Critic's Review
Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Monument of Soul is a comprehensive collection of Joe Simon's 1966-1972 releases on the Sound Stage 7 label, including nearly everything that he put out on singles through the company during that period. Among them are all of his R&B and pop chart hits on Sound Stage 7, which in Simon's case were quite numerous -- 16 in all, even if just a couple of them ("The Chokin' Kind" and "You Keep Me Hanging On") got into the Top 40. Simon's Sound Stage 7 period is underrepresented by the singer's best career retrospective, Rhino's Music in My Bones: The Best of Joe Simon, so this is a welcome in-depth view of the earlier era. And, for listeners who prefer his Nashville soul stint to his slicker Philly soul and disco productions of the '70s, this will probably be the Simon CD they'll want most. Simon was not quite on the Hall of Fame level of soul singers, but he was on the next level down, and he pretty consistently delivered the goods, even on B-sides, of which there are quite a few on this disc. He was better on the countrified ballads than he was on the mid-tempo chuggers, both because these suited his style better, and because such material stood in bolder relief when juxtaposed with much late-'60s soul. "I Worry About You" and "San Francisco Is a Lonely Town" are two of the overlooked slow-burners on this anthology, though some relatively unknown up-tempo belters are worthy of attention too, like "Travellin' Man."
