[Smokey] is still virtually a ghetto singer. For some reason, we can't seem to accept and come to terms with his greatness.

That's all the more extraordinary in view of the current success of his old contemporaries, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. Eight years ago, the three of them were running parallel, the top male exponents of "New Wave R & B."

Following the comparatively lean years of the late sixties, Marvin and Curtis suddenly changed tack and earned a wide measure of popularity among white fans—specifically those who wouldn't normally bother to buy Soul records.

The way was led by Isaac Hayes, who developed a style which couched the music's essential funk inside swathes of rich strings, woodwinds, harp, voices, and percussion. He also adapted the "long form" to Soul, stretching his songs out to ten minutes and more….

It worked like a charm, and became a...