The Language of The Soul

Various Artists - Sweet Dreams: Where Country Meets Soul Vol. 2 (2013) {Ace Records CDKEND 395}
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© 2013 Ace Records / Kent Records | CDKEND 395
Country / Soul / R&B / Country Soul / Southern Soul

Sweet Dreams: Where Country Meets Soul, Ace's second dip into the country-soul well, is every bit as good as its 2012 predecessor. Basically, it's cut from the same cloth as the first volume, concentrating on recordings from the late '60s but stretching deep into the '70s (Millie Jackson's "Sweet Music Man" dates from 1977), with Ted Taylor's 1962 "I'll Release You" and Orquestra Was' 1996 "Forever's a Long, Long Time Ago" functioning as de facto ringers. "Forever's a Long, Long Time Ago" may fit aesthetically but certainly not sonically, as it's a crisp digital blast on a collection devoted to warm, lush, analog soul.

Soul Searchin' is the third solo studio album by Glenn Frey, the guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the Eagles. The album was released in mid 1988 on MCA in the United States and the United Kingdom, four years after Frey's successful album, The Allnighter and eight years after the demise of the Eagles. The album features eight original songs co-written by Frey with Jack Tempchin and the song "Two Hearts" contributed by Frey's friend, Hawk Wolinski. The album also features contributions from fellow Eagles member Timothy B. Schmit, Max Carl, Robbie Buchanan, Michael Landau, and Bruce Gaitsch.

Jimmy Hughes - Something Extra Special: The Complete Volt Recordings 1968-1971 (2010) {Kent Records CDKEND341}
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© 1968-71, 2010 Stax/Volt / Kent / Concord Music / Ace | CDKEND 341
Soul / Southern Soul / Rhythm and Blues

In the early and mid-'60s, Jimmy Hughes made a substantial, if rather subtle and underrated, contribution to the evolution of Southern soul with bluesy soul recordings for several labels. In 1968, he signed with Stax, then eagerly looking to bolster its roster after the death of Otis Redding and the loss of Sam & Dave. Something Extra Special has all 11 tracks from his sole Stax LP, 1969's Something Special (most of which also appeared on singles), augmented by no less than 16 bonus tracks, including both tracks from a 1971 non-LP single and 14 previously unreleased cuts from the late '60s and early '70s.

Jimmy Hughes - Why Not Tonight: The Fame Recordings Volume 2 (2010) {Kent Records CDKEND331 rec 1964-1967}
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© 1964-67, 2010 Fame/Atco / Kent / Ace | CDKEND 331
Soul / Southern Soul / Rhythm and Blues

While Jimmy Hughes' second album (from 1967) was titled Why Not Tonight?, this CD is more an expanded version of that LP rather than a straight reissue. The first ten tracks are indeed the Why Not Tonight? album in its original sequence, but it's followed by 11 bonus tracks from the same era, essentially doubling the length of the original LP and adding historical liner notes. Hughes isn't much known outside the soul collector world for anything besides his 1964 hit "Steal Away," but this is a quite solid collection of mid-'60s Southern soul.