Artist	Song
Al Green	Take Me to the River
from Al Green Explores Your Mind (1974)
Stevie Wonder	Higher Ground
from Stevie Wonder: The Definitive Collection (2002)
The O'Jays	Now That We Found Love
from Beautiful Ballads: The O'Jays (2006)
Bill Withers	Lean On Me
from The Best of Bill Withers - Lean on Me (2000)
Aretha Franklin	Something He Can Feel
from Sparkle (2008)
Rose Royce	Wishing On a Star (Edit)
from Rose Royce Greatest Hits (2009)
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes	If You Don't Know Me By Now
from The Essential Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (2004)
The Chi-Lites	Oh Girl
from The Chi-Lites: 20 Greatest Hits (2001)
Stevie Wonder	Pastime Paradise
from At the Close of a Century (1999)
The Five Stairsteps	O-O-H Child
from The First Family of Soul: The Best of the Five Stairsteps (Remastered) (2001)
Linda Lyndell	What a Man
from Stax 50 - 50th Anniversary Celebration (2007)
Al Green	Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
from Al Green: Greatest Hits (1975)
The Main Ingredient	Everybody Plays the Fool
from Everybody Plays the Fool: The Best of The Main Ingredient (2001)
Bill Withers	Ain't No Sunshine
from The Best of Bill Withers - Lean on Me (2000)
Donny Hathaway	Someday We'll All Be Free
from Extension of a Man (1993)
Jackson 5	I'll Be There
from Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection (1996)
The Chi-Lites	Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)
from The Chi-Lites: 20 Greatest Hits (2001)
Major Harris	Love Won't Let Me Wait
from My Way (2005)
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes	Don't Leave Me This Way
from If You Don't Know Me By Now - The Best of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (1995)
Marvin Gaye	I Want You
from Gold: Marvin Gaye (2005)
Jackson 5	Never Can Say Goodbye
from Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection (1996)
The Stylistics	You Are Everything
from The Best of the Stylistics (1975)
Rose Royce	Love Don't Live Here Anymore
from Rose Royce Greatest Hits (2009)

Comment:

Seventies soul burst its era's levees like the Mississippi, an uncontainable force of nature rolling through the decades. Bill Withers' tear-your-heart-out tale of desertion, "Ain't No Sunshine," has undergone more face-lifts than Hollywood’s A-list — with Mark Eitzel twisting it into a gloomy alt-rock ballad and Kenny Rogers slapping a pair of cowboy boots on it — but Withers' soul-searing performance still draws blood. The Red Hot Chili Peppers traded Stevie Wonder's opening wah-wah for Flea-driven bass pyrotechnics to kick off their version of "Higher Ground," transforming it from soul to funk-rock while still retaining the magic that once lured Stevie out of a coma. And the Reverend Al Green's love-as-salvation anthem, "Take Me to the River," got a snaky, sexy, slowed-down overhaul in the hands of postmodern art rockers the Talking Heads. But don't stop exploring there; artists from Aretha to the O'Jays all supplied the raw soul ore later recast into gold . . . and platinum.

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