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1. Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul
The golden era of soul was an era marked by collaboration. Redding's most famous composition, "Respect", is much better known as an Aretha Franklin song. His most famous album, Otis Blue, is essentially a cover album, featuring only three originals from the prolific songwriter. On many albums like this, the originals are absolutely the best, but that's not the case here. Redding's powerful vocals combine with Steve Cropper's soulful guitar work to deliver the most essential versions of classic songs like "Shake", "My Girl", and the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction", and above all, the sublime rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come".
2. Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand the Rain
The collaborative nature of soul has been kept strong by the genre's prominent influence on hip-hop. Classic soul records can have new life breathed into them through samples and interpolations by hip-hop artists, and this is exactly what happened with Ann Peebles and I Can't Stand the Rain. If the track above sounds familiar, it's because it was sampled by Timbaland and Missy Elliott for the latter's breakout single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)". The original track is one of my favorite soul tracks of all time, pairing eerie electronic instrumentation with the steady, soulful singing of Peebles, and the rest of the (admittedly quite brief) record keeps up with the same exact level of quality.
3. Demon Fuzz - Afreaka!
Demon Fuzz are one of the most legendary one-album wonder bands of all time. Their one (notable) album, Afreaka! is a brilliantly anachronistic combination of soul, funk, jazz, psychedelia, and the most insane hard rock you've ever heard. While the best moments on the album are the most hard-hitting and rock-based, there's a life-affirming undercurrent of beautiful soul that anchors the entire album.
4. Frank Ocean - Blonde
While Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt have both carved out fantastic, critically acclaimed careers of their own, Frank Ocean is undeniably the breakout star of Odd Future. channel ORANGE was an immediate success, garnering a Grammy nomination and effectively reigning in a new wave of soul and R&B music, and its follow-up Blonde is somehow even better. It's one of the barest and most experimental soul records of all time, a complete lack of drums allows Ocean's beautiful voice to be laid completely bare, and it is absolutely fantastic.
5. Baby Huey - The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend
The Living Legend is a morbidly tongue-in-cheek subtitle, as Baby Huey had succumbed to his obesity and heroin addiction a year prior to the release of The Baby Huey Story, his one and only record. Baby huey is yet another one album wonder, and what an album it is. Huey's vocals are booming, he is easily one of the loudest, rawest, most powerful soul vocalists of all time. Each note he sings just booms through the speakers, and his backing band is suffocatingly tight and groovy.
6. The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
In the storied history of Motown Records, no group stands taller than the Supremes. The group may be most famous for the presence of future superstar Diana Ross, but the group's sophomore album is based entirely around the power of the group's undeniably beautiful harmonies. They were the most commercially successful girl group for a reason, and that reason is Where Did Our Love Go.
7. Lonnie Holley - Just Before Music
Just Before Music was the first entirely new album to be released on Dust-to-Digital Records, a record label known for curating large, detailed compilations chronicling the history of American folk and blues music. The album's presence on this esoteric label makes a lot of sense, since Lonnie Holley's music seems entirely alien, ancient-sounding yet distinctly futuristic at the same time. Holley had previously made a living as an artist, creating large, detailed sculptures out of garbage, and his music has a similar DIY aesthetic, creating something beautiful out of nothing substantial, and his vocals absolutely ooze soul.
8. Jorge Ben - Fôrça bruta
Fôrça bruta was a transitional album for Ben, the chameleonic Brazillian singer. It signified his move away from calm, dignified samba and bossa nova into rawer, more active soul/rock territory, and it's a brilliant album on its own. The album would be fantastic even if it was completely instrumental, but Ben's vocals (particularly his falsetto vocals) are among the best ever put to wax.
9. Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - Naturally
As the neo-soul movement was reaching its peak in the early-to-mid 2000s, many singers and musicians sought to return to the organic soul sounds of yore. As a result of this, Daptone Records was founded, and Sharon Jones became the young label's star. Dap-Dippin', Jones' first album with the Dap-Kings, is a solid effort, but Naturally is where the powerful singer and her groovy backing band truly found their stride, and they stayed at the fore-front of soul until Jones' passing in 2016.
10. Ted Taylor - Taylor Made
To a music nerd, there's no better feeling than finding a really, really good record while crate digging. I love going to record stores and picking out the coolest-looking records I can find, and Taylor Made is easily my greatest pick. Something about the awkward, stilted cover stood out to me, and I came into the record expecting cheesy, bargain-bin type soul music. Instead, I was floored by one of the most soulful, haunting records I've ever heard. Taylor's voice is reedy and whispery, but it's incredibly haunting and eerie at the same time, making this one of the weirdest, greatest soul records of all time.
11. James Brown - The Payback
I would be remiss not to include at least one record by The Godfather of Soul on my list, and The Payback is my favorite album of his. James Brown was never much of a studio artist, his best work was undeniably as a live performer (see 'Live' at the Apollo and Love Power Peace as proof), but The Payback's languid, hypnotic grooves stand tall among his best work. The title track is an absolutely monstrous piece of funk and soul music.
12. Terry Callier - What Color Is Love
Callier's background in folk music makes What Color Is Love one of the most subdued, smooth soul records ever recorded. His deep, bassy vocals are like candy to my ears, and the arrangements beautifully and tastefully mix together soul, funk, folk, psychedelia, and just about everything else in between.
13. Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
Pioneered by musicians such as Questlove, Q-Tip, D'Angelo, Common, and J Dilla, the Soulquarians were a loosely linked collective who strove to bring neo-soul and hip-hop into strange, psychededelic directions. Albums such as Common's Like Water for Chocolate, The Roots' Things Fall Apart, and D'Angelo's Voodoo are all fantastic albums produced by the collective, but Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun is easily the collective's crowning achievement. Every member of the group contributes, but Badu's mellow, lush production and vocal work is what really sets the album apart, and her confessional lyrics are second-to-none.
14. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
The most joyful album ever recorded. Seriously, I challenge anybody to not feel absolutely ecstatic while listening to this album. Wonder's religious background gives this whole record a really spiritual, heavenly quality, emphasized by Wonder's beautiful vocals and the overarching messages of love, passion, and acceptance. Wonder's talent as a songwriter and arranger are unparalelled, he plays around with so many different styles on this 2-hour long album and he nails every last one of them.
15. Curtis Mayfield - Curtis
Choosing between Curtis, the Superfly soundtrack, and the Impressions' This Is My Country was like choosing a favorite child, but Curtis eventually won out. Mayfield gained prominence as a member of the Impressions, and during his tenure as lead singer/songwriter he transformed the band from a rather typical soul outfit into a politically-charged group heavily influenced by the Civil Rights movement. Mayfield's debut album as a solo artist is equally as politically charged, while placing more emphasis on Mayfield's beautiful vocals and his equally spectacular arrangements. Any man that can pull off a yellow suit is a legend in my book.
16. Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
I could put about seven different Nina Simone albums on this list. Little Girl Blue, Wild Is the Wind, I Put a Spell on You, Sings the Blues, and In Concert are all among the best albums, let alone soul albums, ever recorded. After paring her entire discography, Pastel Blues is my favorite of hers. The a-side is fairly typical soul jazz, albeit performed incredibly well. While the a-side is great, the b-side absolutely blows it out of the water, cementing the record as a stone-cold classic. "Strange Fruit" and the glorious, massive, fantastic "Sinnerman" are alone worth the price of admission.
17. Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can
Regional genres of music often reflect the culture of the areas they spawn from. East coast hip hop is industrialized and gritty, southern soul is passionate and religiously-inclined, and appalachian folk music is raw and blues-influenced. Yes We Can is an important document of New Orleans R&B and soul, reflecting the city's culture with a rhythm section influenced by marching bands, as well as an increased emphasis on horns and piano. The album pays wonderful tribute to dixieland and brass bands, while still managing to be an effective piece of '70s soul music.
18. Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
Hayes is one of the first soul singers I was conscious of. I grew to know him as the voice of Chef on South Park, as well as the man behind the brilliant, ubiqituous soundtrack to Shaft, which made him the first Black winner of a non-acting Oscar. It wasn't until later that I discovered Hot Buttered Soul, which soon became one of my all-time favorite records. It's the most progressive soul album of all time, consisting of only four tracks, three of which exceed ten minutes in length. Despite these long track lengths, Hayes doesn't waste a single moment, filling every track to the brim with glorious arrangements and dulcet vocals.
19. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, D'Angelo's Brown Sugar, and Erykah Badu's Baduizm were all quite successful, but it was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill that brought the genre of neo-soul into the mainstream. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year, and garnered a #1 hit in "Doo Wop (That Thing)". The album has achieved semi-legendary status in recent years, considering the fact that Hill hasn't released a single album since, and it deserves every bit of it's legendary status. The production and songwriting is smooth as silk, the influences from hip hop are tasteful, and Hill is a brilliant vocalist.
20. Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry
In the pantheon of '70s pop/blue-eyed soul, featuring artists such as Carole King, Dusty Springfield, and Hall & Oates, Laura Nyro is easily the most underappreciated. Nyro's songwriting is subtle and morose, singing of desolation and lost love over eerie, brilliantly composed piano and string arrangements, and her vocals are effortlessly soulful and beautiful. Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is more strictly a soul record, but New York Tendaberry is way better.
21. Syl Johnson - Is It Because I'm Black
The title track to this album is one of the best soul tracks of all time. It's angry, politically conscious, and soul-bearingly sad. Johnson lays out all his conflicted emotions over a spindly, eerie instrumental, and it makes for one of the best soul singles ever recorded. The rest of the album could certainly cost on the power of its title track, and in a lot of ways it does, but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable, politically charged album all the way through.
22. Aretha Franklin - Aretha Now
Every person who's a fan of Aretha Franklin will probably have an entirely different favorite album of her's. Her run from 1967 to 1972 is impeccable, starting off with the classic I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You and ending with Amazing Grace, her magnificent take on southern gospel music. It's hard to choose, but my personal favorite album from this time period is Aretha Now. My judgement may be clouded by the presence of "Think", which is one of my favorite songs ever, but the rest of the album is fantastic as well, boasting active, hard-hitting arrangements and characteristically powerful vocal performances from the Queen of Soul herself.
23. Minnie Riperton - Come to My Garden
There's more to Riperton than "Lovin' You", lovely as that song may be. Riperton had a regrettably brief career, recording only five albums over a ten year period, and her debut, Come to My Garden, is her masterpiece. Many tracks are just as delicate and smooth as the sound she'd pioneer on "Lovin' You" and the entire Perfect Angel record, but the best tracks are a bit harder-edged, harkening back to her days with psychedelic outfit Rotary Connection. "Les fleur" is her undisputed masterpiece, making full use of her vocal range while simultaneously boasting a brilliant arrangement.
24. Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces of a Man
In making the transition from jazz poetry into soul, Scott-Heron's music loses none of its power or wit. Pieces of a Man opens with the blistering, legendary, hip-hop influencing "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", and then moves right into a saccharine, cheesy soul track. At first, it seems like Scott-Heron's attempt as soul is nothing more than a hollow sell-out move, and then "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" hits and everything is suddenly okay. One of the most politically charged soul albums, and one of the best.
25. Sly & The Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On
Sly Stone's warped masterpiece There's a Riot Goin' On is a perfect depiction of American culture in the tumultuous early '70s. Stand! was Sly & The Family Stone's first overtly political album, but it was more of an optimistic call to arms, urging people to organize and fight for social change. There's a Riot Goin' On is pessimistic, jaded, and drugged-out. Calls to arms aren't going to work anymore, so Stone and his band are more than willing to ride out the political climate in a drugged-out stupor. Amazing and absolutely ahead of its time record.
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