Bobby Patterson - Soul Is My Music: The Best of Bobby Patterson [2CD] (2003)

You would have thought that Ace's 29-track 1990s CD compilation Taking Care of Business was the last word on Bobby Patterson's 1965-1970 work for the Jetstar and Abnak labels. But no, here comes this two-CD, 40-song comp that goes the extra mile, adding nine previously unreleased tracks (including a few alternate versions of songs that came out on singles) and both sides of the instrumental single by Patterson's band, the Mustangs. The liner notes are far more thorough as well, with plenty of quotes from Patterson. The music remains, however, pleasant and good-natured journeyman soul, heavily echoing several soul trends from Motown to Stax without staking a strong claim for Patterson as a notable individual voice in his own right. The echoes of specific performers like Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and Percy Sledge are there to hear too. Indeed, a few of these were "answer" songs of sorts -- "I'm Leroy, I'll Take Her" for Joe Tex's "Skinny Legs and All," "Soul Is Our Music" for Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music," "Broadway Ain't Funky No More" for Wilson Pickett's "Funky Broadway," and the previously unissued "Mama's Got a New Bag Too" for James Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." The previously unreleased stuff (including a four-song October 1965 demo) is of a similar fair-and-not-great level as the singles, the best cut being the original "Then You'll Know," which is Southern soul with a bit of a pop sting. His best moment was "If I Didn't Have You," which is more Southern pop-soul though in a moodier vein, while "Long Ago" was a notable obscure early Dan Penn composition (co-written with Buddy Killen).