Given the complexities of corporate politics, soul belter
Chuck Jackson probably recorded for too many different labels to ever receive a truly definitive career-spanning overview, but for sheer quality and quantity the Kent retrospective
Good Things is the disc to beat, assembling two dozen chart hits, cult classics, and unreleased sides from the singer's glory years with the New York indie Wand. After
Dionne Warwick,
Jackson was arguably the premier interpreter of the indelible pop songs of composer
Burt Bacharach, and
Good Things spotlights their collaboration with dramatic, heart-wrenching performances including "I Wake Up Crying," "Any Day Now," and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself." No less impressive are singles including "Tell Him I'm Not Home" and "I Keep Forgetting," which likewise showcase the grandiose drama of
Jackson's gritty style. But
Good Things is most notable for the inclusion of lesser-known efforts like the upbeat "Hand It Over" and the previously unissued "What's with This Loneliness," a major favorite on Britain's Northern soul circuit decades after the fact -- although
Chuck Jackson has often been marginalized as merely a balladeer, these songs capture a kinetic energy that's no less persuasive, proving
Jackson a far greater talent than most soul aficionados give him credit for.