Tony Ashley

Ashley first recorded for Ellis Taylor’s Forte concern in Kansas, and his initial offering “All Along I’ve Loved You” is a fine deep piece, simply arranged with some fine testifying from the man, accompanied by a quite upfront female trio, the Delicates. Lovely “small label” soul. Taylor was able to get Decca interested in releasing it – and like stablemates the Rayons – Ashley transferred to the major label for subsequent 45s. Again like the Rayons these tracks were cut at the Hi studios and the rise in the quality of  the production values is quite obvious. “I Can’t Put You Down” is classic Memphis soul over a chugging beat and tasteful horns, and the flip “We Must Have Love” is even better. Teenie Hodges guitar leads the way on a wonderful ballad, with Ashley’s vocals really hitting the spot. A super double sided single. His final effort “I’ll Go Crazy” uses the same backing track as writer Don Bryant’s own version (Hi 2143) from the same year. But Ashley is by far the more convincing singer, with better phrasing and more supple use of melisma. And in the final verse and chorus, as the horns build to a climax, he shows what a star he could have become. At only just over 2 minutes, this is a track that’s over far too quickly.

Sadly Tony Ashley was murdered in Kansas City in the early 70s.

 

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