The Birth of Soul series takes a refreshingly different approach than most vintage soul compilations, focusing on one of the music's less documented periods: those transitional years in the late '50s and early '60s when soul was evolving out of doo wop, rock & roll, and R&B. That doesn't mean that Birth of Soul, Vol. 4 is full of lost classics; some of it's very good, and some of it's only ordinary. But it does at least break up the march of endless compilations of strip-mined soul subgenres, like those that focus on mid-tempo, mid-'60s soul dance numbers. Many of the cuts have a somewhat slicker, more orchestrated, more pop-oriented sound than soul of any sort would boast after the early '60s. The influence of the Drifters in particular is apparent on quite a few of the tracks, as to a lesser extent are the effects of Sam Cooke, Jerry Butler, the Shirelles, and such relatively underheralded soul-pop hitmakers as Chuck Jackson, Gene McDaniels, and Marv Johnson (the last of whom is actually represented by a 1963 single, the Bert Berns-composed "Come on and Stop," that leads off the CD). So why haven't you (most likely) heard of most or all of these particular songs? The usual reason when it comes to comps like this applies -- they weren't as good as the hits by the names cited in the previous few sentences. But their are some first-rate singles here, like Ketty Lester's "Please Don't Cry Anymore," which is a little reminiscent of the 1963 smooth soul-pop hits by Barbara Lewis and the Essex; Hal Miller's "On My Own Two Feet," which sounds a little like a more soul-oriented Four Seasons (no surprise, as it was co-composed by Four Seasons producer/songwriter Bob Crewe); and Kenny Lynch's 1962 45 "Puff (Up in Smoke)," which sounds much like an uptown New York soul production, although it was (in a commendably adventurous move for this series) actually recorded in the U.K. by a black British singer. Almost anything else you want to know about this material is contained in Ady Croasdell's typically thorough and well-informed liner notes. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide