Search - Various Artists :: Soulful Divas, Vol. 1: Pop N Soul Sirens

A collection of woman-sung hits that crossed over between the pop and R&B charts in the '60s and '70s (and some not-exactly-hits that might have), Pop 'n' Soul Sirens is baited with one universally recognized standard ("I Say a Little Prayer") but mostly concentrates on rarely heard delights. What a song needed to make it on both charts was music staid enough to keep pop audiences undisturbed coupled with singing distinctive and intense enough to engage soul fans, and though a lot of these rhythms are plenty square, singers like Freda Payne and Maxine Brown negotiate them with sly inventiveness. The minor tracks illuminate major ones, too: Florence Ballard's "It Doesn't Matter How I Say It" is cute rather than significant, but it helps to explain how the Supremes worked. --Douglas Wolk