Sweet Soul Music: 1961 [PA]

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Dave Booth (Reissue)
Distributor: Infinity Entertainment Gr

Notes: Liner Note Authors: Colin Escott; Dave Booth. The year 1961 ushered in more than just a new decade -- it heralded a new era in black popular music as the gritty, street-smart sound of postwar R&B gave way to the smooth, sophisticated approach spearheaded by Motown Records. The first entry in Bear Family's ten-volume Sweet Soul Music lays the foundation for the transformation to follow, cherry picking formative classics from then-fledgling Motown (the Miracles' "Shop Around") and Stax (Carla Thomas' "Shop Around"), the Memphis label that would prove its greatest creative rival -- spanning across the U.S., from New Orleans (Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-in-Law") to Chicago (the Impressions' "Gypsy Woman") to New York City (the Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"), the collection also encompasses all of the major U.S. R&B labels, negotiating the licensing snafus that undermine these types of anthologies to offer a true panoramic overview of soul's epic scope and scale. And it's packaged with Bear Family's usual attention to detail -- the mastering is pristine (better than has ever been heard on even the major artists) and the accompanying booklets are authoritative (averaging 60 pages in length, stuffed with color photos, track-by-track commentary, and related recording data). The result is an anthology series that's as educational as it is entertaining. ~ Jason Ankeny

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