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| Disc: 1 | |||
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| 1. Memphis | |||
| 2. Maybelline | |||
| 3. Mountain Of Love | |||
| 4. Midnight Special | |||
| 5. Cupid | |||
| 6. Seventh Son | |||
| 7. Parchman Farm | |||
| 8. Where Have All The Flowers Gone? | |||
| 9. Under Your Spell Again | |||
| 10. Secret Agent Man | |||
See all 19 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Summer Rain | |||
| 2. Look To Your Soul | |||
| 3. Brother, Where Are You | |||
| 4. Going Back To Big Sur | |||
| 5. Whiter Shade Of Pale | |||
| 6. These Are Not My People | |||
| 7. City Ways | |||
| 8. You Better Move On | |||
| 9. Muddy River | |||
| 10. Into The Mystic | |||
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See all 17 tracks on this disc
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First of all, rather than the separate booklet which usually accompaniues such box sets, Rhino chose to insert liner notes with each disc. The only problem is, they put the SAME liner notes in both discs.
What is included [ten pages] is interesting, but whereas it says "continued in booklet for disc # 2" we unfortunately get those same disc 1 notes repeated. So, not only do I not know who wrote them, I have no idea if they ever intended to include a discography. I also can't say if this was a general problem or confined only to my set.
As for the contents, of the 29 selections he put onto the Billboard Hot 100 from 1964 to 1978 [21 for the Imperial label, four for United Artists, one for Soul City/Epic, one for Soul City, and two for Big Tree] they include all but these five: Right Relations [# 61 for Imperial in December 1968]; One Woman [# 89 for Imperial in November 1969]; Think His Name [# 65 in September 1971 with The Guru Ram Das Ashram Singers for United Artists]; Ashes And Sand [# 96 in February 1977 for Soul City], and his last hit, Curious Mind (Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um) which reached # 41 early in 1978 for Big Tree and with Ashes And Sand as the B-side [different version?].
Instead they give us two B-sides [Going Back To Big Sur, the flip of These Are Not My People, and Outside Help, the flip of Ashes And Sand], as well as a number of selections [tracks 7, 13, 14, 17 to 19 on disc 1, and tracks 3, 5, 7 and 8 on disc 2] which were either failed singles or taken from some of his alnums. Unfortunately, without a discography we have no way of knowing.
All in all, this appears to be one of Rhino's weaker efforts and one can only hope that its current unavailability is due to its being revised to correct the errors and omissions.
While the hits are all here--and they're all great--some of the real gems in this collection are the ones you may never have heard: "It's Too Late," "These Are Not My People," "City Ways" and "Muddy River" are particular favorites of mine. Overall, an underappreciated artist and an American original. Essential listening.
