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If there happens to be a stack of country music 45s in your attic it is more than likely that the name Dallas Frazier is listed on the label as the writer of at least one of the songs thereon. Frazier, while not a perennial recorder of hits during his career, had a phenomenal run as a composer during the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with what wound up as a novelty tune entitled Alley Oop, a number called Mohair Sam that single-handedly jump-started Charlie Rich’s career, the near immortal Green, Green Grass Of Home, the immortal There Goes My Everything, Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp…the list goes on and on. Granted, there are some composers who were never meant to be household names. And yet…listening to The R&B Sessions, one wonders why Frazier could not have been at least a big a radio and record star as those who recorded his compositions.

The R&B Sessions combines two albums (that’s what they called them in the mid-1960s) release back-to-back by Capitol Records from Frazier, Elvira (yes, the one which later became a hit by The Oak Ridge Boys) and Tell it Like It IS (uh huh, the Aaron Neville classic), and a few B-sides of singles. Despite containing an embarrassment of riches of country hits; neither album is a country music album. Indeed, both projects, when released, bore the legend “File Under Rhythm & Blues,” which, I assure you, caused a great deal of confusion when they hit the record stores. Each and every track is informed by southern soul and gospel; indeed, on some tracks, such as King of the Jungle, you can almost see the choir swaying in mid-tempo rhythm. Indeed, Alley Oop, recorded as novelty rock record by The Hollywood Argyles (of which Frazier was a member), has a southern soul edge to it that turns it into a tribute to a bad ass, as opposed to a one-one note joke about a newspaper comic strip character. The same is true of Elvira. The irony here is that Frazier’s version of his composition is closer to southern gospel than the Oak Ridge Boys’ megahit interpretation, notwithstanding that the Oak Ridge Boys were originally known as gospel artists. Another irony is that Tell It Like It Is is one of two songs on The R&B Sessions which Frazier did not compose, yet is so close to his own style that he has in the past been credited with writing it. Frazier’s version here is incredible; somehow (and taking nothing away from Aaron Neville’s classic recording) he makes it his own, bringing it to a place both rural, black, and southern, notwithstanding his own white, Californian roots. Frazier’s vocals are warm and laid back, but expressive, the sound of someone with nothing to prove, but something to say. The arrangements ---punchy where appropriate, nasty where need be, and delightfully understated as needed --- do much to provide a cohesiveness not only among the songs on each album that makes up The R&B Sessions but also between the albums themselves.

While The R&B Sessions does not contain There Goes My Everything and The Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp, you will find Mohair Sam, The Green, Green Grass of Home, Done Made Up My Mind, Don’t Come Knockin’ On My Door, and a mother lode of other gems that have laid dormant and unheard for far too long. Frazier, having retired from the music scene in favor of the Christian ministry, is contemplating a return to music, in his words, “going forward,” rather than “going back.” Given the depth of talent displayed on The R&B Sessions, I have no doubt that we have more, much more, to hear from this incredibly talented gentleman, even at this late date. Highly recommended.