Chuck Jackson & Maxine Brown

In the 1960s Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown each built solid careers as soul artists, yet both remained outside the genre’s uppermost ranks. Although they worked chiefly as solo performers, the two collaborated in the mid-decade on a pair of duet albums and appeared together from time to time. Their interpretation of Chris Kenner’s “Something You Got” climbed to the R&B Top Ten in 1965, while a reading of Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming” reached the R&B Top 20 two years later; a handful of additional singles registered only modest chart placements. The resulting sides blended agreeable New York pop/soul with a lightweight touch, leaning on cover material and early songs written by Jo Armstead, Valerie Simpson, and Nick Ashford; among these was a version of “Let’s Go Get Stoned” that predated Ray Charles’s hit recording. Both singers display genuine vocal skill, yet the strongest work each produced on their own clearly surpasses the duets in lasting quality.