Charlie Whitehead, a.k.a. Raw Spit, meets every criterion necessary to qualify as one of soul music’s great unknowns. The guy made several brilliant records—now highly sought after collectors’ items—but he was just never in the right place at the right time. Whitehead was a prodigy of the left-of-center genius of ’70s southern soul, Swamp Dogg. The Dogg’s scent is all over this disc as he wrote and produced most of the material here. Whitehead and Swamp Dogg have fun on songs like “Shaft’s Mama,” “The Freedom Under Certain Konditions Marching Band” and “I Dig Black Girls,” but there’s also material here with strong social messages. Certainly the title track falls into that category, as does the amazing “Who Do They Think They Are,” and the telling “Call Me Nigger.”

They also deal with relationships going down the drain, including “Between the Lines” which is simply one of the best soul songs ever. There are a couple of unnecessary instrumentals near the end of the disc, but like Swamp Dogg’s albums, this is enjoyable, important and powerful stuff. After a couple listens to Songs To Sing, you might just consider Charlie Whitehead the greatest unknown soul artist of all time.