One of the most popular smooth soul groups of the early '70s didn't hail from Philadelphia or Memphis, the two cities known for sweet, string-laden soul. Instead, the Chi-Lites were from Chicago, a town better known for its gritty urban blues and driving R&B. Led by vocalist Eugene Record, the Chi-Lites had a lush, creamy sound distinguished by... [+] Read More

One of the most popular smooth soul groups of the early '70s didn't hail from Philadelphia or Memphis, the two cities known for sweet, string-laden soul. Instead, the Chi-Lites were from Chicago, a town better known for its gritty urban blues and driving R&B. Led by vocalist Eugene Record, the Chi-Lites had a lush, creamy sound distinguished by their four-part harmonies and layered productions. During the early '70s, they racked up 11 Top Ten R&B singles, ranging from the romantic ballads "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl" to protest songs like "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People" and "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the Conference Table)." All the songs featured Record's warm, pleading tenor and falsetto, and the majority of the group's hits were written by Record, often in collaboration with other songwriters like Barbara Acklin.

The Chi-Lites had been around for nearly a decade before they finally had a hit in the late '60s. Eugene Record, Robert Lester, and Clarence Johnson formed the doo wop group the Chanteurs in the late '50s, and they released one single on Renee Records in 1959. Shortly afterward, Creadel "Red" Jones and Marshall Thompson, who had sung with the Desideros, teamed with the trio to form the Hi-Lites. Over the next four years, the Hi-Lites released a number of singles on local labels. In 1964, they changed their name to Marshall & the Chi-Lites, adding the "C" as tribute to their hometown Chicago. By the end of the year, Johnson left the group and the remaining quartet truncated their name to the Chi-Lites. Over the next four years, the group continued to perform and release independent singles, with Record slowly emerging as the group's lead singer, songwriter, and producer.

In 1968, the Chi-Lites signed with the large Chicago indie label Brunswick Records, and early the following year "Give It Away" became their first national hit single, reaching number ten on the R&B charts. Despite the moderate success of "Let Me Be the Man My Daddy Was," the group wasn't able to deliver another big hit until "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)" climbed into the R&B Top Ten in early 1971, beginning a string of ten Top Ten hits that ran intermittently over the next four years. The follow-up to "Are You My Woman?," "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People," was their first pop hit, setting the stage for a pair of slow, soulful ballads, "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl," which both reached number one on the R&B charts; the latter was a number-one pop hit, as well. in the spring of 1972.

Shortly after the release of the hit "Stoned Out of My Mind," the Chi-Lites began to splinter in 1973, when Jones left the group and was replaced by Stanley Anderson, who was quickly replaced by Willie Kensey. The revamped lineup had three Top Ten R&B hits -- "Homely Girl," "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the Conference Table)," and "Toby" -- before they replaced Kensey with Doc Roberson. Shortly afterward, Brunswick became involved in serious financial problems, which prevented the label from promoting the group's record. Frustrated, Record left the band to become a solo recording artist for Warner Bros. The remaining trio, augmented by David Scott and Danny Johnson (who was replaced by Vandy Hampton in 1977), signed with Mercury, but none of their singles were hits.

The original lineup of the Chi-Lites re-formed in 1980, and the group began recording for Eugene Record's label, Chi-Sound. Although their first singles were more successful than their Mercury Records, they didn't have a genuine hit until 1982, when "Hot on a Thing (Called Love)" reached number 15. The following year, they moved to Larc Records, where they had their final Top Ten hit with "Bottoms Up." Late that year, Creadel Jones retired and the group continued to tour as a trio throughout the remainder of the decade. Record left the group in 1990 to record as a solo artist. He was replaced by Anthony Watson. By the early '90s, Jones had re-joined the group, and this version of the Chi-Lites became a regular on the oldies and soul circuit during the '90s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Walter Jackson was '60s Chicago soul at its sweetest and, occasionally, most mainstream. In the mid-'60s, he had a brace of solid R&B hits -- "Suddenly I'm All Alone," "It's an Uphill Climb (To the Bottom)," "Speak Her Name," "Welcome Home," "A Corner in the Sun" -- without ever rising higher than the lower reaches of the Top 100. Recording for... [+] Read More

Walter Jackson was '60s Chicago soul at its sweetest and, occasionally, most mainstream. In the mid-'60s, he had a brace of solid R&B hits -- "Suddenly I'm All Alone," "It's an Uphill Climb (To the Bottom)," "Speak Her Name," "Welcome Home," "A Corner in the Sun" -- without ever rising higher than the lower reaches of the Top 100. Recording for the OKeh stable, which was home to the top Chi-town soul talent, he benefited for a time from the production services of local masters Carl Davis and Curtis Mayfield, who handled the Impressions, Major Lance, Gene Chandler, and others. His sides employed similar punchy brass and strings, but in a smoother, more urbane fashion; Jackson was also comfortable with occasional outings into pure supper-club pop with nary a trace of R&B.

Jackson had already recorded for Columbia (and unsuccessfully auditioned for Motown) when OKeh A&R director Davis saw him at a Detroit piano bar in 1962. Stricken with polio as a young boy, Jackson had never let his disability get in the way of his musical ambitions, performing on crutches. Impressed with his commanding voice, Carl Davis thought of Walter as a Nat "King" Cole type of singer, and procured material for Jackson from Mayfield, Van McCoy, Chip Taylor, and other top-notch songwriters.

Despite the obvious pop crossover potential of Jackson's recordings, he remained obscure to white listeners. During the latter part of his stay with OKeh, he was reassigned from Davis' stable to producer Ted Cooper. Jackson had a few hits with Cooper, but there was little success after the late '60s, although he recorded for a few more labels before dying of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1983. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The king of romantic Chicago soul, Tyrone Davis' warm, aching vulnerability and stylish class made him especially popular with female soul fans during a lengthy hitmaking run that lasted throughout the '70s. Best known for the classics "Can I Change My Mind" and "Turn Back the Hands of Time," Davis was a versatile baritone singer who could... [+] Read More

The king of romantic Chicago soul, Tyrone Davis' warm, aching vulnerability and stylish class made him especially popular with female soul fans during a lengthy hitmaking run that lasted throughout the '70s. Best known for the classics "Can I Change My Mind" and "Turn Back the Hands of Time," Davis was a versatile baritone singer who could handle everything from pop-soul to funk to bluesy chitlin-circuit R&B, but smooth soul was his true bread and butter. Once Davis broke through in the late '60s, he never really stopped recording; although the R&B chart hits dried up by the early '80s, he was still going strong into the new millennium, decades after his first single was released.

Tyrone Davis was born May 4, 1938, in Greenville, MS; he spent most of his formative years in Saginaw, MI, and moved to Chicago in 1959, where he eventually found a job as a valet and chauffeur for bluesman Freddie King. He befriended the likes of Bobby "Blue" Bland, Little Milton, and Otis Clay, among others, and began to pursue his own singing career in the clubs on the city's West and South Sides. Singer/pianist Harold Burrage took Davis under his wing and helped him refine his craft, and the budding blues shouter got his first shot in 1965 on the Four Brothers label. His first single, "Suffer," was recorded under the name Tyrone the Wonder Boy and written and produced by Burrage, as was the follow-up "Good Company." Unfortunately, Burrage passed away in late 1966, and after one more single Davis moved on to cut one-offs for Sack and ABC. He found a home at Carl Davis' new label Dakar in 1968, when a Texas DJ flipped his first release over and started playing the B-side, "Can I Change My Mind." Showcasing Davis' lovelorn pleading to best effect, the song went all the way to number one on the R&B charts, and reached the pop Top Five as well.

Teamed with producer/arranger Willie Henderson, who'd masterminded "Can I Change My Mind," Davis capitalized on his breakthrough with a string of orchestrated hits that emphasized his new, smoother style, and helped point the way for Chicago soul into a new decade. "Is It Something You've Got" reached the R&B Top Five in 1969, and it was followed in 1970 by the sublime "Turn Back the Hands of Time." It was his second R&B number one, and also his biggest hit on the pop charts with a peak at number three; plus, the accompanying album of the same name ranks among the best soul LPs of its time, producing two more hits in the R&B Top Ten "I'll Be Right Here" and "Let Me Back In." Davis hit the R&B Top 40 with steady regularity over the next few years, including the Top Tens "Could I Forget You," "I Had It All the Time," "Without You in My Life," and "There It Is." In 1975, he scored his third number one R&B hit with "Turning Point," but left Dakar for Columbia the following year.

Davis' ballad mastery was a main selling point for Columbia, which made his backing orchestrations even lusher than before, but he also made the occasional concession to contemporary dance trends, which informed his debut Columbia hit "Give It Up (Turn It Loose)," a number two R&B single from 1976. Further successes followed in "This I Swear" (1977), "Get On Up (Disco)" (1978), and the slinky ballad "In the Mood" (1979). Davis recorded his final album for Columbia in 1981, then switched to Highrise, where he promptly landed a Top Five R&B hit -- his last, as it turned out -- with "Are You Serious" in 1982. Short stints with Ocean-Front and Prelude followed before Davis settled in with Future for the latter half of the '80s. He spent the first half of the '90s on retro-soul label Ichiban, recording several albums, and then moved to Southern soul imprint Malaco in 1996 for an equally productive stay that lasted into the new millennium. Davis continued to release new albums every year or two, and toured the soul/blues circuit as restlessly as ever. Tyrone Davis suffered a stroke in October of 2004 and remained hospitalized until his death in February of 2005. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The quintessential Chicago soul group, the Impressions' place in R&B history would be secure if they'd done nothing but launch the careers of soul legends Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield. But far more than that, the Impressions recorded some of the most distinctive vocal-group R&B of the '60s under Mayfield's guidance. Their style was marked by... [+] Read More

The quintessential Chicago soul group, the Impressions' place in R&B history would be secure if they'd done nothing but launch the careers of soul legends Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield. But far more than that, the Impressions recorded some of the most distinctive vocal-group R&B of the '60s under Mayfield's guidance. Their style was marked by airy, feather-light harmonies and Mayfield's influentially sparse guitar work, plus, at times, understated Latin rhythms. If their sound was sweet and lilting, it remained richly soulful thanks to the group's firm grounding in gospel tradition; they popularized the three-part vocal trade-offs common in gospel but rare in R&B at the time, and recorded their fair share of songs with spiritual themes, both subtle and overt. Furthermore, Mayfield's interest in the civil rights movement led to some of the first socially conscious R&B songs ever recorded, and his messages grew more explicit as the '60s wore on, culminating in the streak of brilliance that was his early-'70s solo work. The Impressions carried on without Mayfield, but only matched their earlier achievements in isolated instances, and finally disbanded in the early '80s.

The Impressions were formed in Chicago in 1957 as a doo wop group called the Roosters, a group of Chattanooga, TN, transplants that included vocalists Sam Gooden and brothers Richard and Arthur Brooks. Lead singer Jerry Butler joined up and soon brought in his friend Curtis Mayfield as guitarist; the two had previously sung together in a church choir and a couple of local gospel groups as youths. Renamed the Impressions by their manager, the group scored a major hit in 1958 with the classic ballad "For Your Precious Love," which hit the pop Top 20 and the R&B Top Five. Butler's gospel-inflected lead vocal was a departure from the norm, and the fact that the single billed him in front of the rest of the group foreshadowed his quick exit for a solo career, after just one more single ("Come Back My Love"). With new vocalist Fred Cash in tow, Mayfield took over the lead tenor role, eventually becoming the group's chief composer as well. First, though, he hit the road as guitarist and musical director for Butler's backing band, and also co-wrote some of Butler's earliest singles, including the R&B number one "He Will Break Your Heart" in late 1960.

Mayfield's success as a songwriter encouraged him to form his own publishing company. With the money he earned by working with Butler, he reconvened the Impressions and brought them to New York to record for ABC-Paramount in 1961. Their first single, the Latin-inflected "Gypsy Woman," was a number two R&B smash, also reaching the pop Top 20. Several follow-ups failed to duplicate its chart success, and the Brooks brothers left the group in 1962; now down to a trio, the Impressions returned to Chicago and began recording with arranger Johnny Pate, whose horn and string embellishments added a bit more heft to their sound. They struck gold in 1963 with "It's All Right," whose gospel-style lead-swapping helped make it not only their first R&B number one, but their biggest pop hit as well, with a peak of number four. The same year, they issued their eponymous first LP, which many critics still consider one of their finest. 1964 brought the hit single "Keep on Pushing," the first of Mayfield's numerous black pride anthems (though at this stage, his sentiments were much less explicit than they would later become). The album of the same name also featured a marching-beat cover of the gospel standard "Amen," inspired by the song's inclusion in the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field. Gospel also informed what became perhaps the best-known Impressions hit, 1965's "People Get Ready"; if its lyrics weren't overtly political, Mayfield's intent was clear, as the song became an anthem of transcendence for the civil rights movement and an oft-covered soul standard.

The mid-'60s saw Mayfield trying to keep pace with the Motown hit factory by incorporating elements of its style into his own writing. The group recorded prolifically in 1965, but their commercial fortunes dropped off over the next couple of years. When the Impressions returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts, it was with 1968's "We're a Winner," the most straightforward celebration of black pride Mayfield had yet composed. That summer, the group left ABC to record for Mayfield's newly formed Curtom imprint, which allowed them greater freedom in terms of the lyrical content Mayfield wanted to pursue. More aggressive message tracks like "This Is My Country," "Choice of Colors," and "Check Out Your Mind" followed over the next couple of years, as did some of the group's most consistent albums, particularly The Young Mods' Forgotten Story (1969). 1970's Check Out Your Mind was Mayfield's final album with the Impressions, but the group remained on Curtom after his departure, and he continued to write and produce some of their material.

Mayfield was replaced on lead vocals by Leroy Hutson, who debuted on LP with 1972's Times Have Changed. At this point, the Impressions were still overshadowed by their ex-leader, who was riding high with brilliant works like Superfly. But Mayfield's solo momentum cooled down a bit, and after Hutson departed in 1973, new singers Ralph Johnson and Reggie Torian joined Cash and Gooden for the R&B chart-topper "Finally Got Myself Together (I'm a Changed Man)," cut with ex-Motown producer Ed Townsend in 1974. Townsend continued to work with the group for the next couple of years with some success, but in 1976 Johnson left to join the unsuccessful Mystique. Around that point, the Impressions parted ways with Curtom; Nate Evans replaced Johnson, and the group recorded for Cotillion and 20th Century/Chi-Sound with little chart success. Evans eventually departed, leaving the group a trio again. They recorded their final album, Fan the Fire, in 1981; Gooden and Cash occasionally reunited with Mayfield and sometimes Butler for touring commitments. Mayfield was paralyzed in a heartbreaking stage accident in 1990, when a lighting scaffold toppled over on him; he passed away in 1999. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The Dells are one of the finest and longest-lived R&B vocal groups in history, and what's most amazing is that they've done it with nearly all the same members -- they haven't changed personnel since 1960. They were one of the very few doo wop outfits to successfully update their sound, finding their strongest commercial niche in the late '60s... [+] Read More

The Dells are one of the finest and longest-lived R&B vocal groups in history, and what's most amazing is that they've done it with nearly all the same members -- they haven't changed personnel since 1960. They were one of the very few doo wop outfits to successfully update their sound, finding their strongest commercial niche in the late '60s and '70s as a polished smooth soul harmony group. While their chart fortunes have certainly fluctuated over the years, they remained a viable act right up into the '90s, by which time they had long since achieved legendary status in the R&B community.

The Dells were formed in 1953 in southern suburbs of Chicago, specifically the town of Harvey, IL, where all the members attended high school together. The original lineup featured lead baritone Marvin Junior, lead tenor Johnny Funches, tenors Verne Allison and Lucius McGill, second baritone Mickey McGill, and bass Chuck Barksdale. Initially called the El-Rays, the group recorded their first single, "Darling I Know," for Chess Records subsidiary Checker that year; it flopped. Lucius McGill departed not long after, and wasn't replaced, cutting the group down to a quintet. Newly christened the Dells, they got another shot in 1955 when they signed to Vee Jay. They had a minor R&B hit with the ballad "Dreams of Contentment" that year, but really scored big in 1956 with the doo wop classic "Oh What a Nite," which featured Funches singing lead and went Top Five on the R&B charts. Thus established, the Dells hit the road, although they found it difficult to duplicate their chart success. Tragedy nearly struck in 1958; on their way to a gig in Philadelphia, the body of the group's station wagon failed, resulting in a serious accident which lacerated Junior's larynx (slightly altering his voice thereafter) and nearly cost McGill the use of his leg. The Dells went on hiatus to recover; in the meantime, Barksdale became a temporary member of the Moonglows, where he sang alongside Marvin Gaye.

The Dells reconvened in 1960 and successfully auditioned to tour with Dinah Washington, as both her opening act and backup group. Funches, however, was tired of touring and decided to stay home with his family, which would be the last time any member left the group. He was replaced by lead/falsetto tenor Johnny Carter, a former member of the Flamingoes. Working with vocal coach Kirk Stewart, the Dells perfected the more challenging art of jazz harmony singing. They toured with Washington for two years, subsequently signing with the Chess subsidiary Argo and releasing four jazz-flavored singles, all of which tanked. They returned to Vee Jay in 1964 and began recording R&B again, though their local nightclub act centered more around jazz; 1965 brought them a Top 30 R&B hit with "Stay in My Corner," their biggest success since "Oh What a Nite." However, Vee Jay went bankrupt in 1966, and the Dells returned to Chess for a third time, this time the Cadet subsidiary; their first two singles, "Thinking About You" and "Run for Cover," became local hits. Also in 1966, the Dells became Ray Charles' touring vocal backup, giving them an opportunity to sing in some of their biggest concert venues yet.

Cadet was where the Dells' career really started to take off. In 1967, the label assigned producer Bobby Miller and arranger Charles Stepney to handle the group, and they began to exploit the striking contrast between Junior's earthy baritone and Carter's luminous falsetto, adding lush orchestrations and plenty of horn charts. The Dells' first album under the Miller-Stepney aegis, There Is, was a smashing success, spawning no less than four hit singles including an expanded remake of "Stay in My Corner" that topped the R&B charts and went Top Ten pop. Suddenly the group was bigger than they'd ever been; their follow-up album, 1968's Always Together, spun off another four singles. 1969's Love Is Blue gave them another R&B number one and pop Top Ten with a remake of their '50s classic "Oh What a Nite." Miller moved on to other projects in early 1970, and Stepney became the Dells' producer on the following year's Freedom Means, which featured the hit ballad "The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind)." After a Dionne Warwick repertory album in 1972, Cadet hired Don Davis as the group's new producer, which paid immediate dividends in the form of the Dells' first certified million-selling single, 1973's "Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation." After a few more hits with Davis, the Dells left Cadet in favor of Mercury in 1975.

Although the group's production kept pace with the times, incorporating nods to disco, their Mercury stint wasn't as successful, and they switched labels again in 1978, jumping to ABC for a couple of albums. It seemed their career momentum had stalled, at least until 1980's I Touched a Dream LP, recorded for 20th Century. Produced by the Chi-Lites' Eugene Record, I Touched a Dream recaptured the Dells' old magic, and was greeted with enthusiastic reviews. The follow-up, Whatever Turns You On, wasn't quite as successful, though, and the Dells wound up spending a number of years off record, returning with a little-noticed old-style soul album in 1988's The Second Time. It looked as though they might be consigned to the oldies circuit until filmmaker Robert Townsend approached them to serve as consultants on his movie about a fictional vocal group, The Five Heartbeats. The Dells recorded a song called "The Heart Is a House for Love" for the soundtrack, which became a left-field R&B chart hit when it was released as a single in 1991. That led to a new album for Zoo in 1992, I Salute You, which attempted to mate the Dells' sound with urban contemporary and new jack swing production; however, it wasn't a hit, and the group returned to touring. Former lead singer Johnny Funches passed away in 1998, and Verne Allison underwent a successful triple bypass in 2000, the same year the Dells released Reminiscing on the revived Volt label; it was their first album of new material in eight years. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

A great anthology of Tyrone Davis' hits on the Dakar Label, covering a period from 1968 to 1976. People mistakenly labeled Davis a blues singer; he's not. Tyrone is urban R&B seasoned with southern soul. All the tunes that put him over the top are here: the shuffling, bluesy "Can I Change My Mind," the questioning, horn accented "Is It Something... [+] Read More

A great anthology of Tyrone Davis' hits on the Dakar Label, covering a period from 1968 to 1976. People mistakenly labeled Davis a blues singer; he's not. Tyrone is urban R&B seasoned with southern soul. All the tunes that put him over the top are here: the shuffling, bluesy "Can I Change My Mind," the questioning, horn accented "Is It Something You've Got" and there's "Turn Back the Hands of Time," highlighted by some sweet punchy horns. And on, and on. Lesser known releases included the excellent "Could I Forget You," "I'll Be Right Here" and "Homewreckers." Davis' bluesy, baritone/tenor is soothing, assured, and remarkably believable on the 23 tracks. An excellent import CD by one of Americas most underappreciated soul singers. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide [-] Hide

While this three-CD, 75-song box set only has a half-dozen tracks actually credited to Burt Bacharach, it's certainly the best representation of his music likely to ever be assembled. Spanning the late '50s through a 1996 duet with Elvis Costello, this is the cream of his work as a composer (and, frequently, producer), properly concentrating... [+] Read More

While this three-CD, 75-song box set only has a half-dozen tracks actually credited to Burt Bacharach, it's certainly the best representation of his music likely to ever be assembled. Spanning the late '50s through a 1996 duet with Elvis Costello, this is the cream of his work as a composer (and, frequently, producer), properly concentrating mostly on the 1960s hit versions of his songs (usually, though not always, co-written with Hal David) by Dionne Warwick, Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Dusty Springfield, the Drifters, Chuck Jackson, and many others. Classics like "Baby It's You," "Walk On By," "What the World Needs Now Is Love," and "Wishin' and Hopin'" are here, of course. What really makes this exceptional by box set standards, however, is the deft intermingling of familiar smash hits with interesting minor hits and rarities. There are four cuts by the unknown Lou Johnson, who has been described as the male counterpart to Dionne Warwick; intriguing obscurities by Gene Pitney ("Fool Killer"), Jackie DeShannon ("So Long Johnny"), and others that even fans of the artists might not have heard; rare original versions of familiar classics (Tommy Hunt's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," for instance); hits by artists who only benefited grandly from the magic Bacharach/David touch once (Bobby Vinton's "Blue on Blue," Jack Jones' "Wives and Lovers"); and just plain off-the-wall things like the Five Blobs' novelty "The Blob," Manfred Mann's "My Little Red Book," Bobby Goldsboro's "My Japanese Boy I Love You," and TV actor Richard Chamberlain's "Blue Guitar." Thankfully only a little of his subpar work from the '80s is included. Aficionados may find some things to carp about, particularly the absence of some small hits (quantity and licensing would have made it difficult to bring everything together) and the track choice when several singers made worthy versions; sometimes the big hit is used, sometimes it's a rare original version, sometimes it's a rare rendition that was neither the original nor the biggest hit. Certainly there's more Bacharach/David worth hearing; the first places to start after getting through this are vintage Dionne Warwick compilations. For a rich but manageable anthology of his best work, though, it could hardly be bettered, enhanced by nearly 100 pages of liner notes and track annotations. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Still the only compilation to range through Jerry Butler's entire career on the pop charts, Rhino's The Best of Jerry Butler offered a lot of tracks (especially for the mid-'80s) and remains the best place to hear the full scope of Chicago's smoothest soul singer. The 18-tracker begins fittingly with his first hit, the sweet ballad "For Your... [+] Read More

Still the only compilation to range through Jerry Butler's entire career on the pop charts, Rhino's The Best of Jerry Butler offered a lot of tracks (especially for the mid-'80s) and remains the best place to hear the full scope of Chicago's smoothest soul singer. The 18-tracker begins fittingly with his first hit, the sweet ballad "For Your Precious Love," recorded during the brief time in 1958 when he led the Impressions -- later to find even more pop success on their own than Butler would. During the early '60s, though, Jerry Butler was one of the most popular artists in Chicago soul, paced by his big Vee-Jay singles: "He Will Break Your Heart," "I'm a Telling You," the sublime Burt Bacharach production "Make It Easy on Yourself," and his biggest hit of the era, the Betty Everett duet "Let It Be Me." The compilation then skips ahead to close out with three hits from his years in Philadelphia with Mercury, the Gamble-Huff hits "Never Give You Up," "Hey, Western Union Man," and "Only the Strong Survive." Anyone with more than a passing interest in Chicago soul would do better with separate sets for his Vee-Jay and Mercury years (The Sweetest Soul and Iceman: The Mercury Years, respectively), but The Best of Jerry Butler is a great choice for listeners wanting only the best. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The Dells were one of the few groups that rode the transition from doo wop to smooth soul without missing a beat and without falling off the charts. Just as remarkably, the group did so without declining much in quality, as Hip-O's definitive double-disc Anthology proves. Throughout these 36 tracks, the music changes, from street-corner R&B to... [+] Read More

The Dells were one of the few groups that rode the transition from doo wop to smooth soul without missing a beat and without falling off the charts. Just as remarkably, the group did so without declining much in quality, as Hip-O's definitive double-disc Anthology proves. Throughout these 36 tracks, the music changes, from street-corner R&B to string-drenched disco-soul, but in all their incarnations, the Dells always sound wonderful. There are a handful of minor hits missing, but all the big singles -- including both the Vee-Jay and Cadet versions of "Oh, What a Nite" and "Stay in My Corner" -- are here, assembled chronologically. As such, it tells an epic story of a group whose history mirrored the story of R&B vocal groups from the '50s through the '70s. The latter-day material may pale somewhat in comparison to the band's early classics, but it holds up well against other '70s soul. The final cut, the group's surprise 1991 hit "A Heart Is a House for Love" -- their contribution to Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats, which was a loose tribute to the Dells themselves -- illustrates that the group sounded terrific well into their third decade of performing, which is a true sign of greatness. Anthology is a testament to their greatness, offering solid proof that they were one of the greatest vocal R&B groups of their time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Edsel's 20-track summation of Gene Chandler's short career at Brunswick Records (1966 through 1969) hits all of the obvious high points: "Nothing Can Stop Me," "(Gonna Be) Good Times," "Here Comes the Tears," "There Was a Time," "Those Were the Good Old Days," "Cowboys to Girls," and "You Can't Hurt Me No More." Perhaps wisely, the compilers... [+] Read More

Edsel's 20-track summation of Gene Chandler's short career at Brunswick Records (1966 through 1969) hits all of the obvious high points: "Nothing Can Stop Me," "(Gonna Be) Good Times," "Here Comes the Tears," "There Was a Time," "Those Were the Good Old Days," "Cowboys to Girls," and "You Can't Hurt Me No More." Perhaps wisely, the compilers completely bypassed his inferior final album for Brunswick, The Two Sides of Gene Chandler. Though there's still a lot of quality material from the period for which space didn't allow, Duke of Soul: The Brunswick Years is an excellent study of one of the most underrated soul singers of the '60s. (Since the two-disc set -- The Brunswick Years 1966-69, also known as The Girl Don't Care/There Was a Time/Two Sides of Gene Chandler -- includes all three of Chandler's original Brunswick LPs, and can be found at a relatively inexpensive price, some listeners may find it worthwhile to bypass this greatest-hits volume and spring for the complete set instead.) ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide