Stax and Hi weren't the final words in deep Southern soul in the late 1960s; Excello also recorded some solid efforts in the vein. This 24-track compilation accumulates material that appeared on the label and its offshoots from the mid-'60s to the mid-'70s (concentrating on the late '60s) that's only known to serious soul hounds. The Wallace Brothers, Kip Anderson, and Mava Whitney are the most well-known names, to give you an idea of the level of specialization we're talking about here. A lot of this has the churchy, bluesy feel you expect from prime Southern soul, though little if any is truly among the classic cream of the genre. Certainly the swamp blues duet of Dee and Don and the gospel harmonies of the Wallace Brothers are worth hearing by listeners who want to build a large soul collection. Inspirational lyric (from Jerry Washington's "Right Here is Where You Belong"): "He told me I have something worse than cancer. He told me what I have was a very, very bad case of the blues!" ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide