“Empty Arms”
Sonny James
Written by Ivory Joe Hunter
Billboard
#1 (4 weeks)
April 10 – May 1, 1971
I’ve been mildly critical of R&B/early rock era covers by middle-aged country artists throughout this series, as it was a dominant and tiresome element throughout most of the eighties.
Sonny James is actually from the early rock era, so he can approach these covers with more credibility than some of the artists who would take the same approach down the road. It hasn’t always worked perfectly when he has strayed from his own wheelhouse, but it’s pretty effective on “Empty Arms,” which sounds so much like a mid-fifties pop hit that I double and triple checked that I wasn’t listening to some pre-hit version that was recorded back in the day.
He does well revisiting these classic sounds, demonstrating a theatricality that reminds us of James’ remarkable versatility as a singer. It doesn’t reach the dizzying heights of what the new generation of superstars were cooking up, but it still sounds great.
“Empty Arms” gets a B+.
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A bit out of place from this era of country but a pretty good song. A solid “B”.
I saw an interview with the songwriter, Ivory Joe Hunter, shortly after Sonny recorded one of his songs (“Since I Met You Baby” a #1 for Sonny in 1969) and he apparently considered Sonny a friend of long standing. Apparently, Sonny sang some of Hunter’s songs on stage long before he recorded any of them (I suspect that by 1968 Sonny had become enough of a hit making machine that ken nelson let him record anything he wanted to record).
Anyway, this a great song but I’m afraid that Ivory Joe Hunter has been largely, and undeservedly, forgotten. Here is a good article on Ivory Joe
https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/the-happiest-man-alive-ivory-joe-hunter
May need to reexamine Sonny James. Didn’t really get much from his greatest hits packages or albums when I first listened in my 20’s.
I would say it’s a nice performance B