Everybody seems to agree that Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings are the premier retro-soul outfit of our time. Soul Time is their fifth studio record, though it's actually just a compilation of previously recorded studio material. Honest, I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but there's a reason for that. I'm starting to feel a little bored with Jones and her mates. They've long perfected replicating a sound that was already perfect and that's no easy feat. I just wish they would start veering from the script a little.
However, because Shuggie Otis's Inspiration Information was one of the first album obsessions of mine (I wore it out on cassette in high school), I was excited to see this album-closing cover on Soul Time. (If I had been more up on this, I would have heard it originally on Dark Was the Night.) The backup vocals are a big part of this song in the verses, and Jones' version does more with them. Compare and contrast, if you will.
