Various: Sweet Soul Music (Stax/Universal)

 |   |  <1 min read

Mable John: Your Good Thing (is about to end)
Various: Sweet Soul Music (Stax/Universal)

Widely advertised compilations such as this double-disc rarely make it onto Elsewhere because I figure you know about them anyway.

But I'm making an exception with this one because over 51 tracks you not only get some of the classics of Stax soul which should be in any serious record collection (signature songs by Otis, Carla Thomas, Sam and Dave, Booker T, Isaac Hayes and so on) but also some of the less familiar: Jean Knight, the Astors, the Soul Children, William Bell, Shirley Brown, Mel and Tim, the Mad Lads . . .

The first disc is funky and soulful, the second more into that sweet'n'seductive style.

Some critics would doubtless drop a few of the schmaltzy tracks for more hard hitters, but that would skew the picture of what came out of Stax.

There is classic music here. Check it out if you need a little more soul in your life, or life in your soul.

Share It

Your Comments

Gavin Hancock - Dec 13, 2011

Trainspotter's Moment: The title track wasn't released by Stax so it doesn't belong here...complete facepalm moment for music geeks (like myself) who are in the know. Otherwise, buy it buy it BUY IT!

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Various: Motown Love (Motown/Universal)

Various: Motown Love (Motown/Universal)

This triple-disc set suffers from the same problem as the previously released and quite dreadful Motown 50 collection: an unacceptable and unnatural inclusion of Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 and Diana... > Read more

Durutti Column: Idiot Savants (Artful)

Durutti Column: Idiot Savants (Artful)

To be honest, I thought they wuz dead! It has probably not been since the early 90s that I last heard of, let alone heard, Durutti Column. I just assumed that mainman/guitarist Vini Reilly had... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

ENRICO RAVA AND NEW YORK DAYS: The trumpet calls the faithful

ENRICO RAVA AND NEW YORK DAYS: The trumpet calls the faithful

It’s disappointing and embarrassing that one encounter may put you off a musician for such a long time. Then, shame-faced, you crawl your way back later and have to concede everybody else was... > Read more

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . VIRGIN RECORDS: From prog to punk, Bells to Bodies

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . VIRGIN RECORDS: From prog to punk, Bells to Bodies

Although a considerable amount of other music happened in New Zealand during the Eighties – and some still feel aggrieved their effort and output goes under-acknowledged – there was a... > Read more