Even More Deep Soul

Johnny Sayles - You Did Me Wrong

Johnny Sayles, like so many of the obscure artists that populate the history of soul music, found his great talent to be met with little commercial success, which is especially unfortunate because Sayles recorded for several labels throughout the '60s and early '70s, leaving behind great 45s and a Dakar LP, Man on the Inside. Today's selection was one of his first and one of the first 45s on Mar-V-Lus, one of George Leaner's One-Derful! Records labels. "You Did Me Wrong" is an intense ballad, featuring a plodding beat not unlike that of Bobby Bland's records of the era, hard-hitting horn parts, and Sayles' singing, in which the desperation and madness that engulfs a mistreated lover is barely contained.