Soul Awakening

This box set is a companion piece to the 8CD set From Sacred To Secular: A Soul Awakening, which traced the history of soul music from its earliest antecedents in 1927 right up to the first true soul records released in 1962. Here we continue the story from 1962 up to the end of the decade, covering a large portion of soul music’s Golden Age with 100 tracks by soul’s greatest 60s superstars (from Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder) and a whole host of “lesser” names whose contribution to the musical genre shouldn’t be overlooked. The CDs cover all of soul’s many styles from early doo-wop and R&B influenced music to the funk grooves which were to prove so popular in the 70s. Other harbingers of the coming decade can be found here in the first sweet-soul Philly sounds from the Delfonics and Intruders, early funk rock (Sly & The Family Stone) and Chicago’s renaissance via Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.

On Awakening, Narada Michael Walden placed aside the jazz fusion leanings of his early albums in favor of a more radio-friendly sound. The strategy worked, with Walden having his first Top Ten R&B single, "I Don't Want Nobody Else (To Dance With You)," which also charted number 47 on the pop charts in early 1979 and Awakening breaking into the R&B Top 15. The follow-up single, the mid-tempo groover "Give Your Love a Chance" featured grand arrangements by Patrick Adams. Walden displays his hyperkinetic drumming skills on "They Want the Feeling." Other standouts are "Love Me Only," the beautiful radio-aired album track "Listen to Me," and the tender "Will You Ever Know."