The Memphis-based Stax Records was a primary pillar of the Soul Era: a prime exemplar of record company as creative entity rather than simply commercial enterprise. These 29 tracks date from 1968 to 1974, during the label's second great phase: the sophisticated Cinerama soul of Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers and Johnnie Taylor, which succeeded the gutsy glory days of Otis Redding and Sam & Dave.

Originally the backroom genius behind Sam & Dave and later, in the Shaft era, as Stax's top solo star, Hayes is represented here not only by Shaft but by his marathon deconstruction of Bacharach-David's "Walk on By." The Staple Singers are in full effect, and Salt 'N 'Pepa fans will be delighted to locate Linda Lyndell's original of "What a Man." One may quibble at some selections — few of Booker T's hits were bigger than "Soul Limbo," but many were better — but this still encapsulates a crowning achievement in 20th-century American pop.