Soul — All Formats  

Great solo work from soul child J Blackfoot – music that's often done in a modern soul mode, but with plenty of Memphis touches too! Blackfoot's lost none of the vocal power since his earlier group recordings on Stax – and if anything, standing out as a lead act has given him even more confidence and charm – especially on some of the more pointed love tunes, which are really the standouts in the set! Homer Banks write and produced most tracks – and brings a good modern/southern feel to the record – really helping Blackfoot steer clear of some of the too-bluesy sounds some of his contemporaries were hitting at this time. Titles include "The Girl Next Door", "Just To Be With You", "One Of Those Parties", "Taxi", "I Don't Remember Loving You", "If I Don't Love You", "Sunshine Lady", "Respect Yourself", and "Tear Jerker".

Later material cut by this great singer from the Soul Children. The tracks are produced by Homer Banks, and still have a very strong sound, even though the style's a bit more modern than Blackfoot's classic work. Writing is by Betty Crutcher, Homer Banks, and Chuck Brooks – and in a way, the album's sort of an early 80s updating of the early 70s Stax sound. Titles include "Taxi", "The Way Of The City", "Street Girl", "All Because of What You Did To Me", and "Where Is Love".

A sweet little album of funky instrumental guitar! The record's one of the most obscure on the Westbound label – and it features guitar player Donald Austin going to town on 13 short little cuts with a tripped-out funky groove – sometimes fuzzy, usually funky, and always with that heavier kind of sound you'd expect from Westbound in the early 70s! Austin's guitar is very much in the mode of Eddie Fisher, Eddie Senay, or other kicked-back jazz funk players from his generation – an approach that's probably got a bit of Hendrix somewhere back in the mix, but which is more focused on the tighter side of the funk and soul instrumental spectrum! The album's like finding a stash of rare funky 45s – loads of great short tracks with titles that include "Sex Plot", "Crazy Legs", "You Want It, You Got It", "Side Saddle", "Nanzee", "Pea Shooter", "Do Me Right", and "Shake Your Head".

The full scope of genius from the legendary Alvin Cash – not just his 60s gritty groovers, but a host of later funk tracks as well – all packaged into a beautiful book-styled package! Cash is one of our favorite Chicago artists ever – a dancer by trade, but a flamboyant personality who always managed to make his way center stage – whether live or in the recording studio! The set begins with early "twine" numbers from Alvin – some romping heavy soul tracks that have a very deep bottom, and a raw sound that's equal part R&B and Chicago soul – definitely tuned towards the dancefloor crowd that was a natural fit for Cash's energy. As the set moves on, it then picks up some wicked late 60s singles for the Toddlin Town label, and also includes some excellent early 70s groovers for Sound Stage Seven – some of Alvin's hardest, heaviest numbers ever. The set features work by Alvin Cash with The Registers, Hundred Dollar Bills, The Crawlers, and Scott Brothers Orchestra – and titles include "Keep On Dancing (parts 1 & 2)", "Funky 69", "Moanin & Groanin", "Doin The Creep", "It's Party Time", "Funky Washing Machine", "Alvin's Doin His Thing", "Funky Street", "Doin The Ali Shuffle", "Whip It On Me", "The Charge", "Boston Monkey", "The Philly Freeze", "Alvin's Boogaloo", "Let's Do Some Good Timing", "The Bump", "Twine Time", "Twine Awhile", "The Barracuda", and "You Shot Me Through The Grease".

Seminal southern soul from the great Willie Hightower – a singer we'd rank right up there with Otis Redding, Al Green, and James Carr! Willie's got an incredible voice that grabs you right away – earthy and honest, yet also extremely well controlled – almost a down home take on the sound of some of the smoother soul singers of the 60s – in a manner that reminds us a bit of Garnett Mimms, and which really stands apart from other vocalists of the time. The 18 tracks on this set represent Willie at his best – and the collection features material recorded for producer Bobby Robinson (issued on both the Capitol and Enjoy labels), and Muscle Shoals maestro Rick Hall – brought together with beautiful fidelity, in a package that finally gives Willie his due, and which will hopefully get his name out there with the rest of his lendary contemporaries! Titles include "Walk A Mile In My Shoes", "You Used Me", "Back Road Into Town", "Nobody But You", "I Love You", "Poor Man", "Let's Walk Together", "Somebody Have Mercy", "You Are Mine", "It's A Miracle", and "Ooh Baby How I Love You".

Bumping, bouncing soul from Krystol – one of the strongest female groups of the 80s, and one of the few who really helped push the sound further at the time! The groove here is equal parts funk and soul – and has a brashness that a girl act wouldn't have had a decade before – lots of echoes of new rhythms learned from the streets, fused with top-shelf production that helps send the whole thing home strongly! The style is tight, yet never clunky commercial – and Leon Sylvers' production really helps keep a lean quality to most of the tracks. And sure, the costumes on the cover look a bit silly, but the vocals have a lot more depth than you might expect! Titles include "Love Is Like An Itchin In My Heart", "C'Est La Vie", "I Want A Man Who Can Dance", "Hard To Believe", "The Things That Men Do", "Talk Of The Town", and "Shattered Glass". CD features lots of bonus tracks – "Love Is Like An Itchin (long vocal)", "Love Is Like An Itchin (edited)", "Love Is Like An Itchin (ext dub)", "The Things That Men Do (radio)", and "The Things That Men Do (club)".

Bettye Lavette's best record yet for Anti- – a modern classic from a bonafide legendary southern soul singer – and she sounds as wonderful as she has in years! If her voice has picked up some grit over the years, it's no less beautiful – and the experience only enhances the material. The song choices are terrific – kicking off with the somewhat overlooked Dylan treasure "Everything Is Broken" – and several others eclectic, classic-level songs that span a number of genres – adapted masterfully into a timeless sound that's distinctly southern, but it eschews he retro revival style, for a unique vibe of it's own. Producer Craig Street and the tight group of musicians assembled for the record deserve a lot of credit, but none more than the inspiring Bettye Lavette! Includes "I'm Not The One", "Dirty Old Town" (plus a great closing slow version), "Yesterday Is Here", "Thankful N' Thoughtful", "Time Will Do The Talking", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and more.

Bettye Lavette's best record yet for Anti- – a modern classic from a bonafide legendary southern soul singer – and she sounds as wonderful as she has in years! If her voice has picked up some grit over the years, it's no less beautiful – and the experience only enhances the material. The song choices are terrific – kicking off with the somewhat overlooked Dylan treasure "Everything Is Broken" – and several others eclectic, classic-level songs that span a number of genres – adapted masterfully into a timeless sound that's distinctly southern, but it eschews he retro revival style, for a unique vibe of it's own. Producer Craig Street and the tight group of musicians assembled for the record deserve a lot of credit, but none more than the inspiring Bettye Lavette! Includes "I'm Not The One", "Dirty Old Town" (plus a great closing slow version), "Yesterday Is Here", "Thankful N' Thoughtful", "Time Will Do The Talking", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and more.

Classic club from Webster Lewis – and much more of an all-out disco affair than some of his later work! The record introduces Lewis' all-encompassing style – as he writes, arranges, and produces the album at a level that easily matches that of Barry White – who would later emerge as a mentor for Lewis, introducing him as part of the later Love Unlimited Orchestra records. The group here is billed as "Webster Lewis & The Post-Pop Space-Rock Be-Bop Gospel Tabernacle Orchestra & Chorus" – a pretty good way to describe the soaringly full sound of the album – one that's built up from Webster's keyboards with lots of added strings and rhythms, plus occasional backing vocals from a female chorus. Most of the focus here is instrumental, though – filled with great tunes that include "On The Town", "Love Is The Way", "Do It With Style", "Song Of Joy", "Goodnight Baby Girl", "Since I've Been Gone", and "Saturday Night Steppin Out". CD features the bonus track "Let's Do It Again".

Two gems from Johnny Mathis' mid 60s years at Mercury Records – one classic album, and another previously unreleased session! First up is Love Is Everything – an album that's got Johnny working with arranger Glenn Osser – who always seemed to set the right tone to unlock the best side of Mathis' 60s vocals. Orchestrations are lush, but never sleeping – and have that wonderful pillow of sound approach that really lets Johnny open up and soar vocally. Titles include "A Thousand Blue Bubbles", "Never Let Me Go", "This Is All I Ask", "People", "One More Mountain", and "Go Away Little Girl". Next up is Broadway – a record that was recorded for Mercury, yet never issued at the time! The album's got a nicely unusual feel – a range of songs that really moves past the usual ballads and love songs you might normally know from Johnny Mathis – and which, at some times, shows sides that are a bit more upbeat and playful. Titles include "Get Out Of Town", "Manhattan", "Don't Rain On My Parade", "When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love", "Ridin High", "She Loves Me", and "Ain't It De Truth".

The Originals are hitting more of a dance-oriented groove here – a mix of disco, soul, and uptempo funk arrangements, but still maintaining their harmony sound, in the manner of other Detroit groups at the time, like The Fantastic Four or Detroit Emeralds. Titles include "Call On Your Six Million Dollar Man", "Hurry Up & Wait", "Been Decided", and "Down To Love Town".

One of the coolest, grooviest cats who ever cut a record – an an artist with a really unique conception at the time of these recordings! Roy Porter got his start as a drummer during the bebop years, and worked hard on the LA scene of the R&B and soul scenes of the 50s and 60s – but to us, his crowning achievement is these amazing funk sides of the early 70s – amazingly complex, but right on the money too – and a whole new kind of music that's impossible to describe in words! Roy mixes funky drums with lots of cool jazzy changes – keyboard lines, horn parts, and bass bits that have the frenzy you might find in fusion, yet come across with the down-to-earth vibe of a funky 45 – a killer blend that goes way past jazz, and even most straight funk too – as you'll hear in this sweet little set. The package brings together all the best tracks from these key Porter years – and titles include "Jessica" and "Panama" in both vocal and instrumental versions, plus "Wow", "Funny Feelin", "Funky Twitch", "Love You", "Hense Forth", "Out On The Town Tonight", "Givin Me The Blues", "Waver-ing", "Party Time", and "Hip City".

Blue-eyed soul from Boz Scaggs, with a decidedly Philly influenced sound to the production, which we'd hazard a guess comes more from the Hall & Oates side of town than the Sigma Sound axis. Still, this is a solid album with the irresistible hit "Lowdown", still a favorite around these parts. Also includes "Lido Shuffle", "Harbor Lights", "Jump Street" and "What Do You Want The Girl To Do".

The Staple Singers are cooking on all burners at this point – and it's hard to stop them with that much power – a soaring, searing sort of energy that definitely earns them a place in the sky! The set's a totally strong batch of gospelly soul tracks – produced by Al Bell with that great early 70s Stax deep soul sound – at a point that's still without the sort of cliche that might hold back material of this type in later years. Instrumentation is by Clayton Ivey on Hammond, Barry Beckett on keyboards, and Jimmy Johnson and Eddie Hinton on guitar – and titles include "Getting Too Big For Your Britches", "Today Was Tomorrow Yesterday", "Something Ain't Right", "My Main Man", "Blood Pressure", "Who Made The Man", "Back Road Into Town", and "If It Ain't One Thing It's Another". CD features 4 bonus tracks – "Oh La De Da", "I Like The Things About You", "Respect Yourself", and "I'll Take You There".

A sweet little package – with three classic albums from Bill Withers, each in a tiny LP-styled cover! Still Bill is Bill Withers' second album – even more wonderful than the first! The record's a perfect summation of all that made Bill so great – warm raspy vocals, sweet soulful production, mature songwriting, and just the right use of acoustic guitar to accent all the best elements in the music! Withers was already great before this record, but Still Bill really pushed him over the top – and made sure that generations to come would never tire of his genius. The arrangements are wonderful – with just the right sort of punch to hammer things home – yet still very far from commercial, and able to let all the acoustic elements of Bill's roots shine through. The record includes the massive "Lean On Me" – but we love it even more for the funky "Use Me", the slinky "Kissing My Love", the righteous "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)", and the always-great "Lonely Town Lonely Street". Menagerie is one of Bill Withers' greatest albums of the 70s – a set that has hip stepping off the acoustic sound of his Sussex records, into a warm and jazzy style that we like every bit as much as his earlier work! The album's got a wonderfully sophisticated jazzy vibe, and includes the excellent cut "Lovely Day" – a perfect midtempo track with some great electric keyboards behind Bill's raspy soulful voice, and a great hook on the chorus! Paul Riser handled a lot of the arrangements – and other titles include "Wintertime", "It Ain't Because Of Me Baby", "I Want To Spend The Night", and "Then You Smile At Me". Watching You is a sweet little 80s session from Bill Withers – a lot less acoustic than his soul of the 70s, but in a way that works surprisingly well! As always with Bill, the vocals are the main thing, and the passage of time has done nothing to take off his edge – that warmly raspy quality that's instantly recognizable, and which comes through with all of its original charm – even amidst the smoother, more electric approach of the album's backings. There's a number of tracks on here that hit a mellow, midtempo groove that works quite well – and Bill did most of the production himself, with help from collaborators who include Ralph MacDonald, Michel Colombier, and Denny Diante. Titles include "Watching You Watching Me", "Oh Yeah", "Something That Turns You On", "You Try To Find A Love", "We Could Be Sweet Lovers", and "Heart In Your Life".

A bit blues, a bit soul, and a great document of some under-recorded talents in the Memphis scene at the start of the 70s! The album's got a grittier sound than usual for Hi Records – and shows that at some levels in Memphis, there were still artists carrying the heavier sounds of a decade before – music that's a lot rougher and more unbridled than the sorts of more popular Memphis soul that was fast becoming the stuff of chart hits. The whole thing's a much-needed look at this side of the southern scene – and titles include "Please Don't Leave", "You Better Mind", and "Miss Betty Green" by Big Lucky; "Dog Man", "I'm Gone", and "Going To Vietnam" by Big Amos; and "Please Accept My Love" and "Stormy Monday Blues" by Donald Hines. CD version features nearly twice the music as the original album – with more cuts by each of the above artists – plus addition of cuts by Joe Lee Carter that include "Please Mr Forman", "As The Years Go Passing By", "I Can't Stand It", and "Let Me Know".

A great mix of R&B and reggae – a hip early album from The Cool Notes – a UK group who never broke that big on our shores, but who have a sound that's held up well over the years! The rhythms here are often in a midtempo mode, with some Jamaican echoes – and the lead vocals are often backed up with lots of harmonies that more than live up to the group's name. Production is never too polished – which helps keep the album away from any too-commercial reggae-flavored crossover work of the period – and titles include "Travelling", "I Forgot How To Love You", "Rich Man Poor Man", "The Second Time Around", "Save A Little Love", "No More Wars", and "Brixton Town". Bonus tracks include "Blown It", "Morning Child (12" version)", "I Forgot How To Love You (orig 1980 disco version)", and "Jah Lovely Jah Wonderful Jah Marvelous".

One of Patti's excellent (and rare) soul albums for Capitol from the late 60s – proof that the uptown sound could come out of the Windy City! The album's got a great bouncy Chicago 60s soul approach – with that sort of pop swing feel that a lot of the Chi-town female singers were laying down at the time, less "little girl" than before, and with a sophisticated groove that really opened up the material. Titles include "Baby I Just Don't Feel It", "Without A Doubt", "Pee Wee", "I Get A Funny Feeling", and her great cover of "Workin On A Groovy Thing".

Great stuff from Latimore – possibly the king of the Miami soul scene of the 70s! The record's got him moving away from the blusier sound of his earlier days – in keeping with the direction he started on his second album – and it's got a lot of great electric piano riffing, plus guitar by Little Beaver. Features the nice cut "Keep the Home Fire Burnin" – a message cut about how if you run around town using your "log" to start other fires, you won't have anything left to burn when you get home! Other titles include "Qualified Man", "Are You Where You Wanna Be", and "She Don't Ever Lose Her Groove".

Teddy Pendergrass – we love you! This is one of Mr. P's greatest albums of smooth mellow soul – recorded after he left Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and began working in a wonderfully warm solo style that had a huge influence on male vocal soul for years to come! The sound here is tremendous – nearly perfect all the way through, with a great balance between class, sophistication, and soul – clearly an indication that Teddy made the right move by going on his own. The record features the classic "The Whole Town's Laughing At Me", plus lots of other nice material like "Be Sure", "Somebody Told Me", "You Can't Hide From Yourself", "Easy Easy Got To Take It Easy", and "The More I Get The More I Want".

The Staple Singers are cooking on all burners at this point – and it's hard to stop them with that much power – a soaring, searing sort of energy that definitely earns them a place in the sky! The set's a totally strong batch of gospelly soul tracks – produced by Al Bell with that great early 70s Stax deep soul sound – at a point that's still without the sort of cliche that might hold back material of this type in later years. Instrumentation is by Clayton Ivey on Hammond, Barry Beckett on keyboards, and Jimmy Johnson and Eddie Hinton on guitar – and titles include "Getting Too Big For Your Britches", "Today Was Tomorrow Yesterday", "Something Ain't Right", "My Main Man", "Blood Pressure", "Who Made The Man", "Back Road Into Town", and "If It Ain't One Thing It's Another".

Neither country, nor disco – despite what the cover might make you think – and instead a wonderful batch of southern soul that's even rootsier than most of the work from the 70s on the TK label! The album was actually recorded in Chicago with arrangements by Gene Barge – who used to do some pretty great work for Chess – and has a sound that's laidback and mellow, but often in ways that are very different than other Windy City soul of the 70s. In a way, the shift follows that great migratory pattern from the south up to Chi-town at the time – where Lee's groove was always popular in the clubs – and by that, we mean the smaller neighborhood joints, and hardly ever a disco at all! Titles include "We're Gonna Make It", "Me & My Woman", "I'm Willing", "The Love You Saved", and "I Think It's You".

A massive tribute to the genius of soul in the Windy City – a wonderful compilation that really gets at the special sound Chicago brought into play during the early years of soul! The set is filled with key cuts from the Chi-town scene of the time – some of them lesser-known that the famous hits always associated with our hometown – and beautifully selected to really capture a moment when soul music was first starting to come together as a style! You can definitely hear roots from Chicago blues, gospel, and R&B in the cuts – but they're definitely all soul, all the way through – a killer batch of nuggets that manages to offer up fresh bits from some big names, and uncover some great cuts by some less familiar folks. The package features full track-by-track notes on the tunes by Bill Dahl – and titles include "Tragic" by The Sheppards, "At The Party "by Wade Flemons, "Hi Diddley Dee Dum Dum" By The Dells, "Tell Him" by The Drew-Vels, "I've Got A Girl" by Major Lance, "Senorita I Love You" by The Impressions, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" by Don & Bob, "My Heart Cries" by Etta & Harvey, "Isle Of Sirens" by Jerry Butler, "Enchanted Garden" by The Accents, "You've Got A Great Love" by The Chanteurs, "Father Knows Best" by The Radiants, "Let Em Try" by Rosco Gordon, "Behind The Curtains" by Jan Bradley, and "Puppy Love" by Barbara Lewis.

A wonderful collection that brings together two vintage compilations on the legendary Minit label – more than enough work to make a really heavy-hitting CD! The first 12 tracks on the set are from the excellent We Sing The Blues collection, issued by Minit in the early 60s – and a package that features a lot more soul than you'd guess from the "blues" in the title! The collection features some of the best up and coming talents working in the Crescent City at the time – artists who helped shift the R&B sound of the 50s into the New Orleans soul groove that would grow tremendously in the 60s – and who sound great here in a batch of tracks that includes some great lesser-known numbers. New Orleans Our Home Town is a similar package, but one that features a bit more R&B too – older 50s tracks issued on Imperial, mixed with some of the more modern New Orleans soul that was showing up on Minit. CD features a whopping 25 tracks in all – including "The Power Of Love" by Willie Harper, "Te Ta Te Ta Ta" by Ernie K Doe, "Moanin & Screamin (parts 1 & 2)" by Diamond Joe, "Oogsey Moo" by Jessie Hill, "Green Door" by Eskew Reeder, "It Will Stand" by The Showmen, "Let's Live" by Aaron Neville, "You're The One" by The Spiders, "I Didn't Want To Do It" by The Spiders, "Two Winters Long" by Irma Thomas, "Walking To New Orleans" by Fats Domino, "I'm Gone" by Shirley & Lee, and "A Certain Girl" by Ernie K Doe.

The rare second album from Bobby Boyd – a set that's even more soulful than his first, and which is filled with funky gems! Boyd's vocals are wonderful – tight, but with an earnest quality that almost pushes him more towards a Bill Withers vibe than some of the other funky singers of the time – a great change next to the tight combo instrumentation of the record. Tunes are almost all upbeat and funky – and the mixture of Boyd's warmth with the sharp grooves really makes for a rich sound overall – a record that should have, could have been huge – were it issued at the time – but which is finally seeing the light of day now, in this well-done full length production from Vadim! Titles include "Ain't What You Know", "Why Are You Cryin", "Good Woman", "Girl I Can Feel Ya", "On This Side Of Town", and "Let Bygones By Bygones" – plus the instrumental "The Happy Hooker", produced by Harvey Fuqua, and which seems to actually be the Nite Liters' song/version, oddly tucked into this album!

One of the coolest, grooviest cats who ever cut a record – an an artist with a really unique conception at the time of these recordings! Roy Porter got his start as a drummer during the bebop years, and worked hard on the LA scene of the R&B and soul scenes of the 50s and 60s – but to us, his crowning achievement is these amazing funk sides of the early 70s – amazingly complex, but right on the money too – and a whole new kind of music that's impossible to describe in words! Roy mixes funky drums with lots of cool jazzy changes – keyboard lines, horn parts, and bass bits that have the frenzy you might find in fusion, yet come across with the down-to-earth vibe of a funky 45 – a killer blend that goes way past jazz, and even most straight funk too – as you'll hear in this sweet little set. The package brings together all the best tracks from these key Porter years – and titles include "Jessica" and "Panama" in both vocal and instrumental versions, plus "Wow", "Funny Feelin", "Funky Twitch", "Love You", "Hense Forth", "Out On The Town Tonight", "Givin Me The Blues", "Waver-ing", "Party Time", and "Hip City". CD features the bonus track "Drums For Daryl".

Blue-eyed soul from Boz Scaggs, with a decidedly Philly influenced sound to the production, which we'd hazard a guess comes more from the Hall & Oates side of town than the Sigma Sound axis. Still, this is a solid album with the irresistible hit "Lowdown", still a favorite around these parts. Also includes "Lido Shuffle", "Harbor Lights", "Jump Street" and "What Do You Want The Girl To Do".

A great set of old school funky numbers – the kind of indie soul 45s that first helped define the sound of rare groove back in the 80s – still as brilliantly bumping all these many years later! Most tracks here are from small label 45s of the early 70s – tracks that weren't issued on LP, and were often by artists who didn't ever even get to cut full albums – but who hit some great underground fame for their sharp grooves and wicked approach to instrumentation and vocals! The set's got loads of classics we've loved for years, but which haven't been reissued often in recent sets – cuts that include "Mr Brown" by African Music Machine, "It's Your Thing" by Toddlin Town Sounds, "Keep On Dancing" by Alvin Cash, "Somebody Help The Beggar Man" by Jackie Beavers, "Right On Jody" by Bobby Patterson, "Gossip" by Cyril Neville, "Good Book" by The 8th Day, "Close Your Big Mouth" by The Politicians, "Hunk O Funk" by Scott Brothers Orchestra, "Ace In The Hole" by Honey Cone, "Miss Funky Fox" by Exit 9, "Gotta Get Away" by Harolyn Montgomery, and "Know What To Do When You Get It" by The Genies.

Socking soul from the 60s – a record with American roots and a very groovy British sound! The set was the second full length album from Madeline Bell – an American singer transplanted to the mod UK scene of the 60s, where she really flourished in a rich career of hit singles, endless session work, and later fame with the group Blue Mink. The tunes on this set are a wonderful bridge between Madeline's two worlds – and have a sound that's a lot like the uptown soul coming out of the US at the time – sweet and smooth arrangements, topped by deeper soul vocals that make for a wonderful juxtaposition. Arrangements are by British talents Arthur Greenslade, Ian Green, and Keith Mansfield – and titles include "Step Inside Love", "Hold It", "Help Yourself", "After All Is Said & Done", "For Your Pleasure", and "It's Up To You". CD features bonus singles too – 6 more tracks that include "Thinkin", "Go Ahead On", "How Much I Do Love You", "What'm I Supposed To Do", and "We're So Much In Love".

A pivotal album for the group – released at a time when Black Ivory, like so many other east coast vocal groups, was making the transition away from an older sweet soul style to a more sophisticated club vocal sound. The group's producing themselves here – and we're guessing that most of the real work is being done by Leroy Burgess, although Patrick Adams still appears to be working with the group on the string and horn arrangements – giving things just the right sort of underground disco twist to make things groove! The record includes the great club track "Walking Downtown (Saturday Night)", a longtime fave around Chicago – plus "White Wind", "Making Love In My Mind", "Could This Be Magic", "Longer Ride", and "Can't You See".

A post-Blue Note effort, and Donald's changing things up a bit with his 125th Street Orchestra and Uptown Singers – funking along in a way you'd expect from the longwinded title! Byrd loostens up the smoother backgrounds of his recent Larry Mizell helmed work, and in their place are grooves that have more of a heavy slap bass sound, punchier horns and guitars! There are lotes nice moments that are a bit more restrained than the comparably full-on funk approach – and these have a spacey fusiony soul quality that reminds us of similar work that Byrd was doing with The Blackbyrds at the time. One of the best cuts is "Your Life Is My Ecstasy", which has some great bubbling Moog behind it, which creates a sound that you've heard sampled famously by Tribe Called Quest. Other nice ones are "Loving You", which features vocals by Jim Gilstrap, and a remake of Duke Pearson's "Cristo Redentor", a big hit for Don in the 60s, which is redone here in an excellent slow funk mode that feels like Bob James' work on CTI. Others include "Have You Heard The News", "In Love With Love" and "Close Your Eyes And Look Within".

A tremendous solo act from GC Cameron – a singer who first rose to fame in The Spinners, but who really sounds wonderful on his own! GC's moved away from The Spinners here – into a wide range of styles that show him ready to take on most of the rest of the competition! He's working here with the best of the best of Motown – production from Stevie Wonder and Willie Hutch – and arrangements by both, plus Paul Riser, Gene Page, James Carmichael, and Frank Wilson – all of whom really give their best to the record, and show that Motown was putting plenty of effort into making GC one of the next big stars of the 70s. We're not sure why things never took off as strongly for Cameron, but whatever the case, the album's a great step for the solo artist – on cuts that include "If You Don't Love Me", "Tippin", "All In Love Is Fair", "If You're Ever Gonna Love Me", "Come Get This Thang", "I'm Gonna Give You Respect", and "Let Me Down Easy". CD features an insane amount of bonus tracks – 13 more tracks that include "Act Like A Shotgun", "Girl I Really Love You", "I'm Gonna Get You (parts 1 & 2)", "Don't Wanna Play Pajama Games", "You Are That Special One", "Have I Lost You", "Time", "Topics", and "No Matter Where".

Totally great work from Chris Clark – a real surprise, given that we haven't really heard the singer since her Motown records of the 60s! Chris sounds wonderful here – every bit as soulful as before, but even more deeply expressive – yet in ways that aren't hokey or overdone at all. "Dream Or Cry" is a really wonderful tune – done with horns that almost have a Hi Records sort of vibe, and this warmly bubbling groove that pushes Clark even farther than before! That approach is repeated nicely on "Hang It Up" – then Chris steps into mellower territory with "Sleepin" – a really nice ballad with a gentle, almost jazzy vibe.

An album that definitely lives up to the title promised by The Commodores – a record that takes all their raw funky energy of the early years, and fuses it into a new groove that would catapult the sextet to superstardom! The sound is commercial, but still has a pretty fresh sort of feel too – that quality the group brought to their work when breaking down so many boundaries in mainstream music – and finding fans in corners that few other funk groups might have touched! There's plenty of upbeat funk tracks in the mix, and even the mellower moments are still balanced nicely enough to avoid any of the cliches that Lionel Richie might have had during his solo years. Titles include "Why You Wanna Try Me", "This Love", "Been Loving You", "Lucy", "Saturday Night", "Lady (You Bring Me Up)", and "Oh No".

The love jams, slow grooving ballads, and easy like Sunday morning sounds of The Commodores – a most deserving combo for an entry in Motown/Universal compilation series of Love Songs! 12 of the greatest, biggest hits and lesser remembered, but still completely lovable Commodores numbers in a single set. As is the case with this kind of set, it's easy to pick out omissions, but we're feeling the love for the numbers that made the cut. Includes "Easy", "Sweet Love", "Just To Be Close To You", "Only You", "Old-Fashioned Love", "Wonderland", "Lovin' You", "Oh No", "Three Times A Lady", "The Woman In My Life" and "Still".

A wonderful album from this enigmatic soul group! Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose were one of a handful of early 70s groups – like Chairmen Of The Board or 100 Proof Aged In Soul – who had a sound that was incredibly hard to peg. There were bits of southern rawness in the vocals, but the overall approach also had plenty of elements of smoother Northern Soul, and wasn't afraid to use strings or uptown arrangements when they were needed. This album's their best, and features 10 tracks written by Eddie Cornelius, plus a great little cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together". Tracks include the sublime easy soul number "Too Late To Turn Back Now", choppy odd groover "Treat Her Like A Lady", and the cuts "Gonna Be Sweet For You", "Let Me Down Easy", and "Lift Your Love Higher".

A stone pop soul winner from DeBarge – the kind of record that made the group a heck of a lot of money back in the 80s, and which sounds surprisingly great to our ears today! The record features lots of electro arrangements – fuzzy keyboards and bass pedals grooving around in a way that's got traces of "street" electro, mixed with some super-smooth LA production, and used brilliantly by the group in a family-based pop harmony way that stretches back to some of the great 70s groups of the same style – like The Sylvers or the Stairsteps. A heck of a lot nicer than we remember, and pretty great all the way through – with tracks that include "I Like It", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "All This Love", "I'm In Love With You", "Can't Stop", "It's Getting Stronger", and "Life Begins With You".

A stone pop soul winner from DeBarge – the kind of record that made the group a heck of a lot of money back in the 80s, and which sounds surprisingly great to our ears today! The record features lots of electro arrangements – fuzzy keyboards and bass pedals grooving around in a way that's got traces of "street" electro, mixed with some super-smooth LA production, and used brilliantly by the group in a family-based pop harmony way that stretches back to some of the great 70s groups of the same style – like The Sylvers or the Stairsteps. A heck of a lot nicer than we remember, and pretty great all the way through – with tracks that include "I Like It", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "All This Love", "I'm In Love With You", "Can't Stop", "It's Getting Stronger", and "Life Begins With You".

Fantastic soul from Lamont Dozier – his first LP as a solo artist, and one of the best debuts of the 70s! The record has a quality that's impossible to describe accurately – but it's kind of a post-Motown full-on approach to soul that mixes strings, piano, and that wall of sound groove that was one of Dozier's biggest contributions to the Motor City. Surprisingly, the album's produced by McKinley Jackson – leader of The Politicians, who provided regular backing for Dozier's HDH productions of the time. The real strength, though, is Dozier's voice – which is produced here in a compressed way that brings up the better raspy qualities of his style, juxtaposing them with the tightness of the arrangements in a mode that's similar to Bobby Womack's work of the time. However, Dozier's songwriting is way way better than Womack's by this point – and the album's filled with anthemic soul cuts like "Fish Aint' Bitin", "Out Here On My Own", "Take Off Your Make Up", "Trying To Hold Onto My Woman", and "Let Me Make Love To You".

A great lost bit of mid 70s Motown – a pair of should-be classic albums by Dynamic Superiors – in a single set! Dynamic Superiors were a great harmony group with an east coast sound – quite different from the usual Motown combo in that their vocals were often allowed very free range, with less of the tightness of the usual Motown group soul album. Ashford & Simpson produced the record – with arrangements by Leon Pendarvis, Richard Tee, and Arthur Jenkins – and the whole thing's a sweet soul treasure that's got some excellent mellow soul cuts! Titles from the self-titled set include "One Nighter", "Don't Send Nobody Else", "Shoe Shoe Shine", "Star of My Life", and "Leave It Alone". Pure Pleasure is another sweet set – arranged with a bit more of a high stepping groove than some of the other Motown work of the time. Backings are handled by a range of talents that includes Paul Riser, William Eaton, Al Gorgoni, and Horace Ott – but the real charm is the way the group's innocent harmony style puts over the lyrics, all of which are very strong tunes written by the team of Ashford & Simpson. Titles include "Face The Music", "Hit & Run Lovers", "Deception", "Pleasure", "Nobody's Gonna Change Me", "Feeling Mellow", "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", and "Don't Give Up On Me Baby".

Sweet group soul from The Dynamic Superiors – one of the few late 70s comers who still held onto that great falsetto lead that was big in the earlier part of the decade! The album does a great job of mixing funky numbers with sweeter, mellower cuts – in ways that also kind of bridge the group soul modes a record like this represents – some of the gentler sounds of the indie generation, and that growing dancefloor concentration of bigger labels in the late 70s. Throughout it all, the Superiors hold their own nicely – and titles include "All In Love Is Fair", "Happy Song", "Give It All Up", "Here Comes That Feeling Again", "Nowhere To Run", "You're What I Need", and "Once Is Just Not Enough". CD features three bonus tracks – parts 1 and 2 of "Nowhere To Run (US single edit)" – and "You're What I Need (US single edit)".

2 early 70s sessions from Billy Eckstine – both recorded for Stax Records! First up is Senior Soul – a well-titled set not only given Billy's age, but also because of the surprisingly soulful undercurrent to the record – an extension into the genre even greater than Eckstine's previous recordings for Motown – and proof that he was really trying to stretch out towards new audiences at the time! Artie Butler handled the backings, and he uses a groove that's pretty full, but never overwhelming – more ebullient soul than some of Eckstine's more familiar jazz – with backing vocals and bright horns, yet still plenty of space for Billy to do his thing. The best numbers have Eckstine coming across with the 70s cool of Grady Tate on his vocal sides – and titles include "Thank You For The Moment", "A Song For You", "A Man Who Sings", "Today Was Tomorrow Yesterday", "I Believe In Music", and "Living Like A Gypsy". If She Walked Into My Life is extremely compelling stuff – and you've really got to give Billy credit for reinventing himself like this! The album features Billy's deep deep voice amidst arrangements by Artie Butler, Jimmy Jones, Mike Melvoin, and Billy Byers – sort of a blend of Grady Tate sophisti-jazz, and Scott Walker baroque, with a moody mellow sound that would make either of them proud. Titles include "The Taste Of My Tears", "I Am Yours", "Maybe This Time", "The Very Thought Of You", and "All In Love Is Fair".

Modern rock/funk, with sort of a New York downtown sound, and touches of the 80's days at Celluloid. The group has electric funky basslines, and some guest keyboards on tracks by Bernie Worrell, but the sound is mostly avant rock funk, instead of straight-on funky stuff. Tracks include "Flash", "Oricinal Cin-Dee", "Voices", "Can You Dig It", and "New Rage".

Rock 'n' soul from South Africa's The Flames – their '67 set Burning Soul and '68's Soultime – on a single CD! Burning Soul wasn't the group's first album, but it's the first featuring vocalist Blondie Chapman, who helped steer the group's more rocking roots to a sound more indebted to classic Motown and Atlantic soul! They do keep a nice undercurrent of rock & roll, though,and this is a nice little set with some really groovy covers. Titles include "You Got It Made", "Stop, Look And Listen", "Knock On Wood", "Hold On I'm Coming", "Purple Haze" and more. Soultime has a pretty cool mix of straighter late 60s style soul-rock with a bit of trippy psyche influences in the mix. At this point, the group reminds us a little bit of Soul Survivors and some of the acts on Dunwich – and the bass-heavy groove of the tracks is really wonderful. Titles include "Lost", "If You Think You're Groovy", "I Was Made To Love Her", "Useless Illusions", "Restless", "Wishes", and "Solitude".

A stone classic from Flaming Ember – a combo with a sound rooted in rock, but filled with plenty of soul too – making they a key funky crossover act in the early 70s! These guys borrow the best of Motown soul and the best of the jazzier rock groups of the time – and often use lots of raw congas in with their percussion – which keeps things grooving with plenty of soulful inflections. There's some nice psych production at times – a bit like the best Norman Whitfield modes at the start of the 70s – and titles include "Flashbacks & Reruns", "The Empty Crowded Room", "Going In Circles", "Westbound #9", "Spinning Wheel", and "Shades Of Green". CD features three bonus tracks – "Filet De Soul", "Don't You Wanna Wanna", and "Desert Village".

Given that Atlantic's big claim to fame with Aretha was that they took her from being a supper club jazz singer and made her a hard soul act, we've always been a bit surprised at the way they chose to hook her up with some Bacharach tunes after her first few sides – giving her a classier uptown sound to mix with the deeper southern style that broke her out big. This album's a great example of how Aretha can mix the two styles – as it features the title rendition of "This Girl's In Love With You", and great versions of "Dark End Of The Street" and "Sit Down & Cry", and the sublime "Call Me", which is a perfect blend of the two styles in one song. And oddly, the "classier" material was recorded down in Miami, Atlantic's new home for soul in the south.

One of the darkest records to ever come out of the Detroit soul scene! As you might guess from the title, the album is Funkadelic's first – and it's a swirling mass of psychedelic guitars, echoey drums, and bass-heavy riffing, all topped off by the band's harmony vocals, which sound like a perversion of the deep-Motown styles of groups like The Temptations or Undisputed Truth – taken into even headier territory! The original 5-member version of the group includes Eddie Hazel, Mickey Atkins, Tawl Ross, Bill Nelson, and Tiki Fulwood – all working here with some mindblowing George Clinton production! Tracks include classics like "I Bet You", "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic", "Music for My Mother", and "What Is Soul" – and the album's the stuff that made these guys a legend right out of the box!

Soaring soul from The Futures – a Philly group who'd already worked for years in the underground before cracking the racks with this debut LP in 1975 – schooled strongly in their best vocal modes from previous singles, and ready to unleash the best side of their sound on the world! The set's got a perfectly put-together style that's much more like some of the Philly vocal work on Atlantic of Philadelphia International at the time – although also not as commercial, thanks to a righteous undercurrent in the group's presentation and overall aesthetic – hinted at by their image on the cover! Arrangements are by David Van DePitte and Wade Marcus, who also echo a bit of Detroit styles too – particularly the righteous blend of The Temptations towards the end of their Motown years. The Futures are equally great on mellow cuts and stormers – and titles include Castles", "Do Unto Others", "Ninety Days (In The House Of Love Correction)", "I Had A Dream", "Love Will Be Around Forever", and "Super Love". Plus, the CD features 7 bonus tracks – duets with Barbara Mason on "We Got Each Other" and "Make It Last" – plus "No One Could Compare", "Grade A Woman", "The Way Of A Woman In Love", "Castles (single version)", and "You Better Be Certain".

Marvin Marvin Marvin – just when we thought you couldn't impress us any more, you took it to the next level! Trouble Man is a heck of a wonderful surprise from an artist that most folks really only knew as a singer – a fantastically funky blacksploitation soundtrack, conceived and composed by Marvin himself – and served up with some occasional vocals that work beautifully with the album's cool instrumental grooves! The set's easily one of Gaye's most righteous records ever – almost a second chapter to What's Going On, but more instrumental – and like that classic set, it really shows the whole new range of vision that Marvin was able to work in the studio. Gaye gets a bit of arranging help on some tracks from Gene Page and JJ Johnson – and the album's filled with great cuts – including the landmark "T Plays It Cool", plus other gems like "Don't Mess With Mister T", "Main Theme From Trouble Man", "The Break In", and "T Stands For Trouble". Very funky, very sophisticated, and very soulful!

The sublime second album from The Glass House – even rarer than the group's first, and an overlooked gem in the Holland-Dozier-Holland treasure box of the early 70s! There's a sweetness here that you don't always find on other H-D-H projects – a touch of harmony soul that really makes the album come off with a great deal of charm, even though there's plenty of Invictus Records force in the grooves – that great post-Motown sound that the label pioneered as the second generation of Detroit soul. Arrangements are by McKinley Jackson and HB Barnum – and the album's filled with great titles that include "Horse & Rider", "House Is Not A Home", "VIP", "Thanks I Needed That", "Don't Let It Rain On Me", and "Giving Up The Ring". CD features three bonus tracks – "Playing Games", "Let It Flow (single)", and the Scherrie Payne solo track "It Ain't The World".

A pair of late 70s Motown gems from Cuba Gooding – back to back on a single CD! The well-titled 1st Cuba Gooding Album is his first project on his own, done after a classic stretch in the Main Ingredient! Gooding's working here with help from Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter – the hit 70s soul team who really help him find a great new groove on his own – a sound that's rooted in the sweeter vocal modes of The Main Ingredient, but which has a sparklingly sophisticated quality of its own! The music is mature and upbeat – a bit like some of David Ruffin or Eddie Kendricks' solo work of the 70s – and nearly all tunes here are originals by Potter and Lambert. Titles include "Fool Of The Year", "Mind Pleaser", "Hold On To What You Got", "All I Can Give You Is Love", and "As Long As There's You". Love Dancer is a tremendous solo outing from Cuba Gooding – a record that not only shows his strength as a lead singer away from The Main Ingredient – but one that also shows that he really knows how to groove as well! The album's produced by Michael Smith, and has a vibe that's a bit different than Gooding's previous Motown record – with some tunes that have a wonderfully rich clubby sort of sparkle – and some even nicer mellow moments that really unlock that mature potential Gooding always had in his vocals – that smooth-stepping sound he'd really bring to the forefront when returning to The Main Ingredient in the 80s. Titles include the great mellow groover "I'm Yours Now" – plus "Hey The Party's In Here", "Disco Royale", "Trust Me", "Tell Me How Long It's Been", and "Running Man".

Mainstream disco more along the Peter Brown axis than the Patrick Adams side of the New York/New Jersey sound, which is more than okay by us! This is an early outing from Gino Soccio, working here alongside Peter Alves and recruiting the Muscle Shoals Horns, with a sound that is a bit more uptempo and more direct club mode than some of Soccio's more 80s groove work. And though the record was produced in Muscle Shoals and Soccio's Montreal home, the vibe is up to the Gotham location in the group's moniker, pure downtown disco all the way! 4 numbers spread out over a 2 12" singles: "I'm Never Gonna :eave You (New York)", "Can't Turn You Loose", "Love The Love", and "Try A Little Tenderness".

Post-Motown magic from the team of Holland-Dozier-Holland – a killer collection of their initial work for the Invictus label, including some of Lamont Dozier's greatest solo material! The set is smoking all the way through – a real high-point in 70s soul, with cuts that have gone onto be underground classics over the years – the kind of music we started Dusty Groove just to help promote! Lamont's vocals are tremendous, and even the instrumental tracks cook brilliantly too – thanks to a sharp punch that the trio never had this well back at Motown – kind of a 70s refinement of their previous groove, with a sound that's completely sublime all the way through. Titles include "Can't Get Enough", "New Breed Kinda Woman", "I'm So Glad", "Super Woman", "Where Did We Go Wrong", "Lady By Day", "Don't Leave Me Starving For Your Love (parts 1 & 2)", and both vocal and instrumental versions of the killer "Don't Leave Me".

Pre-Motown work from Brenda Holloway – a host of rare west coast sides recorded for indie labels like Class, Donna, and Era! The package offers up an amazing look at this early point in Holloway's career – and shows a sound that's surprisingly right in line with her better-known Motown recordings – already very well-developed vocal lines that show a great degree of class, while still swinging out with a hell of a lot of soul! The styles are a bit more varied than in later years, but in a good way – showing Brenda to be quite a versatile singer, yet really holding onto her sense of self, no matter what the groove. There's great notes, photos, and label scans in the booklet – and the set includes material recorded under Holloway's own name, plus projects with other groups too. Titles include "I'll Give My Life", "Constant Love", "Suddenly", "Hey Fool", "Echo", "The Nursery", "Every Little Bit Hurts", "You're My Only Love", "I Never Knew You Looked So Good", "I Ain't Gonna Take You Back", and "Gonna Make You Mine".

Fantastic! This is the kind of soul that we still collect vinyl for and are all the more thrilled to see officially reissued by careful curators such as those at Kent UK! Freddie Hughes is one of the great lost voices of the 60s, and this sparkling album of soulful tunes is a real gem – loaded up here with incredible bonus tracks recorded in earlier duo sessions! He's not the same singer as the Freddie Hughes from Chicago – and he hailed from San Francisco, a very unlikely source for such great soul music. The session was recorded with Lonnie Hewitt (Cal Tjader's funky piano player) in SF – but it's got that perfect New York Wand/Scepter "deep soul meets uptown" sound. The tracks are mostly written by Hughes or Hewitt – and they are all pretty amazing, filled with hooks that just don't quit, and some heartbreaking verses that match the work of writers like Curtis Mayfield or Garland Green. Titles include "Send My Baby Back", "He's No Good", "Tonight I'm Gonna See My Baby", "You're My Everything", "Natural Man" (the Aretha classic remodeled for a male perspective) and "I Gotta Keep My Bluff In" and bonus tracks "Love Can't Be Understood" and "My Baby Came Back". Earlier in the decade, Freddie sang in San Francisco duos Casanova II with Wylie Trass and The Soul Brothers with Ken Pleasants. This CD includes "Maybe They're Right", "Love's Philosophy", "I Was A Fool" and "We Got To Keep On" by Casanova II, plus "Let Our Love Go On", "Love's Philosophy" (Pts 1 & 2), "Where's My Baby" and more by The Soul Brothers, many previously unreleased. One more bonus track: "Do The Philly" on the Music City label, credited to The Music City All Stars.

A monster! Foxy Brown is Willie Hutch's magnificent soundtrack for Foxy Brown – a Pam Grier blacksploitation film from the early 70s – and it's pure genius all the way through, a record filled with some of the best funky soundtrack cuts of the era! Willie's got a real Curtis Mayfield sound here – with a dope mixture of full orchestrations and heavy funk, guitar riffing away as drums snap tightly across the album's best rhythms! Includes the classic funky numbers "Ain't That Mellow Mellow" and "Give Me Some of that Good Old Love" – plus "Whatever You Do", "Foxy Lady", "You Sure Know How To Love Your Man", "Theme Of Foxy Brown", "Out There", and "Chase".

Super-dope work from Willie – a great selection of laidback and electric grooves, done here with plenty of great work on hollow-body electric guitar, which adds a nice raspiness to the instrumentation, and creates the same sort of vibe you'd hear on Willie's best soundtrack work. The record's got a great cover of "I Wanna Be Where You Are", plus Willie's originals "If You Ain't Got No Money, You Can't Get No Honey", "California My Way", the sample classic "Tell Me Why Has Our Love Tuned Cold", "Ain't Nothing Like Togetherness", "Sunshine Lady" and more.

One of the nicer Willie Hutch albums on Motown – a killer batch of heavy and funky tracks that evoke some of his soundtrack work from the same time – as well as a more hard grooving album-oriented approach! Willie arranged and produced, and there's lots of nice moogy and guitary bits – plus sweet backup chorus vocals and a few more soaring elements – making this one a cool mix of grittier grooves, stranger textures and a few softer touches. Titles include "Get Ready For The Get Down", "Don't You Let Nobody Tell You How To Do Your Thing", "I'm Gonna Stay", "Mark Of The Beast", "Woman You Touched Me" and "Life's No Fun Living In the Ghetto".

An excellent soul album from the great Willie Hutch! The record's got more of a vocal focus than some of Willie's other albums – and his rich voice is perfectly set up in some sweet and soulful arrangements that have a full sound and a classy finish, but still a raw edge that keeps things exciting. Willie arranged and produced the whole thing, again proving that he was one of the freshest talents at Motown during the 70s. Includes the Little Beaver-esque dope guitar cut "Ode To My Lady", plus "Party Down", "Love Power", "Talk To Me", "(I'm Gonna) Hold On", "You Gotta Give Love Up", and "Love Me Back".

Sweet funky soul from the great Willie Hutch – best known to most as the composer of the fantastic soundtracks for Foxy Brown and The Mack, but a heck of a great soul artist in his own right, with a wealth of great albums from the 70s! Willie's got a sweet raspy vocal style that's really great, and on many tracks, he plays some dope guitar, in the manner of Little Beaver on his slicker albums. Titles on this set include "Brothers Gonna Work It Out", "Get Ready For The Get Down", "If You Ain't Got No Money", "Sunshine Lady", "Theme Of Foxy Brown", "Party Down", "I'll Be There", "Slick", and "Love Power". 14 tracks in all!

Forget Tina Turner – we'll take Ike's backup singers, who sound great all the way through this collection! The Ikettes may never have had the fame of Tina, but back in the early and mid 60s, they were actually scoring a few more hits – and these recordings for the Modern label represent the group at their height – stepping firmly into righteous soul territory, shaking off any girl group cliches, and avoiding any of the stereotypes that could sometimes mar Ike Turner's projects. There's a really special sound here – one that's got bits of Motown, bits of R&B, and bits of Northern Soul – all wrapped together perfectly and delivered with sock-solid vocals from singers Robbie Montgomery, Jessie Smith, and Venetta Fields. The CD features all the material from the girls' full album for Modern – Soul The Hits – plus loads of other singles and even some unissued tracks! Titles include "Fine Fine Fine", "Camel Walk", "Sally Go Round The Roses", "Cheater", "You're Trying To Make Me Lose My Mind", "I'm So Thankful", "Don't Feel Sorry For Me", "Can't Sit Down Cos I Feel So Good", "Lonely For You", "Sha La La", "It's Been So Long", and "Nobody Loves Me".

Two early 70s gems from The Impressions – back to back on a single CD! Preacher Man is heavy soul from the early 70s version of the group – put together with all the same depth as Curtis Mayfield's work of the time! This time around, Rich Tufo is at the helm on production and arrangements – but he continues to wave the Curtom flag high with some wonderfully put-together backings that mix swirling strings and heavy funk, all in support of some very message-oriented lyrics! Tufo also penned most of the tracks on the set, and has a great ear for bringing the new politics of the 70s into play with the sweeter soul harmonies of the group's earlier years – still carried strong by original group members Sam Gooden and Fred Cash. Titles include "Find The Way", "Preacher Man", "What It Is", "Simple Message", "Thin Line", and "Color Us All Gray (I'm Lost)". Finally Got Myself Together is a great little album by The Impressions – possibly their best of the 70s! The record's got a very solid harmony soul approach, and Lowrell Simon wrote and produced a number of tracks with Rich Tufo – giving the album the same sweet sexy sound that he brought to his best solo records, and his late work with The Lost Generation! The best example of this is the fantastic soul cut "We Go Back A Ways", a sweet mellow groover in the Leroy Hutson vein, and one of their standout cuts in the post-Curtis days. Ed Townsend worked on a number of other cuts, too, and he brings a real tightness to the songwriting – especially on the cuts "Guess What I Got", "Try Me (One More Time)", and "I'm A Changed Man".

60s Chicago soul doesn't get any better than this – a sublime debut from the legendary Walter Jackson – done in a smoothly sophisticated style that set a whole new standard for the genre! The record steps off nicely from some of the earliest work by Jerry Butler and The Impressions – blending Chicago soul with more adult-styled orchestrations from Riley Hampton – at a level that has Jackson sitting beautifully across a number of different modes at once – still appealing to the kids with the uptown groovers on the set, but also reaching to an older crowd with the beautiful ballads and heartbreaking love songs. The sound is incredible – easily one of the most fully realized full-length soul records on the Okeh label – and titles include "What Would You Do", "There Goes That Song Again", "I Don't Want To Suffer", "That's What Mama Say", and "It's All Over". CD adds in 10 more bonus tracks – most of which are previously unissued – making for an amazing collection that's one of the first time that Jackson's work at Okeh is finally getting its due! Bonus titles include "The Heartbreak Road", "Anything Can Happen", "Blue Rose", "Starting Tomorrow", "Don't Play With Love", "It's Hard To Believe", "You Gotta Give", and "Tell The World".

The cover's a bit gimmicky, but the album's a stone classic – a wicked later Motown moment from the Jackson 5 – and one that has them working with the super-grooving team of Holland-Dozier-Holland! Brian Holland handles production work for the team, and although his touches only appear on about half the record, he really helps the Jacksons hit that wickedly righteous groove that was the trademark HDH sound over that the Invictus label – a bassy, bottom-heavy Detroit sound with just a bit of psychedelic funk as well! Additional production is by Mel Larson & Jerry Marcellino – and titles include "Forever Came Today", "Moving Violation", "You Were Made Especially For Me", "Honey Love", "Body Language", "All I Do Is Think Of You", and "Breezy". CD also includes a bonus track – "Forever Came Today (disc-o-tech version)".

One of the all-time great Rick James albums – a return to funkier sounds for Rick that worked both artistically and commercially – and actually got over far better than his more blatant attempts at crossover material on other records! The mix here is perfect – a true summation of all that made Motown great at the time, and the special sort of energy that made Rick one of the freshest mainstream talents at the end of the 70s! The record put a lot of money in Barry Gordy's pockets, and for good reason too – given that the set includes the classic hit "Super Freak" – plus "Give It To Me Baby", "Ghetto Life", "Make Love To Me", "Below The Funk (Pass The J)", and "Fire & Desire" – all done in that compressed pop-funky style that James kind of took from Bootsy Collins and manage to successfully soup up for the masses!

A different sound than usual for Syl Johnson – but a record that still has loads of those amazing vocals we love from Syl! The style's mostly modern soul – with a tightness that's different from the grit of earlier Johnson albums – that mode in which other singers of the time were tightening up their bag too. The approach works especially well on the midtempo groovers – which have the bite of Johnson's vocals providing a great contrast tot he smoother grooves of the instrumentation – in ways that really deepen the feel of the tunes, but in ways that are very different than classic work from Syl. Titles include "Mystery Lady", "Blue Water", "Who's Gonna Love You", "You're The Star Of The Show", "Gimme Little Sign", and a 9 minute "Otis Redding Medley".

An excellent Quincy Jones score that stands head and shoulders above the soundtrack to the first film in this series, In The Heat Of The Night. Q is in fine fine form with this material – adding in a lot more funk than before, to fit the uptown theme of the film. There's lots of nice jazzy tracks on the record, and some tight funky ones that made the soundtrack virtually a blueprint for the blacksploitation sound of the 70s! Titles include "Soul Flower", "Call Me Mr. Tibbs", "Black Cherry", "Blues For Mr. Tibbs", and "Fat Poppadaddy".

A great one from Ben E King's "Supernatural" comeback years in the mid 70s – recorded at Sigma Sound with a really stellar approach on both the groovers and the mellow tunes! Ben's really letting his vocals open up on the set – going for that richness that was sometimes held back in the more uptown arrangements of the 60s, but which really flowers here in a fuller, richer, smooth soul mode. Arrangements are by Norman Harris, Bert De Coteaux, Ron Kersey, and Ron Baker – and the album's a great example of how the Sigma approach could take a great singer and make them even better! Titles include the Sam Dees tracks "I Betcha Didn't Know That", "Standing In The Wings Of Heartache", "No Danger Ahead", and "Tower Of Strength" – plus a great cover of Ashford & Simpson's "I Had A Love", and the cuts "Smooth Sailing", "We Got Love", and "Everybody Plays The Fool".

Very nice record of lost soul from LA, recorded for Hanna-Barbera, who are much better known as purveyors of cartoons, not music! We don't know much about Jean, but she's got a lovely voice, and the setup for the record – which is an intimate live setting – gives her perfect space to groove around a lot. She's backed by a tiny combo that has Pete Jolly on piano, Howard Roberts on guitar, Hal Blaine on drums, and Emil Richards on percussion. Shorty Rogers and Gene Page did the arrangements, and they did a nice job coming up with tight jazzy backings that have a bit of an uptown sound, but which sound a lot harder because of the live setting. Great stuff, and a record we almost never see! Tracks include "All I Really Want To Do", "Just My Style", "England Swings", "Watermelon Man", and "I Got You".

Very early work by Patti LaBelle – working here with the young Bluebelles group, but in a setting that still points the way towards the Labelle sound of the 70s – given that the quartet also features vocals from Cindy Birdsong, Sarah Dash, and Nona Hendryx! The style is a great mix of female doo wop and uptown soul – harmony styles really maturing strongly for the 60s, and already taking strong advantage of the amazing vocals of Patti LaBelle! Things are sweet, but have a nice edge too – and even the familiar tunes take on a new life in the hands of the group – as you'll hear on "Over The Rainbow", "People", "More", "Groovy Kind Of Love", "He", "Patti's Prayer", and "Unchained Melody".

A Brit soul classic from Light Of The World – and a set that has the funky group working strongly with producer Augie Johnson! Given Johnson's background with Wayne Henderson, the move is a great one for the group – one that really helps them bring out the best warm sounds from their tight instrumentation, in ways that really showcase some of the jazzier elements in their music! The main groove is still plenty soulful, and often focused around the vocals – but given that the group also features a young Jean Paul "Bluey" Maunick on guitar and Peter Hinds on keyboards, you can bet the instrumentation's pretty great too. The set easily matches the best US albums of the type at the time – and titles include "London Town", "Time", "I'm So Happy", "More Of Myself", "Pete's Crusade", and "I Walk The Streets Alone". CD also features 7 more bonus tracks – pulled from the Brass Strings N Things live album recorded by Beggar & Co – a post-Light Of The World group that features members of that group with artists from Central Line and vocalist Noel McKoy. These live titles include "Time", "Movin", "Bahia De Palma", "Somebody Help Me Out", and "Cosmic Lust".

A sweet two-fer from guitarist Wilbert Longmire – two Tappan Zee albums back to back on a single CD! First up is a deep glass of Champagne from Wilbert – classy, sophisticated jazz from the end of the 70s – but still served up with plenty of soul, too! Bob James and Jay Chattaway produced – and James plays Fender Rhodes and other keyboards on the set – helping carve out some mighty sweet lines next to Longmire's lead guitar – which often sounds best at some of the record's mellowest moments! Wilbert sings just a bit, too – underscoring some of the soul influences on the set – and titles include "Pleasure Island", "Ragtown", "Funshine", "Diane's Dilemma", and "Love's Holiday". With All My Love is sweet later work from guitarist Wilbert Longmire – a warm mixture of soul and funky jazz – and easily one of the better records to come from the Tappan Zee label at the time! Production is by Bob James and Jay Chattaway – with an R&B-inflected vibe that's a bit like some of the best late 70s work on Kudo or CTI. Longmire's still got that wonderfully chromatic style on guitar – which works well in this setting – and even though he sings a bit on the record, it's the instrumentals that keep us listening. Titles include "Take Your Time", "Music Speaks Louder Than Words", "Strawberry Sunset", "Hawkeye", and "But I Love You".

A tremendous little record from Love Peace & Happiness – a great vocal trio from the early 70s, and one who really shine with this overlooked gem for RCA! The trio were part of the New Birth/Nite Liters universe that producer Harvey Fuqua brought to the label at the time – and they've got a hip sound that's right up there with the other two groups – with whom they were very intimately involved – working here with arrangements from Fuqua that are almost his contribution to post-Motown sounds in the 70s, the way that Holland-Dozier-Holland were working at Invictus. Ann Bogan really soars with righteous leads in the group – and gets equal support from brothers Leslie and Melvin Wilson – who really help underscore some of the bolder elements of the music – especially on the funkier cuts. Titles include "I Don't Want To Do Wrong", "Lonesome Lonely & Alone", "Don't Knock My Love", "If I Owned The World", "You Can't Cheat the Cheater", "Stay", "Mind", and "You've Chosen Me". Great reissue – with excellent sound and very detailed notes!

Although South African vocalist Miriam Makeba had been cracking the American scene for the better part of the 60s, this was the album that really put her on the map – as her hit version of the song "Pata Pata" forever guaranteed that African-tinged grooves would have a place in the pop charts! The track's included as the lead off song on this classic album of "uptown African soul" (if we might use such a term), and other goodies include "Click Song Number 1", "A Piece Of Ground", "West Wind", "Ha Po Zamani", and "Jol'inkomo".

We have to admit we've passed this album up for years and years, as it seems to be rather ubiquitous in these parts, and boy were we mistaken! Side one is mostly instrumental, and sounds like a lost Dexter Wansel album, with sophisticated, spacey post-fusion arrangements and a quasi-futuristic vibe. Side two changes up the vibe a bit, with vocals and a slightly slicker approach, with a kind of Bootsy-esque funk vibe creeping in just a bit. 9 tracks in all, including the sublime "Solar Flight (Opus I)" and "Third World Calling (Opus II)", plus "Keep Tryin", "Masked Music Man" and "Masked Marauder".

A sweet groover from the Marvelettes – and a record that completely re-casts their sound for the Motown of the 70s! The group's still got the great soprano harmonies that made their early hits so wonderful, but the arrangements on the set are deeper and more sophisticated – taking them into hipper adult soul territory that we really love. Smokey Robinson produced, and wrote a lot of tracks for the set – and the backings are the work of Wade Marcus and David Van De Pitte – both well matched, and giving the album a fully unified sound. Titles include "So I Can Love You", "Marionette", "A Breathtaking Guy", "Uptown", "Someday We'll Be Together", and "Our Lips Seem To Rhyme Everytime".

The great first album from The Mary Jane Girls – easily their best, and an 80s pop soul delight all the way through! Rick James is firmly at the helm of the quartet for this release – and although the sound has elements of James' own crossover funk of the time, there's also an approach that's sweeter and more female – balanced in a surprisingly nice way, and not nearly as cloying as other efforts of its type! Backings are lean and stripped down – often in a nice clubby 80s groove mode – and titles include "All Night Long", "Candy Man", "Boys", "Jealousy", "On The Inside", "Musical Love", "Prove It", and "You Are My Heaven".

A lasting classic from the funky female foursome who were one of the biggest acts on Motown in the mid-80s – working here with super tight production and arrangements from Rick James – who also wrote all the songs on the record too! The girls' look is a bit dated, but their sound has surprisingly strong staying power – partly because of Rick's crossover version of funk in the rhythms, but also because of the way the vocal interplay still stays nice and catchy! The album's definitely commercial, but doesn't have that clunk that makes other efforts of this time from the time fall flat – and titles include "In My House", "I Betcha", "Girlfriend", Wild & Crazy Love", "Shadow Lover", "Break It Up", and "Lonely For You".

A lasting classic from the funky female foursome who were one of the biggest acts on Motown in the mid-80s – working here with super tight production and arrangements from Rick James – who also wrote all the songs on the record too! The girls' look is a bit dated, but their sound has surprisingly strong staying power – partly because of Rick's crossover version of funk in the rhythms, but also because of the way the vocal interplay still stays nice and catchy! The album's definitely commercial, but doesn't have that clunk that makes other efforts of this time from the time fall flat – and titles include "In My House", "I Betcha", "Girlfriend", Wild & Crazy Love", "Shadow Lover", "Break It Up", and "Lonely For You".

An excellent album of smooth soul tracks, and maybe Van's best record of the 70s! The record shows Van sitting at the piano in an intimate setting – ala Barry White – and it's got a similar Love Unlimited Orchestra approach, with much large backing behind Van's voice, and a very full instrumental sound. Van sings lead vocals, which aren't always that great – but he more than makes up for it with some great piano and keyboard work, and some wonderful soul songwriting and arranging that recall his best uptown moments of the late 60s. The record has a few uptempo hustle-type tracks, but they're all pretty darn great soul songs, and there's loads of great mellow soul moments woven in to make the record a nice album of ballads and groovers. Titles include "Before & After", "Wings Of Love", "My Favorite Fantasy", "That's The Story Of My Life", and "You're So Right For Me".

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 Beginning" – and funkily on the track "Party Time" – but our favorite tunes are actually the instrumental ones by Silvestri, done in a really wicked sort of groove – one that mixes traditional blacksploitation scoring with some jazzier touches – in a mode that's tight one minute, laidback the next, and filled with a great blend of jazz, soul, and electricity! Titles include "Play Ball", "We Can Beat This", "Slim", "Here Today", "Planetarium", and "Kill Fats".

Ahhh, good ol' Mel & Tim – possibly our favorite soul duo ever, and a really dynamic pair that carve some great new territory away from the path set by Sam & Dave! The album's a bit of a comeback for the duo, as you'd guess from the title – even though it was only recorded a few years after their initial work for the Bamboo label. There's a stylistic shift that marks a second chapter in the Mel & Tim groove – as they move away from the New York uptown sound, and go for more of a gritty southern sound – thanks to help from producer/arrangers Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins. The set list is filled with loads of great southern soul tunes – penned by composers who include Phillip Mitchell, Isaac Hayes, Dan Penn, and Homer Banks – on the titles "Heaven Knows", "Wrap It Up", "Don't Mess With My Money My Honey Or My Woman", "Carry Me", and a great cover of "I'm Your Puppet". CD reissue includes the bonus tracks "Forever In A Day", "It's Those Little Things That Count", "The Same Folk", and "Yes We Can-Can".

One of the greatest Northern Soul albums ever – completely great all the way through, and filled with songs that have been burning up dancefloors for years! The vocals are incredible – soaring harmonies that hold together perfectly, even when the grooves are hard and heavy – and the instrumentation is great too – handled by the Pied Piper team, who were kind of a Motown offshoot that featured Jack Ashford on vibes and percussion, Dave Hamilton and Ray Monette on guitar, and Joe Hunter on piano. Hunter and Ashford handled the arrangements – with a pitch-perfect sound that's completely sublime – sweet and grooving at the same time, and put together with the same kind of care you'd find at Motown – but with all the harder-edge qualities that always made indie work from Detroit so great. Every cut is a winner, and the set is the only full album ever done by the group – with cuts that include "Egyptian Love", "Till The End Of Time", "Since I Found My Baby", "Sweetest One", "Unlucky Sun", "I'll Never Forget You", "Do The Pied Piper", and "I'm With You All The Way". Great reissue – fully remastered from the original tapes – with new liner notes too!

The Miracles move to Columbia Records – and pick up a whole new groove in the process – a much richer sound than previous records on Motown, with a soaring style that really works great for the harmonies! Billy Griffin's vocals are really coming into their own – as is his songwriting, too – evidenced by some of the more complicated elements in the mix, and the blend of full arrangements and tight rhythms that almost have a Philly feel overall! The change is a great one for the group – and not only helps them beat some of their best late Motown moments, but also points the way towards a heck of a lot of 80s soul too. Titles include "Too Young", "The Bird Must Fly Away", "Love Crazy", "Spy For Brotherhood", "A Better Way To Life", "Women", and the Isley-like "I Can Touch The Sky". CD features three bonus tracks – "Spy For The Brotherhood (single)", "Spy For The Brotherhood (special version)", and "Women (single)".

One of the last great funk albums from King Records! People Are Together was cut in the early 70s, but it's done with a crackling sharp sound that's very much in the mode of 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 James' at times, but it's also got more of a southern funk groove too – a bit like the great combination you'll hear in Lee Fields' music, which is a perfect fit for the album's raw, rootsy production! The record includes a great funky cut called "The Buzzard", plus other nice ones like "Explosive Population", "People Are Together", "Going Back To Alabama", "Fat Gal", and "I Wanna See My Baby".

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 James' at times, but it's also got more of a southern funk groove too – a bit like the great combination you'll hear in Lee Fields' music, which is a perfect fit for the album's raw, rootsy production! The record includes a great funky cut called "The Buzzard", plus other nice ones like "Explosive Population", "People Are Together", "Going Back To Alabama", "Fat Gal", and "I Wanna See My Baby".

A pair of killers from Ozone – back to back on a single CD! Jump On It is filled with jumping grooves from Ozone – a smoking little set that's tight and right – and completely wonderful throughout! The set's got that perfect blend of funk and groove that always made Ozone so great – a quality honed through years as Billy Preston's backing band, and forged even more strongly on their own – with some extra added help here from both Michael Lovesmith as songwriter and arranger, and Angelo Bond as songwriter on a few cuts! The album's a killer all the way through – and stands as proof that Ozone were one of those great overlooked Motown acts at the start of the 80s – one who really should have been huge. Titles include "Your Love Stays On My Mind", "Mighty Mighty", "Ozonic Bee Bop", "Jump On It", "Rock & Roll Pop & Soul", and "Come On It". Lil Suzy is a smoking batch of funky grooves that has a lot more edge than most of the other work going on at the label at the time! There's echoes of Rick James funk in the mix, but the overall style is looser and freer too – almost with an ear towards some of the indie club styles of the time, yet tuned towards the tightness that you'd expect from Motown at its best. The arrangements are superb, and the band have a way of keeping the ensemble upfront throughout – yet also avoiding any of the cliches that other groups would hit so often. Occasional sweet moments really help balance the sound – and titles include "Shake It Down", "You'll Never Know How Much", "Ain't Got Far To Go", "I'm Not Easy", and "Let The Ozone Take Your Mind".

The first two albums from Ozone – back to back on a single CD! Walk On is the great debut of Ozone – a group who'd worked previously as the backing band for Billy Preston – which should give you an idea of how great they are! The group have a razor-sharp way of putting things together – tight and funky, yet never over the top – and definitely a real cut above most of their contemporaries – even at this heady time for soul music! The balance of their sound is wonderful – with some occasional smooth moments amidst the jazzy funk – and the whole thing feels more like some of the best Capitol Records groovers of the time, instead of what you might expect from early 80s Motown. Titles include "Cosmic Egg", "Ego", "Walk On", "This Is Funkin Insane", "That J", and "You On My Mind". Send It is filled with killer grooves from Ozone – an overlooked early 80s group on Motown, and easily one of the label's strongest suits of the time! The group have the tighter sound of most of the Motown work of the time – but they also manage a looser, more organic sort of approach to their groove – a sound that's almost more in the ensemble funk and 80s groove best of the Capitol Rare scene of the time, and a lot less like some of the more chartbound acts on their label. There's plenty of bass in the backings, but it's never used in a way that's too over the top – and the group balance things out nicely with a careful approach to vocals and some more sensitive ballads. Titles include "Keep On Dancin", "Over & Over Again", "Gigolette", "Do What Cha Wanna", "Tune Up", and "Girl I Can't Wait". Also includes a 12" single mix of "Gigolette".

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 penned by Gene Page – and featuring a lot of groovy keyboards as well! The set's got a few vocal numbers, sung by 21st Century Ltd and The Hues Corporation, but it's the instrumentals that really steal the show– and there's plenty of great ones here that rank with the best blacksploitation work of the decade – hard and funky groovers that have kept this one flying out of the crates for many many years. Titles include Blacula (The Stalk Walk)", "Blacula Strikes!", "Heavy Changes", "Movin'", "Run Tina Run!", "Firebombs", "I'm Gonna Catch You", "Finding Love, Losing Love" and "Good To The Last Drop".

A funky treasure – finally unleashed! Bucktown was one of the best of the mid 70s indie blacksploitation films – thanks to some great starring work from Fred Williamson and Pam Grier – but for years, the soundtrack's never been available as an individual release. Now, this tasty heavy-vinyl set makes all the film's wonderful grooves finally available – presented in a great style that includes all the shorter moodier bits, the fuller longer funky tracks, and even a bit of sound effects and dialogue! The music was penned and conducted by Johnny Pate – of Shaft In Africa and Brother On The Run fame – and the tunes are a great blend of funky soundtrack styles that include full on big band, sparer snapping instrumentals, and even a few nice tunes with great use of moog! Titles include "Chase", "Stepping", "Bar Fly", "Check In", "Freeze", "Love Theme", "Call It In", "Sneaking It In", and "Spin".

Killer early work from Freda Payne – an early album recorded for MGM many years before her later hit "Band Of Gold" – and a set with a great mix of soul and jazz modes, all arranged by the mighty Benny Golson! The record's got a really classy feel – one that has a lot more poise than some of Freda's later soul, and shows elements of the jazz she'd bring more to the forefront on Impulse Records. Yet Golson's backings also still keep plenty of soul in the mix too – using full arrangements to almost give Payne an uptown soul sound, with a heavy groove on some of the album's most memorable numbers. Titles include "San Juan", "I Don't Love You Anymore", "Too Late", "You Never Should Have Loved Me", "Feeling Good", "It's Here For You", "If You Loved Me", and "Sad Sad September".

Damn funky work from Wilson Pickett – maybe his hardest-hitting album for Atlantic Records in the early years – and that's saying a lot, given the punch of his other records! The set's sharp and tight right from the start – mostly recorded in Miami with that new approach to southern soul that was brewing up in the Criteria Studios at the time – lots of emphasis on the rhythms, in a mode that would later break big at TK, but which is still handled here by players who made the trip down from Muscle Shoals! Wilson gets a bit of backing vocal help from a group that features Judy Clay and Cissy Houston – but honestly, it's his vocals that are right out in front of the mix all the way through – sounding bold, proud, and loud on tracks that include "Funky Way", "Steal Away", "Hey Joe", "Groovy Little Woman", "This Old Town", "Lord Pity Us All", "Woman Likes To Hear That", and "Sweet Inspiration".

An overlooked groover from late 70s Motown – served up on a record that might look more like a heavy metal outing, but which is tight clubby soul all the way through! Platinum Hook are a bit in the funky territory of early Commodores – save for the fact that they've got one female singer in amongst the guys – and like that more famous combo, they have a really great way of balancing bassy groovers with a few mellower moments to really round out their sound – some slower-stepping cuts that still bring funk into the rhythms, but in a nicely laidback way! Titles include "City Life", "Gotta Find A Woman", "Til I Met You", "Hooked For Life", and a cover of George Clinton's "Standing On The Verge (Of Getting It On)".

A killer album of modern soul from ex-Dramatics singer LJ Reynolds! The album's in a modern Detroit mode all the way through – with top-shelf production by Reynolds, Don Davis, and Ronnie McNeir – and Ronnie, who'd been lost to the industry for a few years, also re-emerges as a writer on the songs "Southern Pearl", "Lonely Superstar", and "Ain't No Woman Like My Baby". The real standout, though, is the amazing cut "Key To The World", a killer steppers track that has a hook that won't quit, and this wonderful brassy finish that gives the track a really triumphant sound that works perfectly with the righteous lyric. The track's been a fave on the Chitown steppers scene for years – and for good reason!

Smooth Smokey at the end of the 70s – an album that has him moving from the Quiet Storm sound into the more hook-based style that would earn him a fair bit of hits in the 80s! The Robinson vocal approach is always sweet, warm, and mellow on the set – especially on the album's more laidback numbers, which still have a bit of that groove that made Smokey's other 70s work so great – and which helps him retain a bit more of an organic soul sound on the album. And honestly, given the studio traps that a singer his age could fall into, it's pretty amazing how well Smokey's vocals do come through in the set – with a breathy intensity that takes us back to key moments in early years, and which really avoids the schlock of later records! Titles include "The Hurt's On You", "Ever Had A Dream", "I Love The Nearness Of You", "Cruisin", "Shake It", and "Get Ready".

An overlooked late 70s set from Rose Royce – not as hitmaking some of their other albums, but actually pretty darn great – thanks to some rock-solid production from Norman Whitfield! The album's a perfect illustration of the way that Whitfield expanded his earlier funky sound with the group – pushing more complicated elements into the bassy groove first forged at Motown – including percussion from Jack Ashford, guitar from Wah Wah Watson, and clavinet and Rhodes from Walter Downing. The funkier tunes are actually the best Rose Royce numbers this time around – and titles include "Lock It Down", "Pazazz", "What You Waiting For", "Shine Your Light", "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight", and "You Can't Run From Yourself".

A solid bit of heavy funk – and one of the last strong-selling soundtracks of the blacksploitation era! Sure, you know the hit "Car Wash", but there's plenty of other great numbers that rank the 2LP set right up there with the best of its genre. There's a lot of nice instrumentals on the album that feature a tight smooth funky sound – with good work on clavinet, wah wah guitar, and horns – all quite different than the usual work of Whitfield and Rose Royce at the time. The group do a good job on the vocal cuts, working in that soulful early 70s Motown mode that Whitfield was working on with other acts – and the whole album's as great a debut for Rose Royce as anyone could have hoped for. Features the hit title cut, plus "I Wanna Get Next To You", "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is", "Zig Zag", "Mid Day DJ Theme", "I'm Going Down", "Crying", "Doing What Comes Naturally", and "Righteous Rhythm". The Pointer Sisters sing on one track, "You Gotta Believe".

A great early solo set from Diana Ross – a record that still has some great echoes of her work with The Supremes, but an even bolder frontline approach on vocals! Most tracks here still have other female voices backing Ross up – some un-credited Supremes-esque vocals that really help sweeten up the record, and make for a great transition from the earlier years. Production is by Hal Davis and Deke Richards of The Corporation – both of whom start pushing in some more sophisticated elements to the sound – lilting rhythms and soaring strings, but always used in moderation – so that most of the tunes still have that sweetly stepping groove that was associated with Ross' best work of the late 60s. There's some really great songs on the set – including the excellent title track "Everything Is Everything", which has a bouncing little hook, and the wonderful "Doobedood'ndoobe", an original by Deke Richards with a nice set of changes! Other titles include "I Love You", "How About You", "My Place", "Ain't No Sad Song", and "Baby It's Love".

David Ruffin teams with Van McCoy for this sweet little set – and the result is a great batch of grooves that swell with Ruffin's soulful sound of the 70s, but sway with the warm McCoy dancefloor modes of the time! Van wrote nearly all the tracks in the set – and handled all arrangements and production – but the record's far less disco than you'd guess, thanks to cracklingly earnest vocals from Ruffin, who's still given plenty of space to shine center stage on the record. The balance is essential, and is carried off here in a manner similar to the best Philly soul albums of its type. Titles include "First Round Knockout", "On & Off", "Good Good Times", "Ready Willing & Able", "Everything's Coming Up Love", "Discover Me", "Until We Said Goodbye", and "Let's Get Into Something".

Wonderfully catchy work from the team of Peggy Scott and JoJo Benson – easily one of the grooviest soul duos of the 60s! Peggy and JoJo were kind of the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell of southern soul – recording for Shelby Singleton's SSS International label in Nashville, with a sound that's a lot deeper than some of the Motown or New York male/female duos – yet with a groove and way with a hook that made them even catchier than most of their contemporaries! JoJo goes deep, and Peggy soars over the top – and the pairing works perfectly on the playful lyrics of the tunes, with a raw quality that's way beyond the simple pop you might imagine. The package features some of the best SSS cuts by the pair, plus a few solo Peggy tunes too – and titles include "We Were Made For Each Other", "Soul Shake", "Lover's Holiday", "Pickin Wild Mountain Berries", "Til The Morning Comes", "Eternally", "Sugarmaker", "Lover's Heaven", and "Let's Spend A Day Out In The Country".