There's not much rhyme or reason to this two-CD, 30-track compilation of woman-sung soul from the 1960s and 1970s. With just two big hits (Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff" and Barbara Lewis' "Baby I'm Yours"), it's certainly not a best-of for the category. And though it does have tracks by a few hitmakers (Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Mavis Staples, Betty Everett, Patti LaBelle, Ike & Tina Turner, Gladys Knight & the Pips), none of those selections would count among these performers' better-known recordings. As a kind of arbitrary but wide-ranging compilation of not-too-well-known soul, however -- licensed from an impressive variety of labels -- it's a fairly good investment for someone who's not a systematic soul collector, but wants something full of pretty high-quality stuff in a style that they probably haven't heard before. The focus is too sprawling to lend itself to quick summarization, but some of the highlights span several micro-genres -- dramatic pop-soul (Betty Lavatte's "Let Me Down Easy," P.P. Arnold's "The First Cut Is the Deepest," Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles' "All or Nothing"), pre-disco (Gwen McCrae's "Lead Me On," the Ad-Libs' cover of Van McCoy's "Giving Up"); upbeat dancefloor soul (Everett's "Getting Mighty Crowded," Knight's pre-Motown gem "Stop & Get a Hold of Myself"); funky New Orleans soul (Betty Harris' "There's a Break in the Road"); arching ballads (the Fascinations' "I Can't Stay Away From You"); Hi Records soul-funk (Ann Peebles' "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down"); and an obscure Curtis Mayfield cover in the Superfly style (Patti Jo's "Make Me Believe in You").
Various Artists
Soul Diva Sessions
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AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
Track Listing - Disc 1
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 |
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02:26 | Amazon | ||||
2 | 02:48 | Amazon | |||||
3 | 02:12 | Amazon | |||||
4 |
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02:50 | Amazon | ||||
5 | 02:51 | Amazon | |||||
6 |
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02:49 | Amazon | ||||
7 | 03:24 | Amazon | |||||
8 | 02:59 | Amazon | |||||
9 | 02:13 | Amazon | |||||
10 | 06:59 | Amazon | |||||
11 |
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02:47 | Amazon | ||||
12 |
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02:43 | Amazon | ||||
13 | 03:24 | Amazon | |||||
14 | 09:12 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 2
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 | 03:18 | Amazon | |||||
2 | 03:24 | Amazon | |||||
3 | 03:16 | Amazon | |||||
4 | 02:51 | Amazon | |||||
5 |
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02:19 | Amazon | ||||
6 | 02:26 | Amazon | |||||
7 |
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02:38 | Amazon | ||||
8 | 03:40 | Amazon | |||||
9 | 02:44 | Amazon | |||||
10 | 03:00 | Amazon | |||||
11 |
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02:44 | Amazon | ||||
12 | 02:36 | Amazon | |||||
13 |
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02:55 | Amazon | ||||
14 | 02:37 | Amazon | |||||
15 | 03:11 | Amazon | |||||
16 | 02:31 | Amazon |