Friday Mix Tape: Do You Have Soul?

It’s a gloomy, rainy day here in New York City, a trend that is supposed to continue on through the rest of the weekend. In this kind of weather I usually find myself turning to the funky sounds of some vintage soul music to help put me in a better mood, so here are a slew of songs that should distract you from the gray skies and help to kick start the weekend…

We kick things off with The Bar-Kays and the funky instrumental title track from their 1967 debut album Soul Finger. From there, the King of Soul – Solomon Burke – with Cry To Me which originally appeared on his Rock ‘n’ Soul. Next up, we head all the way back to 1958 for one of Jackie Wilson’s signatures tunes, Lonely Teardrops. We follow that up with a couple of killer live tracks for you. First up, is Sam Cooke with Having A Party from his must own album One Night Stand! Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963, followed by King Curtis with Memphis Soul Stew from Live At Fillmore West.

What kind of mix would this be if we didn’t hear from the Queen Of Soul? So here’s Ms. Aretha Franklin with Don’t Play That Song off her Spirit In The Dark album.  Next up, is the Wicked Wilson Pickett with a cover of the aforementioned Solomon Burke’s Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, that appeared on his classic Wicked Pickett record. Finally, we close things out with a slow burner from Otis Redding with Coffee & Cigarettes off his appropriately titled Soul Album.