ALEX BRADFORD, "CAN'T TRUST NOBODY" C/W "ANGEL ON VACATION," VEE-JAY VJ-939 (REL. 3/1964)

 Though he might have decried it as sinful music, Alex Bradford was a major influence on rock ‘n’ roll and soul. His life was devoted to gospel music, and he recorded it in volume for several labels from 1953 until 1978. He managed some hit records along the way; at first listen, many of his songs sound like piney-woods deep soul. Their themes are more secular than you might think, and they hit all the right spots music-wise.

Little Richard and Ray Charles acknowledged his influence on their singing and performing style. Richard’s falsetto whoops and flamboyant showmanship are out of Bradford’s playbook; Charles nicked many vocal mannerisms and fashioned his backup group The Raelettes on Bradford’s Specials. Future reggae icon Bob Marley recorded a Bradford song, “Let the Lord Be Seen in Me,” for a 1964 single.

My brain is bad with names, and it caught the Bradford part; I thought this might be a solo record by Sylvester Bradford, Black r&b and pop songwriter of the 1950s and ‘60s. When I lowered the stylus on “Can’t Trust Nobody” I knew I was onto something different and better. A growling, wailing voice; piano chords…then the full explosion of The Bradford Specials behind Alex, augmented by a bashful organ, burst out of the speakers.

There’s a rhythm section in there, too, buried under the mass of vocals. Change a word here, a word there, and it’s a powerful r&b mover. If you hear Ray Charles and a touch of Little Richard, it’s because this is where it all comes from. Those better-known artists took their inspiration and ran with it, as The Beatles would soon do with the Black American music they idolized.

This is a release from Vee-Jay’s 900 series, which was pure gospel and featured some of the grittiest material in that vein alongside more pedestrian stuff. That latter adjective does not apply to Alex Bradford. The fatalism of this song—that everyone and everything “down here” is out to get the narrator, and that he’ll finally get a square deal in the afterlife—is impressive. It’s part of the mien of Black gospel and gave its composers and artists a voice for their societal frustrations under cover of the Good Book, et al.

“Angel on Vacation” was the A-side, and hews to the more traditional gospel sound, albeit with seductive chord changes right out an r&b ballad. That’s because it is a love song…of sorts. Our narrator encounters a beautiful, kind woman. He first thinks she is his mother; God informs him that his suspicions are correct. She was an angel on loan from the pearly gates.

This is one strange song, but Bradford’s utter devotion overcomes all odds—and the kitschy arrangement with the organ in full blurping fury. He breaks into falsetto and gets a bit het up as he relates this colorful, dreamlike story. It got some airplay and its pop song affect might have lured listeners. Cash Box mentioned it on their last page of reviews for April 4, 1964 but didn’t rate it or review it.

Bradford performed on Broadway, did voices for an animated film by Richard Williams and won an Obie Award for his role in the Afro-American musical revue Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope. This is among many theatrical awards given him, including a Tony Award in 1973 for that revue. He passed on in 1978 at age 51. Bradford was a star in the world of gospel and in the musical theatre, but his records were a world away from the secular music market and unknown to most of those fans and listeners.

Tomorrow: celebrating America our way with a wild, intense 1963 single by Conway Twitty—his grand last stand as a full-throttle rock ‘n’ roller! Don’t miss this killer-diller!