SOUL

A recent release reviewed

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Atlantic Gold - 75 soul classics from the Atlantic vaults Atlantic
*****

This is 5-star music wrapped in 2-star packaging - three CDs and a booklet with a token essay on the label's history in a cardboard cover. These tracks may have been included in more compilations than is healthy, but they retain their luminous quality, defying the years of shoddy reissues and commercial exploitation. From Ruth Brown's 5-10-15 Hours up to Aretha Franklin's Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I Am Going to Do) there is almost four hours of some of the greatest soul music recorded. The music's journey from the roots of r 'n' b and gospel (Joe Turner's seminal Shake, Rattle and Roll) through the golden era of Otis Redding and Aretha (his burning I've Been Loving You Too Long and her equally stirring Respect are included) to the relatively lightweight pop/soul of The Spinners is well chronicled in this budget-priced selection. Awesome, and then some. www.atlantic-records.com

Joe Breen