NEW YORK, NY August 28, 2009 —This weekend's Brooklyn Soul Festival honors soul legends and highlights under-the-radar artists like Hermon Hitson and Maxine Brown. Festival organizer Richard Lewis.

LEWIS: It's not that Al Green or Aretha Franklin's records aren't great, cause they are. It's just that there is so much other music that was recorded in the 60s and 70 that's truly amazing that never had as wide a distribution as we think it should have.

Lewis says many of the festival's featured artists never gained platinum or gold records, or much mass audience appeal.

LEWIS: Whether because these folks recorded for a label that turned out to be a tax dodge for the label owner that never had intentions of promoting the records, or whether through some fluke of distribution, the records never got as wide a release as they should have. Now with more ability to look back on past recordings we can really kind of rewrite the history of soul music.

The Brooklyn Soul Festival is at The Bell House tonight and tomorrow night. And there's more information about it on the culture page of our website.