MIXED MEDIA : ** “CHICAGO SOUL” By Robert Pruter, <i> University of Illinois Press ($39.95)</i>

Covering such acts as Jackie Wilson, the Impressions, Tyrone Davis and the Chi-Lites, this volume boasts the advantages and shortcomings of books by ardent fans. Record company activity is covered comprehensively and provides valuable detail for future researchers. But Pruter, R&B; editor for the record collectors’ magazine Goldmine, has a wooden writing style and gets too caught up in the minutiae of chart positions and in aesthetic evaluations of songs most non-Chicago soul fans have never heard.

Items in this periodic survey of pop-related books, videocassettes and laser discs are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).