Various Artists - Soul 66 From The Vaults Of Atlantic

Facts 91-track box gathering hits and rarities from 1966: the year that soul music broke big. Key artists include Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam And Dave, Carla Thomas, Ben E. King, Arthur Conley, Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Darrell Banks, Solomon Burke, Esther Phillips, William Bell, Doris Troy and Mary Wells. This isn’t just about hits, there’s B-sides, obscurities and a couple of Loma tracks that were unissued until the 21st century. The focus may be mainly on the dancefloor but there’s also room for a few deep soul numbers such as Jeff Dale’s sublime ‘A Suffering Pain’. Notes are by MOJO and Record Collector soul expert Lois Wilson. Mastering is by Grammy nominated archivist/producer Alec Palao who discovered The Marvellos’ stomping ‘I Need You’ (featured here) when he digitised the Loma tape archive. Everything on ‘Soul 66’ is licensed from Warner Bros.