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Various Artists - Chess Soul - A Decade Of Chicago's Finest

Track listing:
Volume 1
  1. Track 01 65:18
  2. Mama Didn't Lie - Jan Bradley 2:02
  3. Strange Feeling - Billy Stewart 2:09
  4. I've Been So Lonely - Cookie & The Cupcakes 2:14
  5. Soulful Dress - Sugar Pie Desanto 2:50
  6. Love Ain't Nothin' (But A Monkey On Your Back) - Johnny Nash 2:14
  7. Who's That Guy - The Kolettes 2:52
  8. Ain't Love Good,ain't Love Proud - Tony Clark 3:13
  9. I Had A Talk With My Man - Mittie Collier 3:41
  10. I Can't Help Myself - The Gems 2:57
  11. Don't Mess Up A Good Thing - Fontella Bass & Bobby Mcclure 3:00
  12. Voice Your Choice - The Radiants 2:33
  13. Selfish One - Jackie Ross 3:18
  14. The Entertainer - Tony Clark 2:33
  15. I Do Love You - Billy Stewart 2:59
  16. Love Is A Five Letter Word - James Phelps 3:27
  17. The Soul Of A Man - Fontella Bass 3:32
  18. Temptation 'bout To Get Me - The Knight Brothers 3:22
  19. Do I Make Myself Clear- - Etta James & Sugar Pie Desanto 3:00
  20. Take Me For A Little While - Jackie Ross 2:32
  21. What About Me- - The Valentinos 2:47
  22. I'm Satisfied - Mittie Collier 2:02
  23. Searcing For My Love - Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces 2:30
  24. Only Time Will Tell - Etta James 3:21
Volume 2
  1. Track 01 64:43
  2. Rescue Me - Fontella Bass 2:54
  3. I'm Not Ashamed - Bobby Mcclure 2:53
  4. Stay By My Side - Jo Ann Garrett 2:55
  5. Have Piy On Me - Billy Young 2:29
  6. Wade In The Water - Ramsey Lewis 3:26
  7. I Fooled You This Time - Gene Chandler 2:50
  8. Don't Pass Me By - Big Maybelle 3:08
  9. Lonely Girl - Andrea Davis 3:03
  10. To Be A Lover - Gene Chandler 2:54
  11. Don't Knock Me - Barbara Carr 2:25
  12. I Believe She Will - Eddie & Ernie 2:58
  13. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Marlena Shaw 3:01
  14. A Love Reputation - Denise Lasalle 2:45
  15. Dirty Man - Laura Lee 2:53
  16. I Can't Make It Without You - Fred Hughes 2:41
  17. Hold On - The Radiants 2:54
  18. Good To Me - Irma Thomas 2:33
  19. You Left The Water Running - Maurice & Mac 2:42
  20. Oh What A Day - The Dells 2:47
  21. Baby, I Love You - Little Milton 2:47
  22. Losers Weepers - Etta James 2:59
  23. Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation - The Dells 4:35

Notes

Dec 1962-1972

While Chess made numerous legendary contributions to the fields of blues and rock & roll, its reputation as a major mover and shaker in the soul field from 1961 to 1971 is unassailed. This 2-CD, 45-track compilation is another excellent entry in the Chess 50th Anniversary Series and shows why the label had the Windy City almost sewn up when it came to brand-name artists and material. Whether the tracks were master purchases from a smaller Chicago or Southern label (Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie," Cookie and the Cupcakes' "I've Been So Lonely," the Kolettes' "Who's That Girl?," Big Maybelle's "Don't Pass Me By" or Denise LaSalle's "A Love Reputation") or in-house productions from Billy Davis and Leonard Caston, next to Stax or Atlantic, no one stood for soul music in the 1960s like Chess Records. Featuring the label's strong hitmakers and soul shouters Etta James (the devastating "Only Time Will Tell"), Billy Stewart (the scat classic "Summertime"), Fontella Bass ("Rescue Me"), Gene Chandler ("I Fooled You This Time"), Mitty Collier ("I'm Satisfied") and Sugar Pie DeSanto ("Soulful Dress") alongside isolated moments of Chi-Town brilliance (the Radiants' "Voice Your Choice," the Knight Brothers' "Temptation 'Bout to Get Me" and Tony Clarke's "The Entertainer") with early Muscle Shoals productions thrown in to give the big picture (Laura Lee's "Dirty Man," Maurice and Mac's "You Left the Water Running"), this is one very potent two-disc anthology and an essential addition to anyone's soul collection.