production (remastered here from the original tapes), the LP is essentially flawless. Of ORG’s recent Brunswick editions (which includes Jackie Wilson and The Lost Generation), A Lonely Man is the cream of the crop.
The Chi-Lites started out way back in 1959, but they weren’t called the Chi-Lites back then. Originally named the Chanteurs, in ’64 they swapped out handles first to the Hi-Lites and then altered that moniker in tribute to their home city shortly thereafter. Although debuting on 45 (as the Hi-Lites) in ’64 (not counting a ’59 single by the Chanteurs), the group didn’t hit the R&B charts until ’69 with “Give It Away,” the track that titled their first album.
In a weird move, Brunswick recycled six tracks from Give It Away for their second album, 1970’s I Like Your Lovin’ (Do You Like Mine?), which resulted in the LP stumbling commercially (the title track was a hit single). The course was righted for their third album, ’71’s (For God’s Sake) Give More Power to the People, which featured their smash single “Have You Seen Her” (No. 1 R&B and No. 3 Billboard Pop).
Vocalists Marshall Thompson, Richard “Squirrel” Lester, Creadel “Red” Jones, and producer, arranger and lead vocalist Eugene Record were entering their peak period, with A Lonely Man the full realization of their talents. The record is smooth and slick but counterbalanced with substantive verve and as led by Record’s artistry, an admirable level of ambition.
After fresh time spent with A Lonely Man, I’m left with the impression that it’s contents are somewhat underrated. Now, that statement might seem strange given that the set’s exquisitely constructed opener “Oh Girl” was their biggest hit (No. 1 on both charts), with the album hitting No. 1 on the R&B album chart and rising to No. 5 on Billboard’s Top LPs chart, but from my perspective A Lonely Man’s reputation hasn’t endured like other classic soul albums of the decade.
“Oh Girl” is a testament to Eugene Record’s dual intensity and restraint as a singer (he pretty much goes it alone on this cut) and his impeccable judgment as an arranger, The track is lush with strings (but not over-orchestrated) and the urgency gets a further boost with sturdy piano and the memorable use of harmonica.
“Living in the Footsteps of Another Man” is more upbeat and more of a group vocal effort, with the buoyancy an effective contrast to the song’s seriousness of subject matter. But then right on time, “Love Is” slows it down with some of the sweetest harmony and lead singing on the record, as the savvily cosmopolitan arrangement (subtle shades of ’70s Isaac Hayes early) connects perfectly. As it rolls, it’s an utter joy to the ear, and then after a slow fade out “Being in Love” kicks up the pace as the harmony vocals soar in the choruses.
The guitar in “Being in Love” is clean-toned, but over in side two, “The Man & the Woman (The Boy & the Girl)” is given judicious injections of fuzz box, an addition that only deepens a Motown-ish, post-psychedelic soul vibe. And speaking of Motown, the version of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” is magnificently rendered and not a space filler in the slightest (as covers often are).
“Ain’t Too Much of Nothin’” is a pretty little number with a sturdy foundation, but the true gems of A Lonely Man are the cuts that close out each side, the title track first, breaking the six-minute mark, and “The Coldest Days of My Life” wrapping up the set and reaching nearly nine minutes. Spiked with a lively horn chart, the singing in “A Lonely Man” is just glorious, with the spoken passages an added bonus.
The song’s uplift is executed with graceful precision, and likewise for the slow build intensity and multifaceted string-richness of “The Coldest Days of My Life,” which, beginning with the sounds of tides and gulls, goes so far beyond soul music norms that it’s a head-shaker every time I hear it. When the Chi-Lites sing the title in unison for the first time, it can trigger gooseflesh. The song helps raise A Lonely Man’s stature to one of the finest soul LPs of the 1970s.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
