What is the best Southern soul album of all time?

Rooted in the American South, these albums carry the raw emotion of gospel, blues, and country merged into something wholly unique. Which Southern soul record moves you most?

Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

Otis Redding's 1965 Stax masterpiece is the defining Southern soul album — raw, gospelized, and overflowing with the most powerful soul voice of the 1960s.

1/12

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin's 1967 Atlantic debut forged at Muscle Shoals is one of the greatest albums ever made — raw, powerful, and utterly transformative.

2/12

Lady Soul

Aretha Franklin's 1968 Atlantic album contains 'Chain of Fools', 'Since You've Been Gone', and 'Natural Woman' — three of the greatest soul singles of the decade.

3/12

In the Midnight Hour

Wilson Pickett's 1965 debut Atlantic album launched his career as the 'Wicked Pickett', featuring the driving Stax-recorded title track that defined the Southern soul groove.

4/12

Rock 'N Soul

Solomon Burke's 1964 Atlantic debut is a seminal document of the genre's birth — gospel power channeled through secular soul on the label that invented the sound.

5/12

Hold On, I'm Comin'

Sam & Dave's 1966 Stax debut is a powerhouse of Southern soul — two voices locked together in call-and-response gospel tradition, propelled by Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

6/12

At Last!

Etta James' 1961 Argo album is a landmark of early soul, blending gospel-drenched vocals with jazz-tinged arrangements on the most timeless song in her catalog.

7/12

The Dock of the Bay

The posthumous 1968 Stax album assembles Otis Redding's final recordings including the epochal title track — a serene, mellow masterpiece recorded days before his death.

8/12

When a Man Loves a Woman

Percy Sledge's 1966 Atlantic debut album is anchored by the title track — a raw, organ-drenched Southern soul ballad of peerless emotional directness and timeless power.

9/12

I'll Play the Blues for You

Albert King's 1972 Stax album is deeply rooted in Southern soul and blues, featuring extended grooves and his iconic left-handed guitar work alongside the Stax house band.

10/12

The Exciting Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett's 1966 Atlantic follow-up consolidates his South-Meets-Stax formula with '634-5789' and 'Ninety-Nine and a Half' in a collection of deeply satisfying Southern soul.

11/12

Call on Me / That's the Way Love Is

Bobby 'Blue' Bland's 1963 Duke Records album captures one of the great Southern blues-soul voices in his commercial and artistic prime, balancing swing with raw gospel feeling.

12/12