Maurice & Mac :: Why Don’t You Try Me

maurice and macMaurice McAlister and Green “Mac” McLauren were part of the Chicago-based doo-wop group The Radiants, recording on Chess Records in the 1960s. In the latter half of the decade, they parted ways with that group and headed down to Muscle Shoals, Alabama where they recorded a number of songs at the legendary Fame Studios, including the incendiary 1968 cut “Why Don’t You Try Me,” recently found infusing the soul into our recent Late August Light mixtape. (It also appears on the excellent 2011 compilation, The Fame Studios Story: 1961-1973).

It’s an absolutely killer side, with soaring horns, gliding strings, a funky organ line, and Maurice and Mac singing straight from the gut. Dig the bridge that comes in at about a minute thirty-eight; light timpani, the horns and organ muted, and then it all picks back up in triumphant fashion — we then fade out on the pair belting it out in all their glorious soul. words / c depasquale