You are right Sean it does describe a period in time but I think it also had it's own style, often mid tempo in style and records that were generally unacceptable to the northern scene or the modern scene, records rejected by both because more often than not the tempo as well as the style wasn't right.
Today the term is nothing like the term when it was first coined. Too many dealers simply use it to sell records they wouldn't normally be able to shift simply because crossover is "trendy" or "in".
Records like Ruby Andrews are simply Northern or just soul, they weren't crossover when the term first came into being.
Anyway prefer your term, Just Soul, good or bad!!!