A six-disc sultry serving of sweet Southern soul

By Jason Heller

From the mythic, gritty American South, there was once a music so pure, so raw, so emotionally direct, that there was only one thing you could possibly call it: Soul. Some of the most gut-wrenching and moving music ever made, it's timeless.

The producers of this six-CD set wanted to give a tour of the breadth of soul music in the 1960s and give an idea of what it sounded like to listen to an R&B station back then. They succeeded. While this set may not have the depth of The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, the inventiveness of James Brown's Star Time or the tender heart of any Otis Redding collection, it's all here in the thrilling call-and-response vocals and the music behind them.

Beg, Scream, & Shout is divided into three sections: two discs each labeled "Beg" (ballads), "Scream" (belters), and "Shout" (dance tunes). In the 144 tracks, each artist appears only once, ostensibly to prevent this set from becoming the best of Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin and Other People Who Also Sang, it's the Also-Sangs that make this set special, the one-hit wonders who let it all burn out on one record and then faded away.

Take for example, a song called "Harlem Shuffle" by two guys named Bob and Earl. The song only reached number 63 on the pop charts, but listening to it is a revelation. The opening horn blasts became the anthemic beginning of House of Pain's "Jump Around." The chorus horn riff reappeared in Sly and the Family Stone's, "Dance to the Music;" the "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" chant became the vocal hook of P-Funk's "You and You Folks, Me and My Folks;" and the rhythm arrangement is the foundation of Charles Wright's "Spreadin' Honey."

On this set you'll also find a jumpy Motown-ish song called "Tainted Love": the same as Soft Cell's '80s version, minus the new wave bombast. You'll also find the original version of "Piece of My Heart," sung by Aretha Franklin's sister Erma with more heart than Janis Joplin could find in her gloriously ragged version. You'll also come across Rodger Collins's "She's Looking Good," which the members of Steppenwolf must have worn out on their turntable. Did you ever think the song that coined the term "heavy metal" had come from the same place as "Mustang Sally"?

Some songs are truly transcendent: Etta James' lascivious "Tell Mama," and Smokey Robinson's clever "The Love I Saw in You Was Just A Mirage," among others. Then there are also the lesser known but equally powerful pieces of sonic poetry like Otis Clay's "That's How It Is (When You're in Love)." Sung with such passion, you just have to believe in the redemptive power of this music. And you have to love lyrics like, "If I don't love you baby, grits ain't groceries, eggs ain't poultry, and Mona Lisa was a man."

The set's spirit is present even in the first song. Performing as the Soul Clan, soul superstars Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Ben E. King, and Joe Tex belt out "That's How It Feels" with equally tough and delicate emotion over a supertight rhythm, guided by searching guitar and horn lines. Sound, energy, and raw emotion delivered with an uncompromising passion--this is soul music at its best.

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