The third installment of this well-respected series of (mostly) rare and (mostly) 1960s deep soul maintains the high standards of the previous two releases. The compiler bends just a little in the direction of greater accessibility here by including more names and songs that might actually be known to people with less than a few hundred soul records in their collections. Not that there are any songs that you'll hear on the average oldies radio show, but names like
Carla Thomas,
James Brown, Bobby Womack,
the Impressions, and Bobby Bland are pretty well-known to many Joe Q. Publics. And songs like
Irma Thomas' "Wish Someone Would Care,"
Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind," and
Maxine Brown's "All in My Mind" (the original 1961 hit version that usually eludes reissue anthologies, not a remake) are actually familiar, though not exactly overplayed. Far from being a sellout, this actually enhances the listenability of the disc, which is still largely populated by rarities, some excellent, some just alright. Highlights this time around include
Baby Washington's "Breakfast in Bed," more famous as sung by
Dusty Springfield;
Bessie Banks' Brill Building-flavored "It Sounds Like My Baby," the flip side of the original "Go Now"; Syl Johnson's "Is It Because I'm Black," which adds some much-needed blues-funk grit and social conscience; and
Betty Lavette's "Let Me Down Easy," a classic of anguished soul.
Rick James' 1983 single "Ebony Eyes" has no business being here, though -- far from being "deep soul", it's shallow as a puddle.
