John Gary Williams
John Gary Williams was a renowned soul singer best known as the original lead vocalist of The Mad Lads, a Stax Records group from Memphis. Born in 1945, he rose to fame in the 1960s with hits like "Don't Have to Shop Around" and "I Want Someone."
Williams formed The Mad Lads with high school friends Julius Green, William Brown, and Robert Phillips at Booker T. Washington High School. The group signed with Stax's Volt label, releasing doo-wop-inspired tracks that charted on the R&B charts, including "I Want a Girl."
His career paused when he was drafted for the Vietnam War. After returning, he pursued solo efforts, releasing his self-titled album in 1973 featuring "The Whole Damn World is Going Crazy," a Northern Soul favorite.
Williams reformed The Mad Lads in later years and championed community causes, including counseling gang members. He passed away on May 28, 2019, at age 73.
John Gary Williams
A2 I'm So Glad Fools Can Fall In Love 4:13
A3 Honey 6:37
A4 Loving You (It Ain't Easy) 2:44
B1 Ask The Lonely 3:31
B2 How Could I Let You Get Away 4:00
B3 Open Your Heart (And Let Love Come In) 3:12
B4 The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy 3:10
Producers – John Gary Williams, Willie Hall
Label: Stax – STS-5503
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: R&B Soul
Style: Seventies Soul, Sweet Soul
The 1973 self-titled album by John Gary Williams is widely considered an "overlooked gem" of early 1970s soul music, praised for its lush, orchestral arrangements, Williams' smooth vocals, and a poignant blend of romantic and socio-political themes. The record has gained a cult following since its initial failure to sell due to Stax Records' distribution problems at the time of its release.
Reviews highlight the album's sophisticated production, which incorporated sweeping strings, soaring brass parts, and funky bass lines, drawing comparisons to contemporaries like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and Isaac Hayes.
Williams' voice is often described as effortless and committed, fitting somewhere between Eddie Kendricks and Curtis Mayfield. He handles both smooth ballads and up-tempo funk tracks with ease.
The album is noted for its "lush strings" and "innovative guitar flourishes," creating an opulent yet understated sound that epitomizes the late-period Stax style. The use of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra added a rich, cinematic quality.
Before recording a 1973 solo album for Stax, John Gary Williams had been a member of the Mad Lads, who recorded singles for the label starting in the mid-'60s. The Mad Lads had a more traditional black vocal group sound than most of the other acts on Stax's roster, and had only limited success, though "Don't Have to Shop Around" was a pretty big R&B hit, stopping just shy of the Top Ten. Williams had to leave the group to serve in the military from 1966 to 1968, rejoining the Mad Lads upon his return from Vietnam and remaining in the act until they split in 1972.
Shortly afterward, Williams began a solo career, producing most of his self-titled 1973 album himself, as well as writing about half the material. An average sweet soul effort paced by his high vocals, it made no commercial impact, perhaps due at least in part to Stax's own faltering fortunes at the time. Williams did manage a 1975 single on Stax's Truth subsidiary before its parent label closed down soon after its release.
Though not a major effort in the scheme of either early-'70s soul or the Stax catalog, it's a pleasant assortment of sweet soul tracks, with a slightly earthier edge than many recordings in the genre boasted. Most of the songs are upbeat romantic numbers highlighting Williams' smooth, high vocals, inserting covers of songs by the Four Tops, the Spinners, and (more unexpectedly) Bobby Goldsboro.
The most impressive cuts, by a long shot, are the ones that steer away from the usual romantic themes to make general social observations. The opener "I See Hope" is a lively, dramatic expression of optimism; the closing "The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy," in contrast, reflects the pessimism infiltrating much early-'70s soul, the gently percolating grooves and soaring strings offsetting lyrics of confusion at the backstabbing state of the modern world.
The 2010 CD reissue on BGP adds historical liner notes and both sides of the subsequent single "Come What May"/"Just Ain't No Love Without You Here," two midtempo tunes with a similar vibe to those on the album.