Soul — In Stock  

A real move forward in the career of Stacy Lattisaw – an album that has her coming across with a much more mature feel than before, even though she was still quite young at the time! The record's got an unabashedly poppish sensibility, but one that also has some of the more complicated modes... read more

Classic soul from Bettye Lavette – with some her best recordings ever – a batch of tunes cut in Memphis with Lelan Rogers for the Silver Fox label in '69 & '70! The Betty heard here is a lot harder than on her earlier soul sides – recorded with a raw power that could easily... read 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... read 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... read more

A classic deep soul set from Eloise Laws – an early album recorded for Invictus Records, and done with stellar production from Brian Holland! The title cut's a monster, one of the best tracks on the label from the 70s – with some wonderfully spacey keyboards, funky drums and bass... read more

A pair of classics from Ronnie Laws – back to back on a single CD! On Mr Nice Guy, Laws really makes a big move into the soul field – quite a big record for him back in the day, and a set that helped him reach an even wider audience at the time! Ronnie sings as much as playing sax on... read more

Titles include "Red Bulbs", "Menage A Trois", "Sugar Babe", "Love Is All I Need", "Brown Eyes", and "It's Me".... read more

Jesse Saunders has some fun with an 8-bit sampler and little vocal bits referencing the Amityville Horror film (we think) over this spare, almost electro-sounding early Chicago house cut.... read more

A great modern soul album – and the new release from Maysa Leak, the lovely voice behind some of Incognito's best albums! If you know Incognito, you can guess the sound here – but the overall approach is different, with a lot more emphasis on soul sounds and jazzy arrangements, all... read more

Killer work from Ledisi – one of the best underground soul singers alive! This album has Ledisi opening up her bag a lot from her Soulsinger debut – moving into some more jazz-based material, sung with a sweet mellow vibe that still retains all the soulfulness of earlier work, yet... read more

An excellent bit of modern soul – very much in the vein of Jill Scott, Laurnea, N'Dambi, or some of the other current underground divas from the US indie soul scene! Ledisi's got a heck of a voice – very rich and mellow, in a style that reminds us a bit of classic work by jazzy soul... read more

A wicked little soundtrack that's about as badass as you can get for the 70s – the obscure score for the black answer to Warren Beatty's famous Shampoo! The music on the set is really great – sparer than usual for a blacksploitation soundtrack, with lots of nice instrumental tracks... read more

A 60s LP that compiles Julia's earlier sides for Capitol – a mixture of jump blues, swing, and R&B, recorded with players that include Red Norvo, Benny Carter, Vic Dickenson, and Baby Lovett. Titles include "Last Call For Alcohol", "After Hours Waltz", "King Size... read more

A 50s LP that compiles Julia's earlier singles for Capitol – a mixture of jump blues and early R&B, done with some nice jazzy touches that give the tracks a Kansas City groove. Titles include "Last Call For Alcohol", "I Was Wrong", "Tell Me Daddy", "Ain'... read more

Sublime soul from the mighty Laura Lee – one of the best deep soul singers of the 70s, even though she recorded with the mostly-northern team of Holland Dozier Holland! The set shows that the trio really knew how to change it up after leaving Motown – and although Lee had recorded for... read more

A standout set from the great Laura Lee – a deep soul singer with power to rival the greatness of Aretha Franklin, but one who's also got a funkier punch to her music too! The album's a great blend of late 60s female southern and tight 70s bad sister funk – a style that's a bit like... read more

An excellent batch of hard soul grooves from the great Laura Lee! This one was her first for the Hot Wax label – and it's got the raw quality of her earlier singles for labels like Chess, with a hard vocal style that's very much in the Aretha Franklin/Fontella Bass camp – plus some... read more

A beautiful batch of gospel work from Shirley Ann Lee – a vocalist who originally worked the spiritual circuit in a trio with Candi Staton! The album's an unusual one – put together partly as a way of promoting Shirley's music to a larger audience – which means it's got a few... read more

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Early grooves from Leon Pattillo – later a club maestro, but working here in a much rootsier style at the head of Leon's Creation – an ultra-cool funk combo from San Francisco! The album's got a groove that really lives up to the promise of its title – a heady brew of funky... read more

An album that follows nicely in Ketty's style of the 60s – mixing together soul with more serious vocal work – but handled here with some groovier 70s touches! Ketty's clearly heard the work of singers like Nina Simone and Melba Moore by this point, and is going for a more righteous... read more

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Some very nice pop soul tracks by this lovely vocalist from the 60s! The record features a core group of backing by the Ronnie Brown trio, plus some larger arrangements by Lincoln Mayorga. The sound is nice and soulful, with a bit of a jazzy touch – in the manner of some of Nancy Wilson's... read more

A beautiful bit of mainstream soul from Gerald and Eddie Levert – two of the best male voices from two generations, working beautifully here in a laidback set of tracks! The vibe's almost like that direction taken by the O'Jays in the early 80s – that time when their ballads were... read more

Near-perfect work from Barbara Lewis – one of our favorite female talents of the 60s – and an artist whose blend of soul and sophistication went onto influence a huge generation of singers in years to come! The album's a key collaboration with Detroit producer Ollie McLaughlin –... read more

The best-ever collection of work we've ever seen from Barbara Lewis – and the first set to really give the soul singer her due! Lewis was a hell of a vocalist back in the 60s – an artist who could be classy one minute, and gutsy the next – often working with key production from... read more

A fantastic lost album from one of the 60's most under-rated female singers – done in a style that's far hipper than Barbara's work for Atlantic! The set's got a vibe that's totally great – proud and righteous – stepping out in a mode that shakes off the sweetness of Barbara's... read more

A wonderful album from Linda Lewis – certainly one of her best from the early days, and a completely captivating mixture of soul, jazz, and rock that sparkles like Minnie Riperton's best work from the time! The album's got a sweet LA sound – with Linda's great vocals up front in the... read more

One of the best-ever albums by this lovely soulful singer! Linda Lewis had an amazing style that was somewhere in between Minnie Riperton, Joni Mitchell, and Ellen McIlwaine – meaning that she mixes soul, folk, and a bit of jazz into her own unique vibe. This album's a gem, and is filled... read more

One of the best-ever albums by this lovely soulful singer! Linda Lewis had an amazing style that was somewhere in between Minnie Riperton, Joni Mitchell, and Ellen McIlwaine – meaning that she mixes soul, folk, and a bit of jazz into her own unique vibe. This album's a gem, and is filled... read more

Two electric killers from Ramsey Lewis – back to back in a single package! Funky Serenity is sweet electric funk from Ramsey – one of his best from the 70s, and a set with Lewis on Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and other keyboards, grooving away in an open-ended 70s mode that... read more

A nicely done compilation of pivotal work from the great Ramsey Lewis – focusing on his work for Columbia/CBS Records from the 70s and early 80s – and very well chosen at that! Of course the title comes from Ramsey's iconic album of the same name, and this 2CD set features a few tracks... read more

Genius jazzy soul from Webster Lewis – one of his amazing late 70s sets for Epic Records! By this point in his career, Lewis had honed his keyboard craft to perfection – and on albums like this one, he laid down some excellent smooth soulful fusion that soared in a righteous way that... read more

A jazzy soul masterpiece from Webster Lewis – light years away from the rougher funk he cut at the start of the 70s! The album's beautifully put together – almost perfect at all points, at a level that we'd rank right up there with the best work by Leroy Hutson, Roy Ayers, or other... read more

The earliest work we've ever heard from keyboardist Webster Lewis – and a set that's quite different than his late 70s groovers for Columbia Records! The music here is equal parts jazz, soul, and funk – spun out of over a set of long tracks recorded in Oslo at the start of the 70s... read 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... read more

Rare funk from the same Minneapolis scene that gave the world Prince – a legendary indie set from the end of the 70s, put together by Lewis brothers Pierre and Andre! Despite their French names, the duo have a mighty American groove on the set – a wicked approach to funk that's very... read more

An obscure group, but a wonderful one – and an ensemble we really wish we could hear more from! Yet thankfully, they've given us this wonderful album from the start of the 80s – a soaring, soulful set that seems to pick up the funky torch dropped by Earth Wind & Fire – and... read more

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... read more

Fantastic stuff – incredibly hard and incredibly funky, and a masterpiece all the way through! Long before there was any talk of gangster rap, Jalal of the Last Poets recorded this album of gamblin', pimpin', and hard double dealin'. It's a fantastic album-long ride through the dark side of... read more

A beautiful album from the Lijadu Sisters to cap off the 70s – and it's among their best ever! Horizon Unlimited is a nice blend of their soulful, harmony-rich vocals with lots of talking drum and electric bass in the mix – along with some other spacey soul touches! Their inspiration... read more

A sweet step forward for the Lijadu Sisters – a record that's filled with a lot more keyboards than before, used in a way that creates this great spacey feeling in their sound! There's still some nice groovers here, but there's also some wicked tunes that have this laidback vibe that's... read more

A classic bit of Chicago house goes mainstream – and a suprisingly big hit from the late 80s. The main reason most folks bought this album was for Louis' "French Kiss", a sex-sound infused house cut with a "fast-then-slow-then-fast" groove that was endlessly dropped into... read more

A couple of wonderfully mellow, smooth house-inflected numbers from the mind of Lil' Louis.... read more

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A mixture of fusion and soul – with some hard-jamming tracks that bring sometimes brings more of a focus on the groove than the vocals – and other cuts that steer it into a solid pop soul approach! There's a warmth and depth to the production and the songwriting that's a pretty big... read more

Definite gold from Liquid Blue – an obscure indie group from the 70s, but one with a tight sound that should have made them huge! The style here is partly soul and funk, partly smoother AOR crossover material – but served up with a nice indie vibe that still keeps things fresh, and... read more

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An 80s pop soul classic from Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam With Full Force – with a sound that's insistent and irresistible to this day! This is a solid album full of tunes that stand up strongly with their unstoppable hit singles of the period. Yes, the sound would get a bit too cutesy and... read more

Anthony and crew were one of the few groups who actually got better when they moved from the raw indie scene to the slicker major label one – as you'll hear perfectly on this set of some of their best work for the Veep/DCP/United Artists label. Teddy Randazzo handled all the arrangements and... read more

Incredible funky guitar – an all-instrumental gem from the legendary Little Beaver – quite different than his other vocal albums of the 70s, and a fair bit funkier too! The sound here is amazing – lots of snakey compressed guitar parts, nice wah wah moments, and a dope laidback... read more

An excellent early album from the amazing Little Beaver – a set that's also probably one of his best ever – served up with some extra-dope guitar, and nice deep Miami soul production by Steve Alaimo! Beaver handled all the arrangements – which means that there's plenty of room... read more

An excellent early album from the amazing Little Beaver – a set that's also probably one of his best ever – served up with some extra-dope guitar, and nice deep Miami soul production by Steve Alaimo! Beaver handled all the arrangements – which means that there's plenty of room... read more

An excellent album of smooth soul tracks – very different than Little Beaver's earlier work, but every bit as great! The album's got a warm, mellow finish that's almost a maturation of the sound that Beaver first forged on his Party Down album – with plenty of his deep soul vocals and... read more

Tight and soulful blues from Little Milton – just the sort of record that helped him cross over to bigger audiences back in the day, and a set that still sounds plenty great all these many years later! The set was done in Chicago – arranged by James Mack, with backing vocals from Kitty... read more

No waiting here – as Little Milton's guitar is plenty sweet throughout – making the album a key cooker from his classic years on Stax! The album's an essential effort in the shift between grittier urban blues and some of the tighter, more warmed up sounds that played big in the 70s... read more

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A landmark album of hard-rocking soul – and a record that broke open both genres for a generations to come! The set's about as classic as you can get for Little Richard – filled with killer numbers that jump around boldly in some heavy New Orleans piano-led grooves – all topped... read more

Funky 70s Little Richard – very much in the spirit of his Rill Thing album, although a bit more polished! The album features production and arrangements from New Orleans soul legend Bumps Blackwell – who first handled Richard way back when – and the record's sort of divided half... read more

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A comprehensive look at some great recordings from Little Walter – sides recorded for Chess Records from 1953 to 1963 – offering up a decade's worth of evolution in his style! But even at the start, Walter was better than most of his generation – a heck of a great harmonica... read more

Killer 50s work from the great Little Walter – tracks that show that he was of the greatest blues acts working for Chess Records at the time! Many of the numbers here are heavy on Walter's classic harmonica style, but they also feature plenty of rough-edged vocals with a nicely soulful... read more

Amazing sounds from one of the all-time greats – the legendary Little Willie John – not only a key inspiration to James Brown, but one of the formative forces in soul music at the start of the 60s! The material here was cut by King Records at the height of its R&B years, but it... read more

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The 2 fantastic albums Shorty Long cut for Soul/Motown – '68's funky Here Comes The Judge & '69's soulful Prime Of Shorty Long – a perfect pair, put together with 2 bonus tracks and great notes by the rare soul-reverent heroes at Kent UK! The CD kicks off with the Here Come The... read more

A fantastic album of funky soul – and Shorty's greatest album! Well, it's actually only one of two albums he cut – and the only one that was issued before his untimely early death – but it's a killer batch of tracks that mix together funk, Detroit soul, and a great sense of humor!... read more

A near-lost Philly disco album – recorded at Sigma Sound, but released on Casablanca at the end of the 70s – one that was almost buried under the weight of the label's collapse at the time! There's a style here that borrows bits from some of Casablanca's more mainstream artists –... read more

A really nice batch of early 80s soul from Loose Ends – one of the best remembered groups who were making strong soul music in Britain in the period – and who actually recorded this excellent first album at Philadelphia's Alpha Studios! Making the record in Philly was a wise decision... read more

Beautiful brown-eyed soul from the Ohio scene of the 70s – just the sort of record you might have expected to hear from East LA or Spanish Harlem back in the day – but even more amazing to come from Cleveland! The group are a Latin combo at the core, but they've soaked up plenty of... read more

A wonderfully well-rounded set from Lil Louis – one of the few early Chicago house artists with enough imagination to break into a wider soul audience and still hold their ears over the course of a full LP! The record's a strongly-crafted batch of tunes that mixes mellow ballads with more... read more

C'mon, you can never have too much Love – particularly the beautiful, soulful voice of Darlene Love – and this fantastic compilation from Ace puts together a diverse set of singles from the 60s & 70s, a few rare demos, plus hard to find tunes from earlier and later years! Darlene... read more

An excellent funk party all the way through! Preston was Johnny Otis' tenor star in the late 60s – and this album has him grooving hard with members of Johnny's band, including a young Shuggie Otis, who's really wailing with some acid licks on guitar! The overall feel is very much in the... read more

An excellent funk party all the way through! Preston was Johnny Otis' tenor star in the late 60s – and this album has him grooving hard with members of Johnny's band, including a young Shuggie Otis, who's really wailing with some acid licks on guitar! The overall feel is very much in the... read more

Long lost soul from Love Apple – the only known recordings made by the female vocal trio in the late 70s – rehearsal takes made with the legendary Lou Ragland! Love Apple is Lily Pearson, Annette Warren and Avetta Henry – working here with Cleveland soul mainstay Ragland, who was... read more

Ostensibly released as a project by Penthouse Magazine, and packaged in a tri-fold cover that includes loads of nudie photos of their playmates (or is it "pentmates"?), this is actually a nice bit of extended disco grooves, with some good acoustic percussion, hard conga and kick drums,... read more

Very nice comeback album by Love Unlimited, and one that still features Barry White at the helm. The music's a nice mix of midtempo modern soul groovers, with a lot of tracks that have an excellent steppers groove to them. With the cuts "I'm So Glad That I'm A Woman", "High Steppin... read more

Great stuff from the girls who first put Barry White on the map! The record is the group's second – and by this point, Barry had developed that tight snapping drum sound that made his orchestral albums work so well. You'll hear it to good effect on most songs on the LP, which have a great... read more

Excellent instrumentals from The Maestro! Barry's in fine fine form here – and he's just about the only one who could make a record with so many strings sound so funky! The album includes the excellent groover "Bring It On Up", which has a tightly snapping rhythm underneath... read more

A beautiful swirling instrumental album that features the classic "Love's Theme", the cut that made Barry a multi-millionaire, and which firmly established his sophisticated orchestral soul style as one of the trademarks of the 70s! This is the ultimate in 70s soul class – from the... read more

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'... read more

Excellent solo work by Lowrell Simon – once a singer with Lost Generation, but opening up a whole new style of Chicago soul here on his own! The album's a tasty batch of smooth soul tracks with a midtempo club groove – not disco, but with the kind of large production and loping groove... read more

Excellent solo work by Lowrell Simon – once a singer with Lost Generation, but opening up a whole new style of Chicago soul here on his own! The album's a tasty batch of smooth soul tracks with a midtempo club groove – not disco, but with the kind of large production and loping groove... read more

A cool promo-only radio record – one that features tracks from LTD's earlier albums on A&M, mixed with interview bits and dialogue – more than enough to act as a special radio show in itself! The album is divided up into five banded segments, each with a few songs, interviews with... read more

"Best Of" collection that takes tracks from Jon's Columbia releases Song For My Lady and Premonition. The set's a good batch of tracks with a sweet jazzy soul feel, and the LP includes most of the cuts you'd want from the other Columbia records. Tracks include "Hello Like... read more

A beautiful album from Jon Lucien – one that's been far too neglected over the years! This was Lucien's second album for Columbia – and it's a wonderfully strong effort that fuses together jazz, soul, and Brazilian styles, in a manner that recalls some of his best work for RCA –... read more

Amazing work from the great Jon Lucien – and probably his best-ever record! The album has Jon hitting a totally unified vision of spacey soul – bringing in elements of Brazilian music and touches of his Carribean roots, fusing them together with a sweet jazzy style and one of the most... read more

Wonderfully weird sounds from Lucifer – a record cut during the powerhouse 70s soul years of the Invictus/Hot Wax label, but done with a sound that's much more bluesy and rootsy than any other work for the company! Vocals are by Eugene Smith, who has a cool sort of Bay Area vibe –... read more

A great little album from Pat Lundy – an enigmatic talent who crops up a number of times over the years – but always on different record labels, and always with a slightly different sound and style! This album's one of Pat's best – and has her working in a sophisticated soul... read more

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A funky fusion classic – and quite possibly Bobby Lyle's most perfectly realized album! The set was Bobby's first full US outing, and it's filled with soaring, riffing keyboards that stretch out into territory explored a few years before by Johnny Hammond and Lonnie Liston Smith! The real... read more

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A wonderful record by Bobby Lyle – and a genius blend of jazz, soul, and lots of other righteous sounds! Lyle started out as a keyboardist, but this album really has him taking off as a vocalist too – working in a sweet Roy Ayers-styled groove – one that blends mellow rhythms... read more

A stone classic from Bobby Lyle – and a record that really has him stepping out strongly, both as a keyboardist and a singer! Bobby's strength at this point is undeniable – and he's got a perfect sense of balance that rivals contemporaries like Roy Ayers or Webster Lewis – both... read more

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One of Cheryl Lynn's early killers for Columbia – an album of tight, bouncy, joyous soul all the way through – free from any of the too-commercial touches that sometimes slowed Cheryl's later work! Ray Parker Jr produced the set – and he as well is free from the slicker sounds of... read more

Cheryl Lynn and Luther Vandross – a tremendous combination that makes for one heck of a great record! Luther arranged and produced the entire set – and he does a great job here of pushing Cheryl Lynn into more upbeat territory without getting too poppy or schmaltzy! In a way, the... read more