This is what you should buy everyone on your list.

Soul Manifesto 1964-1970 (12CD)

Included in this massive set is one of my favorites, King & Queen, with Carla Thomas. Redding and Thomas was an arranged match, the notion of producer Jim Stewart to pair Otis’s country grit with Thomas’s schooled chops, working off the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell template. That may be the charm, but what I hear on these recordings is lots of air in the arrangements, sharp tough playing (dig the crazy drums on Lovey Dovey) and singers who love singing. Thank you very much.