Real simple question: Are there great soul albums from the 1960s? We all take for granted that the art of album making didn’t really come into being until Rubber Soul et al, but beside James Brown’s Live at the Apollo, not a lot of great soul albums spring to mind if you discount hits collections and other live albums, such as Otis Redding’s excellent and fast-paced Live in Europe lp. I don’t own Aretha Franklin‘s Lady Soul, but that’s often a ’60s soul album that’s thrown into the mix when people list greatest albums of the ’60s. I know some of the songs from multiple hits collections of Aretha that I own. Is the album itself actually great and unified, or is it a typical collection of singles and cover tune filler?

Someone’s bound to suggest a Ray Charles album, and be my guest. I find his music boring in long stretches, but I’ll take your word for the genius of Ray Charles. Surely I am missing a truly great soul album that was recorded as an album in the 1960s! I think of soul album making beginning with Marvin Gaye‘s Let’s Get it On and Stevie Wonder‘s first mature works of 1970 and beyond. Surely I’m overlooking some earlier keepers. Make me feel stupid, Rock Town Hall!

Not really related…more of the fabulous Joe Tex after this jump! Continue reading »