Platinum Collection, The

STAX/VOLT プラチナム・コレクション！

ライノUK発、スタックス/ヴォルトが輩出したアーティストのリマスター・ニューベスト盤！誰が名づけたか「ダブル・ダイナマイト!」。これ以上の形容がないほどパワーに満ち溢れたソウル・デュオ。日本でも「Hold On! I’m A Comin’」「Soul Man」「I Thank You」等のヒットで知名度は大変高い。彼らがあのブルース・ブラザーズのお手本になったことは想像に難くない。とかく暑苦しく派手な楽曲に目が行きがちだが「When Something Is Wrong With My Baby（邦題：僕のベイビーに何か）」などソウル・バラードにも大変非凡なものが感じ取れる。

Arguably soul music's greatest tag-team combination, Sam Moore and Dave Prater are best remembered for jumping up-tempo numbers like "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man," but they could also slow down and pull the heartstrings with "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" and "I've Seen What Loneliness Can Do," in which they let their gospel influences take center-stage. While Sam & Dave could harmonize beautifully when they were of a mood, what made their act click was the call and response between Sam's dynamic upper register vocals and Dave's rougher, deeper voice, which complemented one another perfectly while prodding each into pushing the energy level as high as it would go. Sam & Dave also had a secret weapon in the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who wrote the bulk of the group's hits and gave them material that perfectly suited their back-and-forth delivery (and having the Stax Records session band backing them up didn't hurt, either). The Platinum Collection features 20 of Sam & Dave's greatest songs in fine audio quality, and while this doesn't dig as deep as Rhino's two-disc collection Sweat 'n' Soul: Anthology or boast fine liner notes like their single-disc The Very Best of Sam & Dave, it has four more tunes than the latter set, and is as good an introduction to this duo as you're likely to find. Crank this up and your party will definitely be started. ~ Mark Deming|