Grand Finales

New reissue label Hacktone does a good job rescuing the late Arthur Alexander's final studio album, Lonely Just Like Me, from the deletion bins. Alexander was one of those artists that I got in to right before he died, and this album was the reason why. Now padded out with live cuts and in-studio stuff and more things, it's a definitive statement of a shoulda-been more popular Soul singer. Of course, most people know Alexander by the Beatles' cover of his "Anna", but that never made him rich. He was driving buses when Elektra asked him in 1992 to cut a record, and it's a fitting finale. Other acts I became fascinated with right before they died: Keith Whitley, Ted Hawkins and jazz Sonny Sharrock. Right after I had to have all their recordings. Why didn't I realize how good they were when they were alive?