VA – Sweet Soul Music 1971-1975 (2014)

This absolutely splendid series began in 2008 with the first five ‘Sweet Soul Music’ volumes, covering 1961-65; volumes covering 1966-70 followed in 2010. Now, some four years later, Germany’s Bear Family Records have delivered five further volumes, taking us from 1971-75 inclusive and not only are they every bit as high a standard as those which have gone before but, by their content, they prove that soul music did not stop in 1970 after all but, indeed, continued to deliver some top-notch goods, at least until synthesisers and drum machines were allowed to literally run riot.
With the 1971 volume of Sweet Soul Music, the ongoing Bear Family series arrives at the era that was covered in detail on Rhino’s peerless…

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…early-’90s series Soul Hits of the ’70s: Didn’t It Blow Your Mind! Rhino roughly proceeded in chronological order yet blurred lines on the calendar, so individual volumes featured songs from more than one year. Bear Family does the opposite, diligently marching through the years on each volume. This deliberately paced order combined with broader licensing would give Bear Family enough distinction, but the German reissue label also makes a conscious decision to include superstars of the era along with selections from such labels as Motown and Stax, which were largely absent from Rhino. This means in addition to the lush pop-soul that dominated Didn’t It Blow Your Mind!, there is plenty of deep Southern soul, hard funk, and psychedelic soul on Sweet Soul Music, which means it paints a fuller portrait of its era. On the 1971 volume, the addition of Southern soul is immediately apparent, as the 26-track disc opens with Jackie Moore’s “Precious, Precious” and Johnnie Taylor’s “Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone” and spends much of its first ten songs in similar territory, while also finding space for James Brown’s hard-driving “Soul Power, Pts. 1-2.” Generally, Sweet Soul Music 1971 has a slightly harder edge than the volumes that directly follow (and certainly harder than Didn’t It Blow Your Mind!), but there’s also space for the Latin boogie of the Beginning of the End’s “Funky Nassau, Pt. 1,” the tight, sexy groove of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” the gorgeous group harmonies of the Chi-Lites’ “Have You Seen Her?,” and a bunch of bright, densely arranged pop-soul that both represented the year and hinted at where fashion was headed (the Honey Cone’s “Want Ads,” the 8th Day’s “She’s Not Just Another Woman,” Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff,” Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose’s “Treat Her Like a Lady”). At the edges there are hints of suspicion (the Undisputed Truth’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes”), baroque melodrama (the Persuaders’ “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”), and singer/songwriters (Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”), all elements in what was an uncommonly rich year for soul music.

The 1972 volume of Bear Family’s Sweet Soul Music opens up with a blast from Joe Tex — the wild “I Gotcha,” whose gonzo rhythms don’t exactly set the pace for the rest of the 25-song disc. Even with the inclusion of Otis Clay’s “Trying to Live My Life Without You” and Joe Simon’s “Power of Love,” there’s a distinct downturn on Southern soul on Sweet Soul Music: 1972, and although James Brown has a heavy presence — his “Get on the Good Foot, Pt. 1″ is here, along with “Gimme Some More” from the J.B.’s and Lyn Collins’ “Think” — funk doesn’t rule the roost, either. By and large, the soul on Sweet Soul Music: 1972 is nice and smooth, whether it comes in the form of exuberant, highly decorated pop (the Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays the Fool,” the Soul Children’s “Hearsay,” Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose’s “Too Late to Turn Back Now”), or the flood of romantic harmony groups (the Stylistics’ “Betcha by Golly, Wow,” the Chi-Lites’ “Oh Girl”) or songs that fall somewhere outside of these realms (the free-floating paranoia of the O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers,” Bill Withers’ well-tailored “Use Me,” and Bobby Womack’s spacy “Woman’s Gotta Have It”). Much of this is due to the rise of Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International — the O’Jays, Billy Paul’s “Me & Mrs. Jones,” and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” all came from that label — but when Memphis titan Al Green turns toward such purely seductive material as “I’m Still in Love with You,” there’s a definite sense that the era of gritty Southern soul is over. Sweet Soul Music: 1972 charts this change quite effortlessly and quite entertainingly, too.

By 1973, Gamble & Huff had hit their stride with Philadelphia International Records, thereby coloring the sound of soul music for the era, so, appropriately enough, Bear Family’s 1973 volume of Sweet Soul Music begins with their protégé Thom Bell’s arrangement and production of the Spinners’ “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love.” Not a Philly International record, it’s nevertheless an indication of how thoroughly smooth soul spread throughout the U.S. in the early ’70s. Among these 23 songs are some big songs for Philadelphia International — the O’Jays’ “Love Train,” Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “The Love I Lost, Pt. 1,” which in this context does indeed sound like the first disco record — but it’s also possible to hear their influence on Timmy Thomas’ slow-burning “Why Can’t We Live Together,” the Four Tops’ post-Motown hit “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got),” Marvin Gaye’s sultry “Let’s Get It On,” and the Manhattans’ “There’s No Me Without You.” Apart from James Brown — heard here through Fred Wesley & the J.B.’s “Doing It to Death” — the funk and Southern soul are also getting more dramatic, as evidenced by Don Covay’s cheating classic “I Was Checkin’ Out She Was Checkin’ In,” Syl Johnson’s tight “Back for a Taste of Your Love,” and the slick funk of the Pointer Sisters’ “Yes We Can Can.” This polish is intoxicating but it isn’t so slick that it disguises how this was one of the most vital, creative eras of soul, and it still sounds vibrant decades later.