Heavy Soul

Various – Heavy Soul

Released by Festival Records in 2013, Heavy Soul is a superb deep-dive compilation tracing the moment soul, gospel, R&B and country-rock collided in the studios of America's deep south. Drawing heavily from legendary sessions cut at Muscle Shoals, Stax, and Sun Studios, the collection captures a genre-defying sound that came to be known as "heavy soul" - a fusion born from musicians of different backgrounds and traditions repeatedly joining forces during a turbulent era.

The tracklist reads like an unlikely dream team, pairing familiar soul names with rock and country crossover artists rarely heard in this context. Highlights include Wilson Pickett's stomping rendition of Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild, Aretha Franklin's soulful reworking of The Band's The Weight, and Cher's funk-laced Cry Like A Baby, alongside deep cuts from Southern rock heavyweights Black Oak Arkansas, swamp-rock legend Tony Joe White, and Muscle Shoals sideman Donnie Fritts.

A rich, career-spanning collection for anyone into swamp rock, deep soul, and the golden era of Southern recording studios, Heavy Soul is essential listening for fans of Delaney & Bonnie, Little Feat, and the wider Muscle Shoals sound.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Black Oak Arkansas – Lord Have Mercy On My Soul
2. Don Nix – Going Back To Luka
3. Sam Samudio – 15 Degrees
4. Lonnie Mack – I Found A Love

Side B

1. James Luther Dickinson – Dixie Fried
2. Delaney & Bonnie & Friends Feat. King Curtis – They Call It Rock And Roll Music
3. Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie
4. Donnie Fritts – We Had It All
5. Jackie DeShannon – Anna Karina
6. Tony Joe White – They Caught The Devil And Put Him In Jail In Eudora, Arkansas

Side C

1. Wilson Pickett – Born To Be Wild
2. The J. Geils Band – Cry One More Time
3. Cher – Cry Like A Baby
4. Aretha Franklin – The Weight
5. Dr. John – Right Place, Wrong Time
6. Allen Toussaint – On Your Way Down

Side D

1. Little Feat – Dixie Chicken
2. Boz Scaggs – I'll Be Long Gone
3. Danny O'Keefe – Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
4. Jeanie Greene – Sure As Sin
5. Mylon LeFevre – Peace Begins Within