When Isaac Hayes and David Porter lost their hottest act, Sam and Dave, in 1968, the songwriting-producing duo promptly put together another vocal combination--this time a mixed quartet--with which to apply a similar formula of steamy ballads and hard-sockin’ soul. Collectively known as the Soul Children, John Colbert (better known as J. Blackfoot), Norman West, Anita Louis, and Shelbra Bennett traded fervor-filled leads, taking the music, in Porter’s words, “all the way to church.” This reissue brings together the Soul Children’s first two albums--one cut in Memphis, the other in Muscle Shoals--and contains all six glorious minutes of the groups first Top Ten soul-chart hit--1969's incandescent “The Sweeter He Is.”

J. Blackfoot, Norman West, Anita Louis, Shelbra Bennett with Booker T. Jones, Isaac Hayes, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson, Jr., Barry Beckett, Jimmy Johnson, Wayne Perkins, David Hood, Roger Hawkins, and others