Sweet Soul Music

by Peter Guralnick

The definitive history of southern soul. A music always largely under represented in American popular culture that long ago submerged to mostly a cult following of collectors trolling through dusty 45 bins. This book left a pile of scribbled notes beside my bed and scattered along my coffee table full of long lists of artists and records I'd never heard of. The obvious are well represented here (Stax, James Brown, Aretha) but the stories of Goldwax, Johnny Jenkins, and Dan Penn are the reason to dig in. Now if someone would just release the legendary Dan Penn demo's from Fame and American studios.

My only complaint is the more than lacking discography which is comprised almost entirely of bargain bin best of's for all the baby boomers who picked this book up on a whim of nostalgia. For such a thoroughly researched work, the discography could have at least pointed at a few of the less obvious gems instead of just telling readers to pick up James Brown's Polydor comps.

Above Otis Redding protege Arthur Conley performs the books namesake to a German audience in 1966