If any label has the means to exploit its catalog, it's Rounder, and in its
Perfect Ten series, the label picked ten of its best-known artists and chose representative selections from what they issued. Most of these artists --
Ruth Brown,
Ted Hawkins,
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,
Loudon Wainwright III,
Solomon Burke,
Duke Robillard,
Mississippi John Hurt,
Johnny Copeland,
Johnny Adams, as well as the subject of this collection, the great
Tracy Nelson (of
Mother Earth fame) -- often recorded better material elsewhere, but the sides chosen do capture them at particular and sometimes poignant and important places in their careers. Take
The Soul Sessions, which compiles ten tracks
Nelson recorded for two albums, Homemade Songs and Come See About Me on the Flying Fish imprint (a label Rounder owned and distributed), after brief tenures with Columbia and Atlantic. These efforts recorded with large ensembles were, for the most part, gritty horn-drenched affairs with great charts arranged mostly by Wayne Jackson. Some of the tunes covered here are well-known, such as Don Covay's "Seesaw,"
Isaac Hayes and
David Porter's "Hold On! I'm Comin'," and Holland-Dozier-Holland's "Come See About Me." Some are known to soul aficionados but not necessarily to the general public; a prime example is the
Allen Toussaint classic "Tears, Tears and More Tears," which is the finest performance on the set. This collection is an excellent introduction to what
Tracy Nelson does best. While the two individual albums are out of print, their finest moments are certainly gathered here. ~ Thom Jurek