20 Feet from Stardom [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

This soundtrack album from Morgan Neville's documentary 20 Feet from Stardom is a soundtrack, certainly, but it's also something a little more than that. Neville's documentary looks at the untold story of backup singers in the pop industry, and this set, aside from featuring tracks where the backup singers are a big part of why it's an enduring classic, like Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," the Crystals' "He's a Rebel," and David Bowie's "Young Americans," also features turns by backup singers in a frontline role, the most striking of which is Merry Clayton's startling and revealing version of Neil Young's "Southern Man." ~ Steve Leggett