Stardom may well be sweeter the second time around for soul singer Don Bryant. In the early 1960s, the Memphis native was a featured vocalist for bandleader Willie Mitchell, who produced him at Hi Records long before Al Green, Otis Clay, and Syl Johnson found their way to the label.
Don Bryant Sat 6/8, 6:30, Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Happily, Bryant wasn’t through with singing R&B for good—though for nearly half a century he made no secular recordings at all, instead focusing on gospel music. Bryant’s widely acclaimed 2017 comeback album, Don’t Give Up on Love (Fat Possum), re-created the surging Hi sound with a contemporary sheen, thanks in no small part to skintight backing by Memphis band the Bo-Keys. Bryant was convinced to give it another serious try behind the microphone by two members of the Bo-Keys: bassist Scott Bomar, the album’s coproducer, and drummer Howard “Bulldog” Grimes, an anchor of Hi’s legendary 60s and 70s rhythm section.
“Willie and them was picking a lot of the material for me then,” Bryant says. “Things that they thought I’d be good at doing or what have you. And I was leaning to his judgment.” A cover-loaded 1969 album, Precious Soul, came and went without doing much for his career.
