Body & Soul: Down Home Soul

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:53:44
Liner Note Author: John Morthland. Photographer: Joanne Savio. Another installment in Time Life's excellent Body & Soul series, Down Home Soul underscores a perhaps obvious point, that soul music is inherently tied to the South no matter where it is recorded -- thus the "Down Home" of the title. Born of gospel (many soul songs were simply secularized gospel melodies), then pumped up with rhythm and horn sections drawn from the grittier side of R&B, soul has always retained its church DNA, to the extent that singers like Otis Redding (his "That's How Strong My Love Is" is included here) would, in effect, "preach" to audiences, only the subject at hand was love in all its guises -- from transcendent joy to dangerous emotional baggage -- rather than God. This wonderful set doesn't have a single slack track, and sermon after sermon, if you will, burns with barely controlled intensity. Wilson Pickett's "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You," which opens things here, is both hopeful and cautious, while the Staple Singers' funky "I'll Take You There," which follows, is abundantly joyous and certain. The pace never falters, running through Al Green's silky "Tired of Being Alone," Clarence Carter's gently desperate "Slip Away," Ben E. King's spooky and engulfing "Supernatural Thing, Pt. 1," and Latimore's elegant chillout, "Let's Straighten It Out." There's nothing in the world more direct than good soul music, and Down Home Soul proves it. Amen. ~ Steve Leggett
録音 : ステレオ (Studio)