When I see so much of the stuff that is labelled "r&b" or "soul" these days it makes me weep. It's either sugary,pappy, anodyne completely "soul" less music or it's "attitude" music like rap or hip hop. Listen to this box set and you'll find REAL soul - music that comes from the heart that was recorded on a little label out of Nashville by a guy called John Richbourg. Listen to the cuts on this CD and you'll find out what real emotive singing is. The best Southern soul mixes gospel. country and blues all together and serves it with a side order of grits ! My favourite singers here have to be Ann Sexton, Ella Washington and Joe Simon - real people who sang about real experiences and who meant it. You can feel the heartache in these songs but that's not to say that they're miserable - real soul music is like real blues it's life affirming and as relevant today as back in the 60s/70s when these tracks were recorded. I thoroughly recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in music - you owe it to yourself to listen to this set