Considering that even very few dedicated soul collectors knew about the
XL
and
Sounds of Memphis
companies at the beginning of the 21st century, a surprising amount of material was retrieved from the vaults prior to and including this 2008 CD reissue. This second various-artists anthology assembled from their holdings (which have also yielded cuts appearing on a couple other CDs) is divided about evenly between previously unreleased material and tracks appearing on obscure singles between the mid-'60s and the mid-'70s. The good news is that
Play the Game: The XL and Sounds of Memphis Story, Vol. 2
is at least as consistent and impressive as the first volume. The less impressive news is that for the most part it's pretty average period Southern soul, with few recordings that really make you sit up and take notice, and certainly not as distinct a flavor as the better Memphis discs being cut in the same era at
Stax
Hi
. It's a serviceable sampler of the typical Memphis soul sound of the time, and in its modest way a mirror of the way trends turned from the earthier R&B of the earliest performances to the sweeter, more slickly produced, more funk-oriented, and often blander ones of the subsequent decade. The clear standout of these 22 tracks is
Carroll Lloyd
's 1967 single
"Try My Love,"
a country-tinged deep soul ballad with an aching melody that would have fit in comfortably on the acclaimed
Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures
series, for instance. Other points of interest include the uncanny similarity to
Sam Cooke
in the lead vocals of
the Ovations
'
"Little Man"
; a bluesy soul outing by
Willie Cobbs
, famed as the composer of the blues standard
"You Don't Love Me"
; the previously unreleased
"All in My Mind"
by
George Jackson
, more noted as songwriter of
the Osmonds
"One Bad Apple"
and co-writer of
Bob Seger
's
"Old Time Rock & Roll"
; and
Vision
"Play the Game,"
engagingly raw 1973 funk with a vibrant organ, though the song just isn't up to the arrangement or performance. ~ Richie Unterberger