It sounded great on paper - gather together a group of soul music stalwarts from the sixties, have them sing holiday favorites arranged in the classic Memphis style, and let the magic happen. An intriguing concept, but Christmas Soul Special (1982) is ultimately less than inspiring. Why? Well, a former coworker of mine once claimed Rounder Records (the label in question here) had a "boring button" on their mixing board. Not true (I presume), but what he was getting at is that Rounder's records are frequently too clean, too considered, too professional. Great soul records sound uniformly dirty, spontaneous, and, while not necessarily amateur, certainly not too professional. This is a good record, but not a great one, for that reason - it sounds too good (and too restrained). Proof, too, that you can't go home again.