Sweet Soul Music CD-Album-Series by Bear Family

Sweet Soul Music by Bear Family Records

This CD-Album-Serie is the sequel to our R & B smash Blowing The Fuse. It starts where the Fuse left off and continues well into the 70s. All the great Soul stuff is here and all the great names. As to be expected, we included groovy tunes only a handful die hard collectors remember (and own). For your dancing and listening pleasure! The Sweet Soul Music Album-Series on CDs.

SWEET SOUL MUSIC

It was a tumultuous era in African American music and culture. The rapid evolution of the music mirrored the changing social climate. Everything seemed to be in play. Nothing was as it was. Through it all, it seemed as if every week yielded another batch of must-have singles.

This series follows on from Bear Family's award-winning 'Blowin' The Fuse' series that documented R&B from 1945 until 1960. Taking the story from 1961 until 1970, we'll witness the change from R&B to what became known as Soul Music. Every disc is in rough chronological order based on release dates rather than chart peak. I attempted to adhere to a policy of one song per artist per year. Also, whenever good stereo was available, I used that in preference to mono, although I'm well aware that the original singles were in mono.

Unfortunately, licensing restrictions meant that several artists, notably Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, were unavailable to us, but there is such a wealth of great music from this decade that they are hardly missed. I also tried to ensure that several important R&B labels, such as Motown and Atlantic, were not over-represented.

So a few of your favorite songs from this era might be missing… but only a few. Once again, I'd like to acknowledge my debt to the files of 'Billboard' and 'Cashbox'magazines, as well as Joel Whitburn's Top R&B Singles.Without them, compilations like these would be almost impossible.
Now let's get down with it!
DAVE 'DADDY COOL' BOOTH
Toronto, Canada, January 2008