Stunning Southern soul collection

I’m a big fan of Southern Soul, particularly the Memphis and Muscle Shoals forms. But because there was so much fantastic music from those two areas, it’s easy to get stuck listening to Stax, Fame, Atlantic and Hi artists. Even their duds are better than most of the competition.

This year-old Southern soul collection from Ace Records is killer.But I’d encourage any fans of R&B and soul of that era to check out “Take Me to the River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977.”

It’s an absolutely brilliant three-CD set from Ace Records that collects 75 songs from artists and labels big and small. There's Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, William Bell, etc., but the emphasis is on the little-known tunes or one-hit wonders. Some of the production leaves a bit to desired, but the performances are top notch top to bottom.

To top it off, the packaging is superb. The CDs come in a similar-sized hardcover book that features full glossy photos and stories behind each song.

It's pricey (I paid $48, but notice Amazon's price is now $60) but highly recommend it for fans of Southern soul, classic R&B and the roots of rock.

Fun mystery mashes newspapers, hockey and small-town politics

While taking a few days off I've been able to dive into a fun mystery called "Starvation Lake" that mixes small-town Michigan politics, beer-league hockey and newspaper journalism. Trifecta for me!

I'm only a quarter of the way through but can tell it's going to be worth my time. But I'll follow up with a true thumbs up/down when I'm done.

Thanks to @VinceKern of the Detroit Media Partnership for the recommendation. He's a Red Wings nut but stooped to share his good fortune with this Blackhawks' fan.

The Good about transportation and water

I'm a hit-and-miss reader of Good magazine, which has a highfalutin' yet noble approach to business: share the cost and heavy lifting of moving the world forward.

But the Spring and Summer issues are right up my alley: magazines dedicated to the topics of transportation (Spring) and water (Summer). I'm behind on my reading, so have just started the Spring issue. But there's good insight to be drawn from the "visionary ideas for the coming transportation revolution."

I like to call coverage of infrastrature "boring but important," but geeky as it may sound, these two topics are of great interest to me. There's a reason I thought seriously about becoming an urban planner about 15 years ago.

Sadly, most politicians consider water and transportation both boring AND unimportant despite overwhelming evidence water is the new gold and our transportation woes are strangling productivity, innovation and national security.