Brooks O'Dell

Even though his name remains unknown to most listeners, Brooks O'Dell's fervent singing across a string of singles cut between 1963 and 1972 on assorted Northern R&B and soul labels has turned him into a cult favorite among serious devotees and collectors of those styles. He personifies the notions of "unsung" and "obscure," with almost nothing written about the particulars of his background, yet his reputation rests permanently on the forceful 1963 success "Watch Your Step," issued on Luther Dixon's New York-based Gold Records imprint. Dixon, Tommy Bell, and Kenny Gamble penned the number, which placed Reggie Obrecht in charge of a team of seasoned N.Y.C. session musicians, though O'Dell's ardent vocal performance supplies its central force. The U.K. imprint Kent U.K. issued the 2008 anthology I'm Your Man, which gathers the master takes of every release plus several previously unheard recordings.