The Best of The Box Tops... Soul Deep 1996

The Box Tops were the band that got Alex Chilton started in a pop career that had surprising longevity through his work as a solo artist and the band Big Star. The band released four LPs from 1967-1969, all produced by songwriter-producer Dan Penn or Chips Moman, both regulars at Moman's American Sound Studios, which produced many hits for pop, country and soul groups in the sixties, and where Moman produced Elvis Presley's From Elvis In Memphis, arguably Presley's best record.

Of course the hits The Letter (#1) and Cry Like A Baby (#2) are here, but their other charting songs as well as the album tracks included here make this more than you'd probably expect from a sixties pop group with two hits. She Shot a Hole in My Soul is a stone classic, as is I Met Her In Church. Neon Rainbow, a pop gem, and Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March are both fun. They do a solid cover of I Shall Be Released (!), and there are a few early Chilton writing efforts that are good. And then there's Soul Deep, which got to #13 on the charts and deserved better.

While mostly a footnote these days, The Box Tops were a fine vehicle for Chilton's strong singing, and this compilation is a good way to appreciate their best work.