October 9, 2002

The first time I heard Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy's "Piece of My Heart" was on Cheap Thrills, the 1968 album by Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin. I loved the song then, but a couple of years later, when I heard – in the Hayward garage of late Baytown Records owner Mark Edmunds – the Berns-produced 1967 original sung by Aretha Franklin's sister Erma, my world changed. Franklin's stripped-down, soulful masterpiece helped trigger a lifelong quest to understand a world beyond that in which I was raised. That journey led, among many places, to a lot of music that Berns had a hand in creating, much of which you'll find on this absolutely essential collection.

All the tunes on The Heart and Soul of Bert Berns are memorable, and some, such as the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout," Solomon Burke's "Cry to Me," and Garnett Mims "Cry Baby," are classics of '60s pop R&B. Although the collection is on the slight side – only 10 cuts – there isn't a throwaway to be found. Burke also contributed "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (covered, along with "Cry to Me," by the Rolling Stones), and you'll find Freddie Scott's searing "Are You Lonely for Me Baby" as well. And it was a nice surprise to discover "You'll Never Leave Him," by the Isley Brothers, for the first time.