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 early-'90s series
Soul Hits of the '70s: Didn't It Blow Your Mind!
roughly proceeded in chronological order yet blurred lines on the calendar, so individual volumes featured songs from more than one year.
does the opposite, diligently marching through the years on each volume. This deliberately paced order combined with broader licensing would give
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
. 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
, 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
), 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine