My Kind of Blues
Artist: Sam Cooke

There's been talk that someone (RCA or ABKCO) is going to return the sessions from which this was garnered into print someday. I sure hope that's true, because anyone only familiar with either Cooke's gospel or pop has missed the boat if they haven't heard him doing the blues. It's a totally different experience, though also a transcendent one.... Read More

The Ultimate Collection: Stand by Me/Best of Ben E. King/Ben E. Kind with the Drifters
Artist: Ben E. King
Community Score: 10.00

Available on cassette only, this brief set features some of Ben E. King's leads with the Drifters and a handful of solo efforts. Three solo monsters are included: the stalking "Stand By Me," fan favorite "Don't Play That Song," and the everlasting "Spanish Harlem." His stint with the Drifters is best represented by the popular "Save the Last... Read More

Anthology - 1973
Artist: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Community Score: 5.00
One Dozen Roses
Artist: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Community Score: 5.00

One of their better latter-period albums. Though the singles ("The Tears of a Clown," "I Don't Blame You At All," the lovely "Satisfaction") were the focal points of the set, the real gem is "No Wonder Love's a Wonder," a haunting, socially conscious ballad where Smokey Robinson speaks the lyrics as the Miracles harmonize in the background. It... Read More

Live at the Apollo
Artist: The Supremes
I'll Try Something New
Artist: The Miracles

The Miracles' second album embraced several different pop and soul idioms in the course of its ten songs with extraordinary aplomb, the group moving from strength to strength while also showing off Gordy's growing musical vocabulary. For the title track, Smokey Robinson's ethereal lead vocal is surrounded by an exquisite chorus (with Claudette,... Read More

Hi, We're the Miracles
Artist: The Miracles

The Miracles' first album is a magnificent debut, filled with impeccable vocal performances, inventive and occasionally brilliant songwriting, and an aching romantic aura. "Shop Around" was the big hit on the record, but another highlight is the group's recut version (also available on the old Miracles' Anthology double-disc set) of their single... Read More

Songs of Faith
Artist: Aretha Franklin
Community Score: 6.00
Soul Stirrers
Artist: Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers
Anthology - 1986
Artist: Diana Ross & the Supremes

When it was released in 1974, Motown's Diana Ross and the Supremes Anthology was the most comprehensive compilation yet issued on one of the 1960s' most popular groups. A 35-track triple LP, it superseded the 1967 double-LP Greatest Hits, including 17 of that album's 20 tracks, as well as the 1969 Greatest Hits, Volume 3, all of which was... Read More

Where Did Our Love Go?
Artist: The Supremes

Even though this long-player was the second collection to have featured the original Supremes lineup with Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross, Where Did Our Love Go (1964) was the first to significantly impact the radio-listening and record-buying public. It effectively turned the trio -- who were called the 'No-Hit Supremes' by Motown... Read More

The Rock 'n' Roll Era: The Supremes 1963-1969
Artist: The Supremes