Various Artists – Dirty Laundry: The Soul Of Black Country

In the liner notes to this 24-song anthology, compiler Jonathan Fischer shares history and insights that overlap with such works as Bill C. Malone’s Country Music, U.S.A., Barney Hoskyns’ Say It One Time For The Brokenhearted, John Lomax III’s Nashville: Music City USA — all of which are cited — as well as the 1998 box set From Where I Stand. However, there’s one fascinating anecdote I’d never before encountered: the story of a young Lamont Dozier writing a song for his hero, Loretta Lynn. That’s Dirty Laundry in a nutshell: the meeting and melding of musical cultures that, on first blush, might seem worlds apart. But find the right map, and Detroit City and Butcher Holler, Kentucky, are in the same area code, Nashville and Muscle Shoals on the same block.

The compilation starts with two Harlan Howard songs, Ella Washington’s Memphis-soul version of “He Called Me Baby” and Joe Simon’s oft-collected, galloping take on “The Chokin’ Kind”. (I would have gotten greedy and included James Carr’s cover of “Life Turned Her That Way” as part of this opening Howard salvo.) Next comes Bobby Powell’s interpretation of “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. But just when you think you have Fischer’s scheme nailed — OK, country songs recorded by African-American soul artists — he throws out the rulebook.

Sure, you’ll find Candi Staton’s “Stand By Your Man”, Etta James’ monumental “Almost Persuaded”, Solomon Burke’s pew-rattling “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, and other loaners from the country charts. But there are also hard-country cuts from Stoney Edwards (the brilliantly concise “She’s My Rock”) and R&B crooner turned honky-tonker Otis Williams (“Shutters & Boards”), as well as “Mama Mambo” from the genre-ignoring Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and the politically charged, pedal steel-accented original from Curtis Mayfield that gives the collection its name. The strangest concoction, and the most recent, teams Andre Williams with Jack White for “Jet Black Daddy Lilly White Mama”, a garage-country-soul prototype rescued from an obscure 7-inch.

Perhaps best of all, there’s Betty Lavette, the walking, belting definition of feisty, offering the rockingest version of a Mickey Newbury song ever with “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”. Like so many other moments on Dirty Laundry, it’s the pure sound of artist meeting song, preconceptions be damned, and it’s exhilarating.