Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977 CD

This three-disc set documenting the 1960s/'70s glory days of Southern soul is as impressive an anthology as one could want, balancing expertly between classic tunes by big-name artists and lost gems by cult favorites. Covering the soul scene as it developed in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and elsewhere, TAKE ME TO THE RIVER moves from such iconic cuts as the Al Green title track and Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman Do Right Man" to milestones of a less ubiquitous nature (King Floyd's "Groove Me," Paul Kelly's "Stealing in the Name of the Lord") and obscure collectors-manna like The Masqueraders' "Let's Face Facts," carefully presenting as all-encompassing a portrait of this rich scene as even a three-disc limit will allow.
Southern soul really was natural as rain, a mixture of blues, R&B, gospel and country that somehow managed to sound exactly like, well, soul, no matter how many ways it was spun, and from its first stirrings in the early 1960s until disco and synthesizers officially killed it off in the mid-'70s, a case could be made that there was no more exciting music coming out of America. This wonderful three-disc, 75-track set traces that very arc in mostly chronological order, beginning with William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water" from 1961 and ending with Geater Davis' last-gasp "I'll Play the Blues for You " from 1977. In between is some very exciting music indeed, including Otis Redding's stunning "These Arms of Mine," Charlie Rich's "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" (who says soul and country aren't two sides of the same coin?), James Carr's stark and desperate "The Dark End of the Street," Etta James' powerful "I'd Rather Go Blind," Chuck Brooks' brilliant and dangerous-sounding "Love's Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down," and a pair of Al Green classics, "Tired of Being Alone" and the title tune, "Take Me to the River," and that's just a quick list of the gems found in this delightful set. Released by labels like Stax, Goldwax, Excello, Fame,
and Dial, southern soul was all about emotion and groove and always sounded rougher, sexier, and more dangerous than what northern labels like Motown were doing in the same time period. Truthfully, southern soul was what it was because of the high mixture of passionate gospel in its DNA, as if these artists hoped to sing their way out of hell and into heaven. The subject was love, in all of its guises, and much like country, soul carried every bit as much sadness as it did joy. Love doesn't always work out right, whether you make it to heaven or not. That's the bottom line, and no genre has ever celebrated a more adult approach to such matters, or filled the world with so much passion for it, than southern soul. The story is here. ~ Steve Leggett

2008 three CD set, a selection of songs that tell the story of the golden era of Southern Soul 1961-77 with full notes and lavish illustrations in a 72 page full-colour book, in a deluxe slipcase containing a jewel case- sized hard cover book. Take Me To the River chronicles the story of Southern Soul, from its advent in 1961 to its apex in the early 1970s. Its track listing was carefully chosen to reflect and demonstrate every facet of the genre, and to appeal to both long time collectors and those who we hope will enjoy it deeply enough to delve further into the genre's breadth of repertoire. The track listing embraces everything from million selling, international hits to 45s that barely sold enough to cover their pressing costs. Quality is the common link for the inclusion of all the tracks. 75 tracks. Ace.Record Collector (magazine) (p.83) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his set deserves to be heard by a much wider audience: in fact anyone with a spine to be tingled, a tear to be shed and a soul to be sanctified."