AFTER DECADES IN THE WILDERNESS, SOUTHERN SOUL SURVIVOR DON BRYANT GETS HIS SHOT
“I wanted to see if I still had ‘it’.” DON BRYANT
‘‘TO COME BACK, and have the opportunity to write and sing again after all these years?” laughs 78-year-old Memphis soul man Don Bryant. “It’s a blessing.”
He’s reflecting on the late resurgence of a solo career even he thought was over and done decades ago. Instead, he’s earned a Grammy nomination for his third and latest album, You Make Me Feel. In essence, it’s a heartfelt love letter to his muse and wife of 46 years, soul legend Ann Peebles, for whom he began writing songs in the early 1970s, including the classic I Can’t Stand The Rain. “Ann is still my inspiration today,” says Bryant. “When she suffered a stroke and vocal problems [in 2012], I wanted to see if I could stand for myself, and take my career where she left off.”
That career began when, as one of 10 children and steeped in gospel music, Bryant sang in several R&B groups as a teenager. These included The Four Kings, who caught the ear of rising Memphis bandleader and producer, Willie Mitchell, in 1958. Mitchell signed Bryant to Hi Records in the ’60s as a solo singer, and cut several records with him, though with little success. The arrival of Ann Peebles at the label in 1969 further blunted Bryant’s solo prospects. “Willie concentrated on her and didn’t have a whole lot of time for recording me,” says Bryant, “but Ann needed material, so I laid everything else aside and wrote songs with her. I got so deep and involved, I began to enjoy songwriting as much as singing.”
The two married in 1974, but when the 1980s arrived, the commercial decline of Southern soul prompted a change of direction, and Bryant embraced gospel.
“There wasn’t a whole lot going on with my recording career,” he confesses. “I did it as an acknowledgement of my mother and grandmother, who were in the church and influenced me.”
Yet, after spending several decades in obscurity, Bryant was approached by Memphis producer Scott Bomar in 2017. “He called me to see if I would be interested in playing some shows with his band The Bo-Keys when their vocalist Percy Wiggins got sick,” explains Bryant. “I said yes because I hadn’t been doing anything, and wanted to see if I still had ‘it’.”
He indisputably did: his time-weathered, still-strong voice remains a soulful instrument, able to morph from husky growl to seraphic falsetto. Bomar helmed acclaimed comeback LP
Bryant’s first in 48 years. Three years on and with that Grammy in his sights, the singer’s still pinching himself. “To have a nomination in this period of my life is a great honour,” he says. “I never would have thought my career would have turned out this well!”