Over the course of the legendary Syl Johnson’s over 50 year career, the Chicago soul singer has amassed a voluminous catalog of some of the soulfulest tunes around.

That catalog is getting the Numero Group treatment in the form of the box set, Syl Johnson: Complete Mythology, a four CD, six LP collection that spans the entirety of Johnson’s storied career.

To celebrate this release Johnson will take the stage at the Old Town School of Folk Music on November 27 and for the first time ever he’ll be performing songs from throughout his 50 year career, many of which have never been played outside the walls of the studio.

To describe Syl’s somewhat overlooked place in the music history it’s best to let him state it in his own words.

“I made my opportunities, but I never got the breaks I should have gotten,” he said. “I was a jack-of-all-trades. More soul than Marvin, more funk than James. If I’d gone pop, you’d be talkin’ about me, not them. I rate right at the top, though I’ve been underrated all my life.”

Think you’ve never heard a Syl Johnson original number? Well you’ve probably heard a tune featuring a Johnson sample. His “Different Strokes” is one of the most sampled songs on record used by the likes of Kid Rock, Michael Jackson, N.W.A. and Public Enemy among countless others.

Tickets for the show in which Johnson will be backed by a 14-piece band go on-sale today at 11:00 a.m. ($28 General Public, $26 Old Town School Members, $24 Seniors & Children).

Here’s what the team at Numero Group has compiled for the box set, slated to hit the street on November 7:

Re-mastered versions of no less than twenty eight singles from the Twinight, Federal, Cha-Cha, Tmp-Ting, Special Agent, and Zachron labels, facsimiles of the Dresses Too Short and Is It Because I’m Black albums, ten previously unreleased tracks and detailed track by track notes from acclaimed music historian Bill Dahl. The fifty-two page booklet contains a thirty-five thousand word essay, scores of previously unpublished photos, a sampling index, and complete discography--all presented in a lavish hardbound box.