Jr. Walker's 1974 Deep Soul

Jr. Walker & The All-Stars - I Ain't That Easy to Lose

My second ballad post of the week is a 1974 outing by Jr. Walker. By the mid-'70s, Jr. was by no means a big hitmaker, but he continued to adapt his sound to the changing times and stayed with Motown until 1979, when he moved on to record for Norman Whitfield (Motown also pulled the plug on its Soul subsidiary around that time; Walker would re-up with the label for a spell in the '80s). "I Ain't That Easy to Lose" was the flip of "Dancin' Like They Do On Soul Train," and it finds Jr. declaring that his woman is going to have to work extremely hard to get rid of him, because his love is so strong. Although the backing track and background vocals are pretty darn polished, Jr.'s singing brings out the desperation of the lyrics. "I ain't that easy ... no, no, no!" Jr. wails in the choruses with throat-shredding intensity. This is sho' 'nuff deep soul, 1974 style, and Jr. really shines.

(Thanks to Gregory Rose for this track.)