Various Artists: Soul Men Original Movie Soundtrack

Featuring the Samuel L. Jackson and late Bernie Mac as a very Sam-and-Dave-style soul duo who reunite to help an old friend, with wacky results, the film comedy Soul Men won't make anyone forget the Blues Brothers movie. But the soundtrack, usually the bottom-feeder on the movie merchandise chain, is actually quite entertaining, and really does deliver the classic soul goods for a new generation.

Soul Men is probably not going to be much of a sendoff for cast members Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, both of whom died within days of each other during the end of filming. But the comedy has served one useful purpose: to reintroduce the sound of classic Stax and deep soul to a new audience. Credit for this goes to the army of neo-soulsters who produced and performed on the soundtrack: if you thought the under-30 crowd had forgotten how to speak soul, this disc proves you, happily, dead wrong.

It doesn't hurt that they're performing classic (if rare) soul song, or that the new tracks which make up the bulk of this album were recorded in Memphis with the Bo-Keys (a soul-jazz instrumental outfit looking to carry on the house-band tradition of the MGs). Chris Pierce's rendition of William Bell's 1968 UK smash "Private Number" somehow sounds completely fresh in its classicism, as does Chris Shaw's amazingly Al Green-like take on Sir Mack Rice's "Memphis Train" and Sharon Leal's update of Carla Thomas' 1966 ballad "Comfort Me." The only curve balls are Me'Shell Ndegéocello's country-soul recasting of Steve Cropper's obscure rockabilly "Water" and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' bold and shocking rescue of the First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)."

As for the leads, Mac and Jack do okay, in a Blues Brothers way, by Hayes' "Do Your Thing," James and Bobby Purify's "I'm Your Puppet (helped by John Legend) and Rufus Thomas' "Boogie Ain’t Nuttin’ (But Gettin’ Down)." And even if the opening original "Soul Music" sounds a little too perfect -- a virtual mash-up of "I Can't Turn You Loose" and "Sweet Soul Music" given a workout by Anthony Hamilton -- it's offset by two actual chestnuts: Hayes' faithful remake of "Never Can Say Goodbye," and Eddie Floyd's 1968 hit "I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)."