The music was called neo-soul. It was soulful like the songs of the '60s and '70s, but also contemporary like hip-hop. Today, as imitations of Badu and Maxwell inundate R&B, a new generation of young singers draws inspiration from soul icons to create retro soul.

Retro soul dispenses with modern production techniques, musically and stylistically, using vintage instruments and old arrangements.

These artists — Joss Stone, whose new CD, "Mind, Body & Soul," was released Sept. 28, along with the Bo-Keys, Ellis Hooks and Ricky Fante — recall the Stax era with their gritty Southern soul style. Industry watchers excitedly compare the young performers to Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Booker T. & the MGs.

Bo-Keys drummer Willie Hall, who's worked with Stax veterans Isaac Hayes and members of Booker T. & the MGs, welcomes the fresh blood to deep-fried soul.

"The younger set, they understand good music," said Hall. "They understand the music that was done by Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes. It's solid gold."

Television has boosted interest in classic soul. On Fox's "American Idol," contestants often sing soul classics. On NBC's "American Dreams," Fante played Wilson Pickett.

Gail Mitchell, Billboard magazine's R&B editor, is glad the singers expose young listeners to the pioneers, but she worries retro soul indicates a continued lack of creativity in R&B.

"I've heard so many people say, 'We've already had a Sam Cooke, we've already had an Otis Redding. Why do we need another one?' " Mitchell said.

Stone and Fante are the most likely artists to have success on commercial radio.

Stone is to soul what Norah Jones is to jazz. Both make old music sound fresh.

She teams with Wright and Beaver again for "Mind, Body & Soul". Stone has been called a cross between Franklin and blues-rock singer Janis Joplin, but her style is most reminiscent of Wright. "For me, personally, 'Mind, Body and Soul' is my real debut," said Stone.

Her first record, "The Soul Sessions," earned Stone critical praise as a gifted young singer. But that 2003 release "started out as a side project and turned into this huge thing.

"I think my singing is so much better on this album," said Stone. "Your voice can't ever be the same, once you've started singing live as much as I have over the past year."

Joss co-wrote 11 of the 14 songs on her new disc, including collaborations with hit makers Lamont Dozier and Desmond Child.

With her shoulder-length blonde tresses, Stone is the poster girl of retro soul. The lithe Fante, 26, pictured on his album in a turtleneck shirt and leather jacket, is the poster boy.

Before recording his debut album "Rewind," the most he knew about Redding was "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," Fante says. "It just so happens that when I sing, that's the way I naturally sing."

It's a good thing, because his ragged, bluesy voice on "Rewind" sounds as if he is imitating the great Stax singer. "Rewind" is a collection of new songs written by Fante and Jesse Harris, who worked with Norah Jones. But even the arrangements, with prominent horns, echo Redding's studio prowess.

Fante's next disc, "Fast Forward," will have a more modern sound, he says.

"I wanted to get into that classic soul," said Fante. "I didn't want to do an album of falsetto."

Fante isn't the only one looking South for inspiration.

Scott Bomar, 29, grew up in Memphis, where the Stax sound was played on the radio and in bars. He taught in the Stax museum school program and got to know older musicians. He teamed with several of them to create the Bo-Keys.

The group's mostly instrumental debut, "Royal Sessions," has earned the multiracial and multigenerational band comparisons to Booker T. & the MGs, the famed Stax house band. However, the prevalence of horns makes the Bo-Keys more comparable to the Mar-Keys, the first Stax house band.

Bomar is flattered by the comparisons, but the bass player insists "The Royal Sessions" represents the band's collective experiences as musicians. "I can see why it's called retro," Bomar said. "For me, it's just sort of what I came up studying and learned."

Ellis Hooks also plays the music he grew up hearing. The 13th of 16 children of an Alabama sharecropper, the 30-year-old guitar slinger growls with the determination of someone who's lived hard. His third album, "Uncomplicated," recalls the Muscle Shoals sound. Threads of country and gospel bind stories of love and longing.