Designed as an illuminating companion to Peter Guralnick`s 1986 book of the same title, this anthology spotlights 15 brilliant R & B obscurities from the 1960s and early `70s that the book`s readers have probably been searching for in vain ever since. Not all of the disc`s artists are unknown: Aretha Franklin`s aching version of Johnny Ace`s ”My Song” and Memphis soul great O. V. Wright`s tortured ”A Nickel and a Nail” are justifiably celebrated. But Chicagoan Otis Clay`s pounding Muscle Shoals treatment of the Sir Douglas Quintet`s ”She`s About a Mover” and the original gospel-drenched ”Some Kind of Wonderful” by the Soul Brothers Six, a song later destroyed by Grand Funk Railroad, are welcome inclusions indeed. Rough-edged Southern soul gems like Eddy Giles` ”Losin` Boy” and James Carr`s ”Hold On (To What We`ve Got)”
mingle with the Enchanters` slickly produced ”I Paid For The Party” and the Invincibles` spine-chilling ”Heart Full of Love” in glorious melismatic harmony.
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