The Ever Wonderful : Okeh Uptown Soul 1962-1966

Ted Taylor recorded for several labels other than OKeh in his long career, so this 25-song compilation is a survey of just one part of his work in particular, and not a best-of. Even though his biggest commercial successes came later, however, this period did see some of his finest work, and most of his OKeh output is contained on this worthy anthology, Ever Wonderful: Okeh Uptown Soul 1962-1966. Taylor's 1962-1966 sides occupy an idiosyncratic niche in early soul music, as his sound wasn't quite as modern as the most innovative soul being made in the era, but was certainly more modern than the '50s R&B and gospel to which it owed obvious debts. Certainly he was one of the more skilled high-voiced male soul singers, and some of this sounds rather like the Miracles' early work. It's not as good as early Smokey Robinson, or some other major soul singers to whom he has some similarities, such as Jackie Wilson. It's a little like very early Motown, though with more pretensions toward slick "uptown" production values. Too, it seesaws between some quite earthy, bluesy selections and others that border on orchestrated pop. But that doesn't take away from the basic enjoyability of this collection, with about half the material written by Taylor himself. ~ Richie Unterberger|