A Selection of Classic Soul

As someone who generally has less of a discernible spiritual side than most serial killers, the aptly titled genre of soul music does more than any biblical text to make me believe in a higher power. Where I can even rationalize the existence of love as an evolutionary imperative instilled to promote procreation, I can’t explain what drives a shiver up my spine when I hear a classic soul song.

During the sixties and seventies, the church was still a dominant influence for the first generation of black artists who were finally allowed to ignore the perceived preferences of white audiences. At the same time, production techniques of the era were apt at reflecting the sonic warmth that suited this endeavor so well. This selection takes some lesser known stunners from this seminal era, surreptitiously suggesting something greater than us all.

Track List

Irma Thomas – Anyone Who Knows What Love Is Will Understand

Lisa Richards – Let’s Take a Chance

Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind

Toussaint McCall – Nothing Takes The Place of Your Man

Arthur Conley – Let Nothing Separate Us

Otis Redding – Just One More Day

The Untouchables – You’re On Top

Jonny Benavidez and Cold Mink – Tell Me That You Love Me

Taxie – I Think I’m Falling In Love

Jean Wells – Have A Little Mercy

Marvin Gaye – Stage Dialog

Sarah Webster Fabio – If We Come As Soft Rain

The Temprees – You Make the Sunshine

Robert Vanderbilt – A Message Especially From God

Johnny Davis – Stay Baby Stay

James Brown – Lost Someone

Sam Cooke – Any Day Now

The Staple Singers – Uncloudy Day

The Supreme Jubilees – It’ll All Be Over

The Enchanters – I Paid For the Party

Barbara West – Anyone But You

Al Kooper – Looking For a Home

The Majestic Arrows – If I Had a Little Love

La Shun Pace Rhodes – I Know I’ve Been Changed

Pastor T.L. Barrett – Like a Ship