Guitarist Steve Cropper contributed guitar on the album and is also credited as the co-author of three tracks.

[5][additional citation(s) needed] The cover of The Soul Album was designed by Loring Eutemey of Atlantic Records.

[1] According to author Jonathan Gould, the album's cover photo "drew a stark contrast with the racial obfuscation of Otis Blue [Redding's previous album] by presenting a full-color portrait of a strikingly beautiful African American model wearing a head scarf and a coy half-smile, her warm brown eyes staring directly into the lens.

"[1] Bruce Eder of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, writing that it "shows [Redding] moving from strength to strength in a string of high-energy, sweaty soul performances, interspersing his own songs with work by Sam Cooke ("Chain Gang"), Roy Head ("Treat Her Right"), Eddie Floyd ("Everybody Makes a Mistake"), and Smokey Robinson ("It's Growing") and recasting them in his own style, so that they're not 'covers' so much as reinterpretations [...]".

[3] Eder also refers to the track "Cigarettes and Coffee" as "the jewel of this undervalued collection".