I'm about to go on a non-stop sailboat race that should take 72-96 hours.  Apart from a few likely moments of random terror, there should be LOTS of downtime.
 
Lately i've been listening to a lot of Soul.  Pickett, Redding, Sam & Dave, Aretha, Charles, and the roster of Detroit-era Motown.  Does anyone have any suggestions for lesser-known or more modern songs/albums that fit?  It's a perfect time to give myself a little enlightenment. I'm the only sailor on the boat with any musical taste, so i can't rely on their submissions.
 
I've got today to pack my bag and load my MP3 player...

Slugbaby,
 
Your request is a bit open-ended...specific timeframe (e.g, 60's)?  I'll take a stab nonetheless. In some cases, one-hit wonders. Overall, just good old R&B songs (for the most part):
 
Bobby Day “Over and Over”
Bobby Womack “Lookin’ For Love”
Brenton Wood “Gimme Little Sign”
Brenton Wood “Oogum Boogum Song”
Clyde McPhatter “Lover Please"
The Commodores “Nightshift”
The Drifters “Fools Fall In Love”
Jackie Wilson “Baby Workout”
O’jays “Use To Be My Girl”
Roy Hamilton “Don’t Let Go”
Shirelles “Mama Said”
Miracles "Mickey's Monkey"
Elvis Presley "Such A Night"
Gregory Abbott "Shake You Down"
 
Good luck with the race.

You can't go wrong with any of the early Earth, Wind & Fire. Their greatest hits is a great collection.

it was open-ended on purpose.
My focus has been on 60s/early 70s.  
There have been a couple of great musicians in the last decade, Raphael Saadiq & Julian Taylor come to mind.  Mostly just looking for things that may have overlooked, or that others love.
 
I've realized that I get pretty judgmental about music - one little thing can put me off and then I end up writing off the band for life.  Decades later, I can't remember WHY i disliked them, just that I DID.  Pickett for example - I heard Mustang Sally so damned often in my teens that it turned me off him completely.  It's only recently that I got turned on to him again.  What else did i miss?????
 
PS.  Ken & Randy, thanks for the suggestions so far!

I liked a bit of early '70s soul myself, Chi-Lites, Average White Band, Brothers Johnson, Roy Ayers, Isley Brothers.
 
If our own 'Twisted6s' (Tony Pruden) has anything downloadable, you could give that a try, he's top notch.
 
https://soundcloud.com/twisted6s/sets/tony-pruden

Yeah, James already mentioned them, but I was going to say Brothers Johnson (Strawberry Letter 23).  Gosh, so many!  Gotta run or I'd add more.

Load you up some Al Green- "Love and Happiness" and some Issac Hayes!!!

I always loved Aretha Franklin's version of "Suspicious Minds" I used to have on an old Atlantic sampler LP.

I am trying to remember the other tracks and artists. Funky Nassau and Spanish Harlem come to mind.

Day, Womack, Commodores, Isley Brothers, Al Green... amazing. So many names that I've somehow been missing.
I had my MP3 player loaded, and then saw that Aretha did Suspicious Minds??? Whoa, I LOVE that song...
Thanks guys, you've made my week!

It's probably too late for your trip, but I used to have an album that one of my older brothers bought in Germany, "The Unequaled Equals". Some cool rock and soul stuff I played regularly back in the 1970s. I might be remembering through rose-colored hearing aids, but I liked them.
Since the record was purchased in Germany, they might be a European band not easily found in the States. And I'm not sure if the band is The Unequaled Equals or just the Equals.