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Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience
Various Artists
Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Country, Pop, R&B, Rock, Soundtracks, Classic Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (25) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (23) - Disc #2
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #3
  •  Track Listings (23) - Disc #4
  •  Track Listings (23) - Disc #5
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #6

The liner notes that accompany this collection note that '70s soul music has never really gotten its due. One could argue that point for days, but hubris aside, there's no denying that Can You Dig It pays serious homage to...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Various Artists
Title: Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience
Members Wishing: 16
Total Copies: 0
Label: Rhino / Wea
Release Date: 10/16/2001
Album Type: Box set
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Country, Pop, R&B, Rock, Soundtracks, Classic Rock
Styles: Disco, By Decade, 1970s, Funk, Motown, Soul, Quiet Storm, Psychedelic Rock
Number of Discs: 6
SwapaCD Credits: 6
UPC: 081227434625

Synopsis

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
The liner notes that accompany this collection note that '70s soul music has never really gotten its due. One could argue that point for days, but hubris aside, there's no denying that Can You Dig It pays serious homage to the golden years of American soul. The new box set contains 6 CDs and 136 cuts, 65 of which hit the No. 1 spot on the R&B and/or pop charts. As you'd expect with a project that mines such a rich era (the CDs are compiled chronologically), it represents a who's who of stars. Among the notables: Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, the Spinners, the O'Jays, the Staple Singers, James Brown, Chairmen of the Board, Laura Lee, Freda Payne, and Jean Knight. Lesser lights also get to shine, i.e., El Chicano, who deliver the salsafied hippie anthem "Tell Her She's Lovely." But let's be honest--the selling point is the hits, and from the uplifting "Ooh Child" to the sassy "Want Ads," if you grew up in the '70s (hands up), then these tracks are beloved. Sure, the hard-core fan will probably wish for more obscurities, and the exclusion of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and George Clinton is troublesome, but anyone wanting an at-home jukebox loaded with classic R&B will certainly dig this. --Amy Linden

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CD Reviews

A Great 70's soul music collection
Marc Axelrod | Potter, Wi USA | 12/16/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this cd box set, and I love the way it looks! Rhino has done a good job of capturing the look, sound, and feel of 70's soul music with this attractive six cd collection. I love how they made the outside of the box look like an old 8 track tape rack! And it's great to hear songs like Betcha By Golly Wow, I'll Be There, Rainy Night in Georgia, War, Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time, Family Affair, Let's Stay Together, and so many others once again. I felt like it was 1973 all over again!I do have one minor complaint: Over 20 of these songs are on another Rhino Box set that I have called "Have a Nice Decade." I felt a little cheated, that Rhino could have sampled some other songs. Moreover, there were some great soul artists that didn't have songs represented on this collection at all: Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and a few others. But this is still an excellent collection, and if you love 70's soul music, you might want to splurge and buy it."
Great Songs and Package, Marred By The Rhino Knife
prymel | Anaheim, CA USA | 12/28/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"As is typical with Rhino compilations, the song choices are excellent, but, unfortunately (and also typically), they saw fit to chop them down to the radio edits in many cases. This isn't as big a deal on Rhino's "Pop Culture" boxes, because many Top 40 songs are so well-known in their radio-edited form, that most folks won't even miss the longer album versions, or even know or care that they exist. But many soul songs from this era benefited from the breathing room they received from the additional length on the original albums, and chopping them to fit a compilation dulls the impact of the emotion, the message, or simply the groove.Nevertheless, this is a good starting point for those wanting to sample the great soul tunes and artists of the 70's."
I can dig it ...
matthewslaughter | Arlington, VA USA | 11/23/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Born in 1975, many of the songs on "Can You Dig It" bring me back to some of my earliest memories. "Rock the Boat," "Strawberry Letter 23," "I'll Take You There," "Why Can't We Be Friends," etc. Of course, this box sets lacks songs by Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, but the people who would dish out this amount of money for this set probably already have their great albums. I am glad that the staples of the genre are underrepresented (Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Sly and the Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, Isley Brothers, James Brown etc.) because that gives more room for the "one-hit" wonders and less familiar acts. Also, growing up listening to pre-sample litigation rap records like "Paul's Boutique" and "Straight Outta Compton," many of the songs (which I had not heard in their entirety) sampled on those records appear here--"Express Yourself," "Be Thankful for What You Got," "That Lady," and others. I'm reminded of Steve Harvey's monologue about soul music in Spike Lee's "The Original Kings of Comedy." Many of these songs (like "Me and Mrs. Jones" and "Betcha By Golly Wow") express "soul" and "love" in ways that much of today's rap records don't. (This remark is not a condemnation of rap music but simply an observation.) This set is a time capsule, filled in an imitation eight-track cassette (remember them?) case, chock-full of great songs you either love, loved, forgotten, or never heard at all."