Soul — CDs  

Classic mellow 70s soul by the unique Phoebe Snow – an artist who managed to skirt so many camps at once, and who had a wonderfully warm folksy soul style that never failed to please. The CD contains 10 cuts from her CBS years, including the hit "Poetry Man", plus "Every Night", "Shakey Ground", "Two Fisted Love", "All Over", "Teach Me Tonight", "Don't Let Me Down", and "Never Letting Go".

The Temptations get a whole new groove here – working away from Motown for the first time in many many years, and getting a good deal of production help from Steve The Scotsman Harvey! Steve's backing the group with his Everyday People combo on more than half the record – taking them back to the live soul mode of the earlier years – and creating a groove that breathes surprising new life into their music. The remaining tunes are handled by Benjamin Wright, who gives the Temps more of a conventional soul finish – but fortunately, the record's put together in a way that alternates the two modes so that Harvey's great talents are spread out nicely through the set. And even though most of the songs are older hits from 60s Motown, the versions handled by Harvey are fresh and new – even though they're getting a classic sort of approach! Titles include "Can I Get A Witness", "Reflections", "Try It Baby", "I Hear A Symphony", "Don't Leave Me This Way", "I'll Be There", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Reach Out & Touch", "Ooo Baby Baby", and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

A massive amount of rare Northern Soul cuts – almost all of them from the Heritage Records empire of producer Jerry Ross! There's plenty of Philly elements in the mix, but the set also shows Jerry's good ear for crossing over into other camps too – and some of these tunes also have a sound that would have been right at home in the Detroit scene of the late 60s. A few numbers are even rock/pop cuts, but still work very well in the context of the soul material – and the CD features 20 titles that include "Green Grow the Lilacs" by The Festivals, "Ain't Nothin' But A House Party" by The Showstoppers, "I Dig Everything About You" by The Mob, "You Gave Me Somebody To Love" by The Dreamlovers, "Loan Shark" by Chapter One, "I Get By Without You" by Kenny Gamble & Tommy Bell, "Baby Show It" by The Festivals, "Bok To Bach" by Father's Angels, "Eeny Meeny" by The Showstoppers, "Pick Up My Toys" by The Devonnes, "I've Been Hurt" by Bill Deal & The Rhondels, and "You Aint' Sayin' Nothin' New" by Virgil Henry.

The sound of Chicago pumps again, in this great collection of tracks from the glory days of the Trax Record label! Trax was instrumental in the Chicago scene – often releasing a record a week, cooked up in the label's southside studios, quickly pressed up on dodgy vinyl, and booted round to the clubs for testing in front of a live crowd. Unfortunately, the quality of the vinyl and finances of the label meant that much of the musical history of this scene is out of the reach of collectors – which is why this 12 track package is such a nice treat, bringing together a few of the labels hits, plus some other almost-forgotten gems. Titles include "7 Ways To Jack" by Hercules, "Phuture Jacks" by Phuture, "Dum Dum" by Fresh, "The Jungle" by Jungle Wonz, "Farley Knows House" by Farley Jackmaster Funk, "Houst Beat Box" by Sampson Butch Moore, "Do You Know Who You Are" by Virgo, "Ride The Rhythm" by On The House with Marshall Jefferson, and "Beat The Knuckles" by Santos.

By this point, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are firmly holding the foreground as artists in their own right after many years of acting as songwriters for other soul and R&B hitmakers, and this self produced album continues in their tradition of sophisticated soul and rich balladry. With a number of singles that would help them begin to break through to later huge chart success, including "Is It Good To You", "Ain't It A Shame", "It Seems To Hang On" and "Get Up And Do Something".

Great stuff! From Motown songwriters to world-class superstars, the trip was a well-deserved one for Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford – and this album's perhaps their crowning achievement in sophisticated club soul! The record's got a great groove that offers a more soulful version of disco than most of the competing albums on major labels at the time – a perfect summation of the care and craft that Ashford & Simpson had always put into their music right from the start! The pair handle all production on the record, and also contributed all the songs too – and the whole thing's so wonderfully tight, right, and on the money, the album soars to the top even before the vocals come into the mix. Titles include more than a few club classics, like "Found A Cure", "Stay Free", and "Nobody Knows" – plus the cuts "Dance Forever", "Crazy", "Follow Your Heart", and "Finally Got To Me".

The Temptations sing the work of Smokey Robinson – and they've even got Smokey along to help them out on production! Given the high Robinson quotient on the set – both on production and songwriting – you'd almost expect this one to be a copycat of The Miracles' music at the time. Yet The Temps really manage to bring plenty of their own greatness to play on the material – deepening some of the songs with wonderful harmonies, and creating a sound that's often a bit less sweet and a bit more soulful than Smokey's approach with his own group. Titles include "It's Growing", "Who's Loving You", "What's So Good About Goodbye", "Depend On Me", "Way Over There", and "What Love Has Joined Together".

One of the funkiest New Orleans collections we've ever heard – thanks to massive work from compilers Andy Smith and Dean Rudland! There's an approach here that gets right past the obvious, and goes right for the jugular – the deepest veins of Crescent City funk, served up with rhythms that are harder and heavier than those you'd hear in some of the bigger hits from the scene! Forget the overdone cliches you might expect, and dig the massively funky tunes throughout – work that's ever bit as great and gritty as the grooves you'd hear in a Jazzman collection of rare funky 45s. And while some of the artist names are familiar, most are represented by more obscure work – titles that include "Sinner Girl" by Benny Spellman, "Mean Man" by Betty Harris, "Boogaloo Mardi Gras" by Bobby Williams, "La La Man" by Oliver Morgan, "What You Gonna Do" by Eddie Bo, "All I Want Is You" by Zila Mays, "Undivided Love" by Eskew Reeder, "The Book" by Eldridge Holmes, "Being Without You" by Maurice Williams, "Son Of A Slave" by Larry Darnell, "Brotherman Sister Ann" by Clemon Smith, "Funky Soul" by Dave Batiste & The Gladiators, and "Miniskirts & Soul" by Chris Kenner.