Chuck Jackson

Everything from Chuck Jackson's three Motown albums is included on this two-CD compilation, along with 12 rare cuts covering his non-LP single "Pet Names," a couple tracks that didn't surface until after 2000 on Motown rarity anthologies, and nine songs that were released here for the first time. While it's good to have this rare material so thoroughly and conveniently collected into one place, it's neither among Jackson's best work nor among the better off the beaten track Motown sides. The Jackson-Motown combination should have worked better than it did, but for whatever reason, his 1967-1971 recordings for the label didn't click. In fact, to be blunt, this is some of the blander Motown material of the era, and Jackson's vocals are a little too brusque and overwrought to suit the songs. It's true that many of the songs were penned by top Motown writers like Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and Ivy Joe Hunter, but you get the feeling that the composers (and label) were holding back their best stuff for other performers. It bears a competent and representative late-'60s Motown sound; it's just mediocre by the label's (and, to a lesser degree, performer's) own high standards. At least the dozen rare cuts are not obvious rejects, though Smokey Robinson's "Pet Names" is an awkward "get hip with the psychedelic funk times" effort ("I got a love so I don't need smoke, coke or speed"). ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide