Soul — In Stock — LPs  

An underground gem from Gwen McCrae – and the record that first set the tone for her dancefloor classics for Atlantic in the 80s! The album has Gwen shaking off some of the southern soul of her roots – stretching the genre out to hit notes that are much more in tune with modern soul of... read more

A landmark album from the Miami soul scene of the 70s – the record that put Gwen McCrae on the map, and showed to the world that the TK sound was about to dominate the charts! There's a really unique groove to the set – part older southern soul, part percolated electric modes –... read more

Sexy soul from the great Gwen McCrae – a key follow-up to her massive Rockin Chair, and an album that showed that she could go a lot deeper than just pop soul! Given Gwen's contribution to the early disco years, the record's got a surprisingly laidback feel – classic female southern... read more

An obscure second soundtrack for The Mack – one that's not nearly as well known as the classic Motown score by Willie Hutch, but which features some great work from Eugene McDaniels – and funky backings from Alan Silvestri! Eugene sings sweetly on the title theme "In The... read more

Forget the "honky tonk" in the title – because this girl knows how to groove! Ellen McIlwaine's got to be one of the most unique talents of the past 50 years – a skilled guitarist, and great singer – working in a blend of folk, jazz, and soul that lies somewhere between... read more

Tight funky group soul from Fayetteville, NC's Mellow Madness – formed by youth educators Frank McNeil & Malachi Sharpe in the late 70s or early 80s – amazing stuff culled from unreleased master tapes and mixed by Kenny Dope! We must say right off that while there's a few fairly... read more

This is the kind of funky rock record we can get behind! Although Melting Pot are ostensibly one of the many drum-heavy rock groups of their generation, the band manages to kick it very well with a strong commitment to funk – a commitment that outweighs their rock-based lyrics much more than... read more

Seminal work from The Meters – and an album that's essential for just about any collection of old school funk! The record's a blueprint for grooves that have been copied for generations to come – yet nobody does it better than these Crescent City kings – working here with a sound... read more

Brilliantly funky! This is the greatest album they cut for Warner Brothers – and it's one of the few that ever really approaches the genius of their early work for Josie. The record features the incredible breakbeat cut "Just Kissed My Baby" – worth the price of the album... read more

The rarest Meters record ever! This is one of the 3 classic funky albums they cut for the Josie label in their early years – and it's about as hard and heavy and funky as you could get! The group's trademark scratchy guitar funk sound is firmly in place, and the rhythm section is nice,... read more

A sweet Cali set from The Meters – one that loses a bit of their rougher roots, yet still holds onto plenty of funk at the same time! By the mid 70s, the New Orleans soul sound had broken out of the underground, was residing happily in mainstream LA. Allen Toussaint already produced a... read more

A seminal bit of funk rock from this well-connected group who bubbled under considerably during the late 60s and early 70s, but never seemed to cross over big. The best cuts on the album have a heavy funk sound, similar to the group's funky 45s – with the sax of leader George Patterson Jr... read more

One of THE psychedelic funk masterpieces of the early 70s – a guitar-heavy set with a very fuzzed up feel – one that's halfway between the work of Fugi and some of the best early sides on Westbound Records! But more than just guitar-heavy funk, Midnight Movers also have a fair bit of a... read more

Bluesy soul from Buddy Miles – an album that was half-produced by Jimi Hendrix, and which showcases the really crowd-pleasing side of Miles' sound! Tracks are a mix of soul covers and original numbers – done in a mode that puts plenty of guitar out front in the mix, and which uses... read more

A great, rare early album by The Miracles! The album features the group back when they still had a female member, who gives the band a beautiful high harmony sound in tandem with Smokey Robinson's falsetto vocals. The reissue includes the great original cover – and loads of nice original... read more

Killer funky organ – and 100% Dynamite! Jackie Mittoo is one of the all-time great organists – as essential to Jamaica as Booker T was to Memphis, or Jimmy McGriff was to New York. He's legendary these days as the player who completely transformed the Hammond sound with his unique... read more

A righteous group soul classic from the 70s – the one and only album from The Modulations, and a lasting classic that almost beats the multiple album runs of some of their contemporaries! The group's a southern harmony quartet at their core, but they also get some really great backings on... read more

Classic stuff – Rudy's first album, and a fitting launch to his famous career of party records and live club performances! The cover's got Rudy in front of a nude black model, laying back on the couch, and encouraging him to do the thing that's implied by the title – but the record... read more

Quite possibly THE mother of all funky soundtracks – the legendary score to Rudy Ray Moore's classic first Dolemite film! The record's been referenced for years, and all the hype is totally right – because the whole thing's overflowing with funky tracks both vocal and instrumental... read more

One of the last great funk albums from King Records – a set recorded in the early 70s, but done with a crackling sharp sound that's like the best late 60s James Brown albums for the label! Mickey Murray is from Augusta, GA – James Brown's hometown – and his approach is similar to... read more

A fantastic bit of spiritual jazz funk – and one of the rarest 70s albums on Fantasy Records! The group's headed up by Nat Adderley Jr (son of the famous Nat Sr) on keyboards and vocals – and the ensemble is a hip, young collective with an approach that reminds us of work by Oneness Of... read more

One of the nicest early albums by this great 70s soul collective – featuring a strong mix of funk and mellow soul tracks, with backing by the Nite Liters on some tracks, and production by the great Harvey Fuqua throughout! Titles include "Wild Flower", "It's Been A Long... read more

Way more than just another soul group – as The New Birth are almost big enough to be their own sort of soul music village – complete with different neighborhoods along the way! Vocals are handled by the combined groups of The Mint Juleps and Now Sound – gals and guys that soar... read more

One of the sweetest ensemble funk albums of the 70s – and a record that's gone on to become a classic, despite the fact that most people know little about the group! Newban have a sound that's almost a jazzier take on the Earth Wind & Fire groove of the time – a style that's warm... read more

A classic album of jazzed-up funk – the one lasting legacy by this oft-sampled group – reissued here with its original title and cover art! 9th Creation originally hailed from west of the Bay Area scene of the 70s – and this album was recorded in Oakland with the same sweet jazzy... read more

A great album filled with hard breaks, tight choppy guitars, and a deep funky sound. This is one of the best early albums by the Nite Liters, and it's filled with great grooves like "Funky-Doo", "Stinkin Charlie", and "K-Jee" – but just about every track is a... read more

Stone funky funky! This is an excellent reissue of the Nite Liters' classic first album, and a monster batch of funky instrumentals that we'd put up there with the great Meters records on Josie, or the classic JBs LPs on People! There's lots of hard drums, choppy guitars, and good funky grooves. ... read more

The start of a legendary run for vocalist Alexander O'Neal – and a set that really helped redefine the sound of male soul in the 80s! O'Neal got his start in an early version of The Time, and he's working here with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – but the sound of the record is way deeper... read more

Great work from the Ohio Players – and proof that moving to a big label could be a good thing for a funky group! This was the band's first album for Mercury – and although one might have the temptation to say that the label cut down the radical funk sound of the trippy Westbound years,... read more

Some of the greatest funky work you could ever hope to find by Johnny Otis! The package brings together tracks recorded by Johnny in his fantastic post-R&B years – the late 60s and 1970s, when he was scrappling around a variety of small labels, but also getting the chance to use that... read more

The second album from Shuggie Otis – a wild and wooly batch of grooves that really stretches out the sound from the first! Shuggie's got much more of a hand in the arrangements here – and the tunes are grooving in a sweet blend of funk, rock, and soul – really drenched in the... read more

A classic album of bluesy funk – one that features the guitar of Johnny Otis' young son Shuggie, in a slightly tighter setting than he'd been getting on some of Johnny's own LPs! Shuggie here is still very much under the guidance of his dad – working in a mode that really emphasizes... read more

An insanely wonderful album! Shuggie Otis is the son of Johnny Otis – the LA R&B maestro who was moving heavily into funk at the end of the 60s – and he has this tripped out, super-dope guitar style that he played to strong effect on Johnny's albums of the late 60s and early 70s,... read more

A great compilation of classic Shuggie – with 10 of the best tracks from the Here Comes Shuggie Otis, Freedom Flight and Inspiration Information records – all pressed up beautifully, with heavy wax and a great cover too!... read more

Deadlier than Dracula – and a lot funkier too! This is the original soundtrack for the classic blacksploitation horror flick starring the baaadest Drac ever to grace the screen of all those shabby downtown theaters that were still around in the 70s – a wicked batch of wah-wah tunes... read more

Ahhhhh . . . By this point, George Clinton and the P-Funk team were on top of the world! The record is a masterful dose of slick mothership jamming – perfectly woven together with that tightly compressed style that really served Clinton's production work well. The tracks are long, but never... read more

A legendary album from Chicago – recorded by a group with ties to Sun Ra, Phil Cohran, and Earth Wind & Fire! The set's got a sound that more than lives up to all those references – a vibe that's jazzy and soulful, yet often quite righteous too – imbued with the sort of... read more

The great Luv N' Haight album of unreleased material by legendary Chicago soul jazz group Pharaohs – live tracks that serve as a vital document of the group outside the studio! There's 5 long tracks here, 4 of them recorded live, plus an unreleased gem from the Awakening sessions. Standouts... read more

One of the deepest soul sets from Esther Phillips' 70s years on Kudu Records – a set with some nicely gritty grooves and a surprisingly earthy feel at times – especially when compared to some of her other albums of the time! Backings are by James Brown's old reedman, Pee Wee Ellis... read more

A breakout record that forever put Wilson Pickett at the top of the heap for mainstream 60s soul – thanks to the oft-covered, endlessly played "Mustang Sally" single that leads off the set! And although the groove established by that track helped Pickett establish an audience on... read more

The rare late 60s album by Plant And See! The record is a great mix of psych and soul released on White Whale – the adventurous label home of fellow funk rock/country soul genre buster Jim Ford – and another essential gem! Led by Native American guitarist and lead vocalist Willie... read more

Fantastic jazz funk by one of the best bands in the genre! This is probably Pleasure's most sought-after album, and it includes the classic breakbeat cut "Bouncy Lady", which begins with a nice hard drumbreak, and ends the same way! The record has a tight, smooth, soulful feel –... read more

A wonderful album from Pleasure – one of the few jazz funk bands who actually seemed to get better and better the more they recorded! Unlike some of their contemporaries, who kind of lost their edge when the production got slicker, Pleasure actually picked up more of a beat, and tightened up... read more

Great lost funky soul material from one of the few non-rap acts on Sugarhill. The group maintain a very strong jazzy club sound – with a bit of a Wayne Henderson/At Home groove, and a nice polished finish. Some tracks even have a strong positive vibe, and the kind of righteous mellow soul... read more

A masterpiece of spacey soul by the great Asha Pulthi – a singer who recorded mostly in Europe, with funky maestro Dieter Zimmerman! Asha's got vocals that are somewhere in the range of Minnie Riperton or Sylvia Striplin or Sylvia Robinson – as you'll hear on the album's standout break... read more

Tight funky soul from Quazar! This relatively overlooked group is one of the lesse-remembered P-Funk-linked acts of the late 70s – which is a shame, as it's a great little side project from the team of Glenn Goins and Jerome Brailey – and one with a bass and drums-heavy party groove! ... read more

One of the greatest albums of all time – a masterpiece of moody soul, spacey vocals, and jazzy vibes – all produced by the legendary Roy Ayers! Ramp take their name from the anagram Roy Ayers Musical Productions – and in a way, the group's the summation of all the genius that Roy... read more

Some of the tightest funky 70s jamming ever – a lost gem from Ray & His Musical Court, a group that perfectly fuses JB/Horny Horns funk with beat-heavy Afro-Cuban groove! Ray and the group are one of the more obscure funky combos of the era, and it's a damn shame, because the group's... read more

An excellent album by Isaac Redd Holt – one half of the incredible Young-Holt rhythm team, bursting out nicely here on his own! This is Redd's second album – first for Paula, as the other one was a jazz effort on Argo back in the 60s – and it's a wild blend of jazz, funk, and a... read more

This was Redd's second album after the breakup of the Young-Holt team – and it's also the tightest. The best cuts have this hard funk sound that features tightly stepping drums by Redd, and a classic choppy groove that's best summed up in the cut "Do It Baby", a favorite with hip... read more

A very cool idea – and a set that works together almost as a "lost" Otis Redding album – from the cover art right down to the grooves on the disc! The package focuses on the deepest, bluest side of Otis Redding – his amazing talent for a heartbreaking song and a sad-ting... read more

Seminal work from the legendary Jimmy Reed – spare and bluesy numbers that were some of the best work coming out of Chicago at the time! There's a snapping quality to the rhythms here that was a keen inspiration to generations of better-known artists – and in a way, it's amazing to go... read more

Not just Jimmy Reed – as the album features work by Phil Upchurch on bass and Al Duncan on drums, plus some great uncredited organ too – but the album's still a great chance to hear the great one at all his stripped-down best! Jimmy really dominates on vocals and guitar, and some... read more

Massive soul from Wendy Rene – one of the lesser-known talents from the Stax Records scene of the 60s, and an artist who's finally getting her due! We're not sure why Wendy never hit bigger at the time – because her singles here are wonderful – excellent female soul that not only... read more

One of the heaviest funk records ever to come out of Indy in the 70s – a super-dope batch of ensemble grooving with plenty of odd twists and turns! At one level, the group work in a familiar Earth Wind & Fire-styled vibe – mixing heavy bass, funky rhythms, and lots of great horns... read more

Probably the funkiest record ever by this landmark soul combo! The Rimshots are one of these groups that you always find their later work, but in their early days they were an absolutely killer combo – with a hard funky groove that virtually defined the funky 45 sound. In fact, their... read more

The only album we've ever seen by Johnny Robinson – a rare non-Hi Records set produced by Willie Mitchell, with a sound that's as deeply soulful as some of the best indie work coming out of the Memphis scene in the 60s! Willie's style here is rougher than that used with Al Green or Ann... read more

An amazing second set from Sixto Rodriguez – recorded in the legendary Landsdowne Studios in London, with a groove that's a great extension from his debut! All of Rodriguez's best elements are in place here – his folksy guitar, personal lyrical style, and surprisingly biting approach... read more

Amazing sounds from the legendary Rodriguez – the brilliant 70s singer who had a groove that was equal parts soul, funk, rock, and folk – and an overall approach that was pretty darn unique! Most numbers here have some acoustic guitar over slightly funky rhythms – perfectly... read more

A massively beautiful piece of work by "the new Rotary Connection" – a version of this groundbreaking Chicago soul ensemble which featured Phil Upchurch, Henry Gibson, and Charles Stepney – the cream of the Chicago production scene! Minnie Riperton's still in the band on... read more

Funky funky Hendrix! The record's a surprisingly enjoyable batch of covers – all Jimi Hendrix tunes (save one), played by a funky combo with a very raw guitar in the front! There's plenty of pyrotechnics on the guitar, and the record has lots of solos, but there's also some good funky flute... read more

Music beyond description – a unique blend of disco, funk, avant garde, and dub – the wonderful world of the late Arthur Russell! Russell was a bass player by trade, but he was schooled in both classical and Eastern music forms – and brought an incredibly fresh vision to his work... read more

One of the best-ever albums by this incredible soul duo! Sam & Dave may have been one of the bigger names on the 60s scene, but they also had a sheer raw soul approach that blew away most of their contemporaries – a way of trading vocal lines then combining them that infused their songs... read more

Amazing funky jazz from the 70s – a completely rare little set recorded in the Bay Area scene of the time – featuring hip trumpet work from Woody Shaw, and lots of cool keyboards from Patrick Gleeson! The feel here is somewhere in the territory of work that Gleeson did with Herbie... read more

Lost southern soul from George Scott – on the tiny Maple Records, with a stripped down and gritty soul sound! We don't know much about George Scott, or if he recorded more than this one LP, but it's a storming set southern soul that's stands strong with the bigger names of the 70s! Scott's... read more

One of the greatest soul records of all time – and an album that we'd never part with! Gloria Scott only ever recorded this one full LP – but that's more than enough, as the whole thing's a masterpiece – produced by Barry White with the best of his 70s approach, and featuring... read more

A 70s soul classic – and the closest that Gil Scott-Heron ever came to having a hit! The album's best known for its anthemic classic "Johannesburg" – one of the first popular tunes to really push the cause of a free South Africa – but the whole album's a winner, filled... read more

A key crossover set from Gil Scott-Heron – still every bit as political as his earlier work, but with a stronger sense of soul as well! The great Brian Jackson is firmly in tow here – bringing warm keyboards and a nice little groove to most of the tracks – and the previous... read more

A beautiful jazzy classic, and perhaps Gil Scott-Heron's most perfectly realized album ever! The record has a completely sophisticated jazzy approach – one that's miles ahead from even Gil's previous work on Flying Dutchman, and which shows him to be one of the most distinctive and emotive... read more

A heck of a great little guitar funk album – one of two rare sides cut by the amazing Eddie Senay! The record's all-instrumental – and Eddie's fuzzed-out guitar takes center stage over tripped-out arrangements that recall the best psychedelic funk of the early 70s – bubbling... read more

This album's like a funky 45 party! Senor Soul first started out as one of those fake Latin acts in the LA scene – kind of a soul jazz version of the Tijuana Brass – but by the time of this album, they've turned into a hot funky combo, with a really wonderful sound! The groove here is... read more

A classic! This is one of the best-ever albums by the legendary Marlena Shaw – and it's a tremendous live set that really lives up to the righteous promise of her earlier work on Cadet Records! The album was cut with a small combo, and the overall feel is incredibly hip – a mixture of... read more

Quite possibly the greatest album ever from Side Effect – a wonderful set that mixes their soulful harmonies with some killer jazz funk from Wayne Henderson! The album may be the most perfect realization of the groove that Henderson was going for during his At Home Productions years –... read more

Wonderful work by Nina – the kind of record that once made purists turn up their noses, but which is now being rediscovered as a unique jazz/soul crossover album, filled with loads of nice moments! The instrumentation's pretty darn interesting – and includes sitar, harp, Spanish guitar... read more

A landmark album from Nina – one that broke down countless barriers with the classic tune "Four Women" – a righteous portrait of 4 different women and their struggles, unique for its time, and a key part of the early Women's Liberation movement! The rest of the album has a... read more

A masterpiece of early Detroit disco – the debut album by Sins of Satan, and a club classic all the way through! The group have a great sound that really belies their Motor City roots – one that's not afraid to use heavier guitars and funkier elements, but which also rolls along in a... read more

A sublime bit of east coast soul – and the only full album ever cut by this heavenly-voiced trio! The group have a sound to rival the best of their contemporaries on the harmony soul scene – one that floats along on a light pillow of strings and soul, with just the right amount of... read more

A bit bluesy, a bit funky, and pretty raunchy all the way through – as you might expect from the name of the group! The group are a Johnny Otis side project from the late 60s – and the record's got lots of the weird funky touches of Johnny's own work of the time, all done at a nicely... read more

A beautiful, beautiful little record – as righteous and soulful as some of the best spiritual jazz classics of the 70s – and arguably even rarer, as it was only issued on a tiny label from Atlanta! Solar have a sound that uses 3 female lead vocalists in chorus formation – one... read more

Beautiful material from this legendary Bay Area soul jazz combo! The Sons & Daughters of Lite have an incredibly spiritual sound – one that sounds sort of like the best groups on the Strata East label, with touches of Roy Ayers or James Mason-esque soulfulness, but with a little less... read more

Incredible work from a group who've definitely earned their name! Naming a group SOUL might be suicide for a band that can't carry off the groove – but these guys are funky monsters, with a real talent for a hard heavy sound that was rarely matched by other combos. The band have a great... read more

Quite possibly the best album ever from this fantastic funky combo! The band grooves hard and funky – with incredible drum work from Paul Stubblefield, tasty guitar from Walter Winston, and some famous funky flute and sax work from Gus Hawkins. Tracks on the album are rough and raw –... read more

One the all time great funky albums of the 70s – a mad little record with a sense of rhythm and timing that was years ahead of its time! The Soul Searchers (along with Chuck Brown) later became known for their heavy-hitting Go Go work at the end of the decade – but here, they're a... read more

Totally great – and a record you probably know nothing about! The album's one of the greatest ever to come out of the Hotlanta scene of the 70s – a tight batch of funk tracks with a heck of a lot of guitar. The set was produced by Tommy Stewart, of "Bump and Hustle" fame... read more

Rare soul from singer Bill Spoon – an artist who only ever issued a few singles, but steps out here with a wealth of previously-unissued tracks! Bill hails from Alabama, but also ended up in Memphis and LA – and the styles here definitely showcase that journey – an evolving... read more

A lost funky soul LP by Starfire, billed here as "The Baddest Five Stars in the Galaxy", and hailing from Richmond, VA! This is a silver-covered repressing of the band's second album – done on the obscure Dynamic Artists label in Virginia – and it's a great collection of the... read more

An excellent blacksploitation soundtrack – and every bit as funky as any of Willie Hutch's work for other Motown soundtracks at the time! Larry Mizell and Dennis Coffey help out on the instrumentation – giving the album an extra funky instrumental edge, one that takes it way past Edwin... read more

The incredibly rare underground funk of Stone Coal White – whose couple of raw, incendiary psych funk 45s have been furiously sought for years – fleshed out here with newly discovered and previously unissued tracks for this most amazing full length on DJ Shadow's Cali Tex label! Stone... read more

The greatest album to date from Sugarman 3 – one of the funkiest combos of the past 50 years! The group's organ/sax sound has never sounded so great – and it's pumped up even further here from some added guest instrumentation, including drums from Bernard Purdie, plus vocals on a... read more

One of Swamp Dogg's roughest and rawest albums of the 70s – a real down-home affair that's probably one of the clearest expressions of what Jerry Williams was trying to do with his character! The album was produced by Jerry in collaboration with Miami soul maestro Steve Alaimo – and... read more

Swamp Dogg's on the cover, riding a giant rat out of the ghetto – an image that definitely hints at some of the politics on the record! The album's one of Swamp's key classics from the early 70s – recorded at a time when he was still super-sharp – and when the character was a... read more

A host of cool cuts from Dwight Sykes – an 80s soul artist, but one who clearly draws lots of inspiration from the laidback vibe of "Summer Madness"! There's a wonderful slow funk feel to these tracks – rhythms that strut around with an easygoing feel, while keyboards space... read more

How old was Foster Sylvers when he cut this record? Seven? Eight? Whatever the case, the little tyke forever changed the face of funky music with the incredible cut "Misdemeanor" – one of those chunky funky numbers that sounds like nothing else we've ever heard, and which has... read more

A masterpiece in psychedelic soul from The Temptations – perhaps the most perfectly realized album from their years working with Norman Whitfield! The set's awash in that bottom-heavy, rumbling funk mode that Whitfield brought to the group at the end of the 60s – served up in bold... read more

Sublime work from the Temptations – still recording here with Norman Whitfield, who's really opening up his bag on most of the record – and taking the group into expansive territory that was barely hinted at in their early work! The album's got some incredible tracks in the Whitfield... read more

A fantastic record, and one of our most treasured Latin Soul albums from the late 60s! Ray Terrace leads a totally sharp little Latin combo through a host of originals and soulful covers, and the real highlight of the record is Willie Torres, who sings English vocals in a very deep soulful style... read more

Excellent work from New Orleans soul legend Allen Toussaint – and a set that may well be his funkiest album ever! The set features 12 tracks from the early 70s – a time when Toussaint was mixing a bit of funk into the heavy soul mix that he'd had from his early days in the Crescent... read more

Long lost post disco soul from Trilark! Trilark keeps the tight, smoothed out and soaring groove of the late 70s club soul into the mix here, a really sweet and gleamingly funky batch. Every song here's got a great hook – if the early 80s era was a bit more forgiving to groups that carried... read more

Great stuff – and the only truly funky album that Ike Turner ever recorded! This set's a batch of obscure funky instrumentals – and sounds like a strong compilation of rare 45s, filled with hard funky drums, nice breaks, and plenty of super-tight grooves. Nearly every cut's a winner... read more

An amazing musical discovery – the lost second album from 24 Carat Black – recorded right after the band's legendary debut for Stax Records, but unissued for over 30 years! All the righteous styles of the group's famous Ghetto Misfortune's Wealth classic are fully in place here –... read more