The Soul Album is the fourth studio album by the Americansoul singer-songwriterOtis Redding, released in 1966.[1] It features Redding performing songs that he co-wrote as well ascovers of songs by such musicians asSam Cooke,Eddie Floyd,Roy Head, andSmokey Robinson. GuitaristSteve Cropper contributed guitar on the album and is also credited as the co-author of three tracks.[3]
The Soul Album entered theBillboard LP charts upon its release in April 1966[1] and made theHot 100 chart in June.[4] The album peaked at number 54 in July and remained among the 100 best-selling albums until autumn.[1] It spent 28 weeks on the USR&B albums chart, peaking at number 3, and reached number 58 on the US pop and rock charts.[5][additional citation(s) needed]
The cover ofThe Soul Album was designed by Loring Eutemey ofAtlantic Records.[1] According to author Jonathan Gould, the album's cover photo "drew a stark contrast with the racial obfuscation ofOtis Blue [Redding's previous album] by presenting Fleurette Carter, a full-color portrait of a strikingly beautiful African American model wearing ahead scarf and a coy half-smile, her warm brown eyes staring directly into the lens."[1]
Bruce Eder ofAllMusic gave the album a positive review, writing that it "shows [Redding] moving from strength to strength in a string of high-energy, sweaty soul performances, interspersing his own songs with work bySam Cooke ("Chain Gang"),Roy Head ("Treat Her Right"),Eddie Floyd ("Everybody Makes a Mistake"), andSmokey Robinson ("It's Growing") and recasting them in his own style, so that they're not 'covers' so much as reinterpretations [...]".[3] Eder also refers to the track "Cigarettes and Coffee" as "the jewel of this undervalued collection".[3]
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