# The Essential Music Library: R&B/Soul **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564 "2005-12-01T15:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/1 "2005-12-01T15:38:24Z")
The Essential Music Library project is an attempt to get the many musical minds of the SDMB to sit down and discuss what works are absolutely necessary for a well-stocked musical library. There will be roughly 20 threads detailing a variety of genres so that we can get the depth that would be missing from a single-threaded discussion and the breadth necessary to cover what’s out there. This thread’s topic is R&B and soul. Previous threads: [Project Planning](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=335665) | [Classical](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336834) | [Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=337956) | [Jazz](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=339051) | [Modern Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340081) | [Blues](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341203) | [Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=342310) | [Opera/Choral Music](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343551) | [Rap/Hip-Hop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344056) | [Gospel](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344690) | [Electronica](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345226) | [Contemporary Classical](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345831) | [Pop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345832) | [Film Music/Musicals](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=346844) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/2 "2005-12-01T15:47:17Z")
Terence Trent D’Arby (as in, whatever happened to…): _Introducing the Hard Line According to…_. His version of “Who’s Lovin’ You” is shiver-inducing. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/3 "2005-12-01T15:53:02Z")
James Brown **Live at the Apollo** That’s it. That’s the whole thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/4 "2005-12-01T15:57:49Z")
The [Star Time](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000001G1E/qid=1133452593/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2741834-1157622?n=507846&s=music&v=glance) boxed set of all of James Brown’s hits is probably all you’ll ever need for this category. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/5 "2005-12-01T16:00:46Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > James Brown **Live at the Apollo** > > That’s it. That’s the whole thread. OK, that and Star Time are all you’ll ever need. Like **plnnr** said: That’s the whole thread. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/6 "2005-12-01T17:45:31Z")
You couldn’t go wrong having collections by Sly & The Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, The Staple Singers, The Chi-Lites, Sam & Dave, Booker T. & The MGs, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The O’Jays, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (when Teddy Pendergrass was their singer), The Stylistics, The Spinners… any group who was recorded in Philadelphia at Sigma Sound and backed by MFSB, singing songs written by Gamble & Huff, is pretty much essential listening. Even the few recordings Elton John made there are a breed apart from the rest of his catalogue. I’m leaving out hundreds of names, because I could sit here all day naming R&B/soul artists who have amazing records, but they weren’t all mega-famous, and may not even have warranted a Greatest Hits CD. A collection or ten of these records made 1968-1975 would be important to a soul library. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/7 "2005-12-01T18:29:27Z")
**Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul** and **Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul** , both released in one incredible year - 1966. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/8 "2005-12-01T18:38:36Z")
And if you’re a serious collector, the nine-disc, 244-track [**The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968**](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4781CDF49A97620C8852D1599E620D210DF4BF58150234558C0B73844810473FD0DA7C6CCAEF875B47CE3FE24A75E05D2C2FE3681&sql=10:29eyxd7bjolf) continues to be the best $100 I ever spent on music! ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/9 "2005-12-01T20:14:20Z")
The Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 boxed set is worth every penny, covering early R&B sides, Professor Longhair, Ray Charles, The Coasters, Solomon Burke, The Drifters, Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, Aretha Franklin, and all kinds of great one-hit wonders. If you’re on a budget or have a limited attention span, I’d recommend volumes 4 and 6 (I think you can buy them individually). Al Green’s _Greatest Hits_ Marvin Gaye, _What’s Going On_ Stevie Wonder, _Innervisions_ or _Fulfillingness’ First Finale_ That and the James Brown and you’re good to go, up to the early 70s anyway. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/10 "2005-12-01T20:15:47Z")
I’m going to take a different tack … more an R&B angle than purely a soul angle. Quincy Jones’ _The Dude_. Both temporally and musically an R&B record that serves as the gateway between the 70s and the 80s. Much of what was to come in R&B – for better or worse – was foreshadowed on this album. ---
**Author:** ![who\_me\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/87869e/32.png) [@who\_me\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/who_me_2)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/11 "2005-12-01T20:32:49Z")
wow, eight threads in and no Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On Shame, shame ---
**Author:** ![who\_me\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/87869e/32.png) [@who\_me\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/who_me_2)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/12 "2005-12-01T20:36:07Z")
make that eight **posts** thanks ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/13 "2005-12-01T20:42:40Z")
> [@who](#): > > wow, eight threads in and no > > Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On > > Shame, shame **Ichbin** beat you to it by 18 minutes. I’ll third it, though. And for Stevie Wonder, nominate **Innervisions**. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/14 "2005-12-01T20:49:03Z")
Aretha? ---
**Author:** ![ms.deanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@ms.deanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ms.deanna)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-r-b-soul/333564/15 "2005-12-02T16:40:53Z")
Betty Wright, The Del Fonics, The Dramatics, The Whispers, The Moments( Love On A Two Way Street) The Chi Lites, Bloodstone( Natural High). I’ll have more for y’all later.