Soul — In Stock — CDs  

About as classic as you can get for 70s Fela – 2 albums that are overflowing with righteous politics, heavy rhythms, and super-extended grooves! The CD features the complete tracks from the albums Yellow Fever and Na Poi – both recorded in 1976, but compiled here with a bonus alternate... read more

A pair of albums from saxophonist Wilton Felder – back to back on a single CD! We All Have A Star offers up solo sounds from Crusaders reedman Wilton Felder – a really great set that's very much in the best vibe of his larger group at the time – yet one that also offers up a... read more

A killer album of soul jazz piano instrumentals – produced by James Brown! The Dee Felice Trio were a groovy combo from Cincinnati, and James Brown took a shine to them at some point in the late 60s. They backed James on one record, but their big moment was this album – which had... read more

A mighty great little record – a mixture of jazz and soul from the heavy talents of Hilton Felton – and a record that not only features some of his own great work on organ and keyboards, but some great contributions from other members of the DC scene of the 70s! In addition to help... read more

A holy grail of funky music – and a rare gem from the DC scene of the 70s! Keyboardist Hilton Felton cut this wicked killer for his own tiny label – Hilton's Concept – and it's a very unique blend of jazz and funk modes, done with help from members of The Blackbyrds and Three... read more

A record from the Three Of Us – but one we remember best for the heavy keyboards of Hilton Felton! The set's even more stripped-down than some of Hilton's other funky classics from the 70s – an instrumental outing that features Felton on organ and Fender Rhodes, Johnathan Settel on... read more

A pair of disco gems back to back in a 2CD set – with great bonus tracks too! First up is Evita, a loving take on the hit 70s musical – one that serves up all the best tracks in a sweet disco mode – and moves the sound from Broadway to the main floor of Studio 54! Festival... read more

Smoking soul from the mighty Lee Fields – and a set that really has him getting back to his roots, as well! The record's billed as a follow-up to the previous My World – but it's got a style that's much more deep soul, much more southern-tinged than that great record – a... read more

Tight!! Lee Fields, one of the great criminally under appreciated funky geniuses of the 70s is back with another pounding, raw funk classic that still finds the man at the peak of his powers, decades after he first made mark on the funk landscape! This is Lee's first full length effort for Soul... read more

One of the best new soul records we've heard in years – a tremendous accomplishment for the mighty Lee Fields, and a set that's quite different than any of his other work! We've always loved Lee's funk and deep soul sides, but this album's something new altogether – almost done in the... read more

A never-heard soundtrack for a never-seen film – and a record that's every bit as funky as better-known sets from the blacksploitation era! Final Solution were a small time group from Chicago's west side in the 70s, but on this wicked little soundtrack they sparkle just as brightly as Isaac... read more

One of the best records ever cut by this soulful Philly female trio! The album's one of the first on Salsoul's Gold Mind subsidiary – and it features sparkling club production by the Harris/Baker/Young team – a landmark force not only in Philly disco, but 70s female soul as well –... read more

The great debut from First Class – an east coast harmony group from the 70s, and one who work proudly here in some of the more uptempo styles of the time! Tracks here are often a bit extended, and filled with warmly clubby touches that are a nice All Platinum answer to the sound of Philly at... read more

The rare second set from First Class – and a set that's every bit as heavenly as the first! The album's a great slice of later New Jersey soul – still very much in the mode started by groups like The Moments or Whatnauts, but showing a stronger Philly influence on the groovers –... read more

A pair of killer albums from The Five Stairsteps – 1967's self-titled set for Windy C – plus '68's Love's Happening by The Five Stairsteps & Cubie – together with bonus track on this great set from Outta Sight UK! The Five Stairsteps album is a landmark batch of sweet soul... read more

Killer stuff – and probably the best record ever by this Chicago soul group! The record's got a full batch of original tracks written and produced by the group's mentor, Curtis Mayfield – including their amazing, funk steeped version of "Don't Change Your Love", with a... read more

Sweetly percolated sounds from Five Star – a great collection that finally brings together all the remix material they served up on singles during their big run for Sony Music! The group burst into prominence at a time when music formats were really expanding, especially in the UK –... read more

Bouncy, beat-heavy soul from Five Star – really stepping out strongly on this self-titled set! The music's nothing new, and very familiar to fans of mainstream soul at the time – but the group really serve things up with a stronger edge than on previous releases – handling much... read more

Sweet poppy soul from Five Star – moving strongly here on a set that's got lots of early 90s new jack elements – including a fair bit of beats that really work well with the group's trading of male and female vocals! Things are plenty catchy throughout – not the deepest soul you... read more

Mindblowing work from Roberta Flack – an album that should be in the collection of any fan of righteous soul music! Forget all the wimpier modes of Flack's later years – because here, the young Roberta is a vision of positive power and spiritual soul – a singer with roots in jazz... read more

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... read more

A smoking little set from Flaming Ember – a rock group at the core, but one who has plenty of blue-eyed soul in the mix – thanks to great production from Greg Perry, and strong arrangements from HB Barnum and McKinley Jackson – all of whom give the record a vibe that's right up... read more

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... read more

Sublime 70s work from Darrow Fletcher – a singer we mostly know for his early soul singles in Chicago – but one who really hits his stride on these rare sessions from LA! The music was mostly recorded for Ray Charles' Crossover label – although a few singles also appeared on... read more

Wicked late 70s work from Ronnie Foster – a rare Columbia outing that's arguably better than his earlier sides for Blue Note! There's more of a soul vibe than before in the music – but in a way that's really foregrounded, and without some of the back/forth wavering that Foster had in... read more

Massive music from one of the greatest Motown groups ever – served up here as a set of 78 singles from the 60s and early 70s – not just all the US releases for Motown, but also UK-only singles, Italian singles, and work with the Supremes as well! The lavish book-style set is done in... read more

Way more than disco, a bit different than funk, and a lot cooler than you might guess from the image on the cover – a stone classic from Miami groovers Foxy, and easily one of their best records ever! The set's nice and tight right from the start – not really disco, but more of a... read more

A live take on the Foxy sound of the clubs – served up here without any studio support at all, at a level that really showcases their talents as a funk band! There's still a strong sense of compression in the grooves – that Foxy way of laying down the lyrics right along with the guitar... read more

A real standout from Aretha Franklin's years on Arista – a set produced by Luther Vandross, with a soaring groove that really opens Aretha up nicely! Luther's more in the mode here of his 70s club productions than his 80s hits – that warm, midtempo vibe that's full of lush moments, but... read more

A sweet overview of the early years of Aretha Franklin's career – her formative days at Columbia Records, when she was working in a variety of styles before heading over to bigger fame at Atlantic! Even at this early stage, Aretha's one hell of a singer – and, despite what folks who... read more

Aretha's grooving sweetly on a record that's produced by Luther Vandross – and a damn strong one, too! Aretha wasn't the first, or the last classic soul singer to embrace the modern sounds of the early 80s, but relatively few outshined their younger peers as brilliantly as Aretha does here. ... read more

One of Aretha's undisputed classics – a seminal session that furthered her deep soul agenda with key backings from Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd! The Sweet Inspirations provide sublime backing vocals behind Franklin's maturing delivery of the lyrics – and the music is by an all-star group... read more

Aretha Franklin and electric piano – a really great combination that makes for a whole new level of soulfulness in the 70s! The album's one of Franklin's greatest of the decade – a deepening of the sound she first brought to Atlantic in the 60s, and a maturation of that groove –... read more

About as classic as you can get for Aretha Franklin – a wonderful package that features 5 full albums for Atlantic Records – each packaged in a tiny LP-styled sleeve that reproduces the original cover! The work here is the stuff of legend – that key point when Franklin really got... read more

A classic 70s soul soundtrack – and a dream of a combination! Curtis Mayfield wrote the soundtrack and produced the album – and the result is a killer batch of 70s soul tracks that matches Aretha's strong vocals with the hip Curtom sound of Chicago! Aretha was still doing pretty well... read more

Damn soulful work from Erma Franklin – the lesser-known sister of Aretha and Carolyn Franklin, working here on 60s sides cut for the Epic and Shout labels! Most of the material here was only issued as singles back in the day – so the set's an essential full-length overview of Franklin's... read more

Fusiony soul from the early 80s on Columbia – and one of the more vocal-oriented albums cut by keyboardist Rodney Franklin! The vocals are sung by Jim Gilstrap, Howard Smith, and Darryl Phinnessee – but at the heart of all the tracks are Rodney's nice soulful keyboards – which... read more

Tremendous work from Rodney Franklin – one of our favorite soulful fusion players of the era – and 2 albums back-to-back! The Rodney Franklin album is a keyboard delight through and through – and Rodney plays both acoustic and electric piano, often on the same track – which... read more

A great example of why we always reach for our Rodney Franklin records time and time again over the years – as there's few other players who could serve up a blend of soul and jazz this well! The album's got a great balance of electric and acoustic, that instantly-warm style that Franklin... read more

Incredible work from Michael Franks – his first five albums for Warner Brothers, all packaged together in one sweet little set! At this point in his career, Franks is almost a whole genre unto itself, one that sets a whole new tone for the male voice in American music! The style here is... read more

Early 80s clubby funk & soul from Freeez – a pretty sweet mix of period synth and boogie soul with far richer, live instrumentation and solid, hooky songwriting! Freeez recorded Gonna Get You in Manhattan – and you can certainly hear the NYC culture of the time flowing nicely in... read more

Frank Frost really kicks it hard on this set of classic recordings from the 60s – a batch of tracks that easily show why Frost was one of the funkiest bluesmen to record for the Jewel/Paula label! Frank sings and plays harmonica – but an equal attraction here is the rhythms –... read more

A massive bit of funky fusion from the 70s – an album that was crucially overlooked at the time, but which has gone onto become a crate-diggers classic over the years! The group's fronted by Polish jazz legends Michal Urbaniak and Urszula Dudziak – but it also features a fair bit of... read more

Here's a group who definitely live up to their name – a damn funky 70s act from Nigeria, with a tight, righteous groove that's completely outta sight! The Funkees have an approach that's a lot more compact than Fela, and a lot more soulful than some of their more tripped-out contemporaries... read more

Fantastic funk from a group who definitely earn their name – a sweet jelly bean jar of 70s groovers – played in this great compressed bass-heavy style! The group hail from southeast Asia, but sing in English throughout – and play tunes that clearly echo their love of American... read more

Raw funk from 70s Singapore – but a bunch of cats who really get their sound right! The album's got a surprisingly sharp edge – thanks to raspy guitars that work perfectly with the group's English language vocals – themselves sung with a nice sort of sharpness that makes the... read more

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... read more

Storming soul from Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford – one of the hardest-hitting duos of the early 60s, and a pair who set the tone for countless other acts to come! The style here is definitely soul, but steeped in plenty of R&B too – partly from Dee Dee's smoking work on Hammond,... read more

Wonderful stuff – and one of our favorite-ever Marvin Gaye albums! This is the legendary two-record set that Marvin wrote and recorded as an alimony payment to his ex-wife Anna Gordy (the story's pretty long, and we won't get into it here – suffice it to say that when stars get a... read more

An incredible record – quite possibly our favorite ever by Marvin Gaye! The album is quite unique – written by Leon Ware, and recorded in collaboration with him – done as a "suite" of tracks based on themes of passion, joy, and new love – all of which were very... read more

An amazing record that stunned the world almost as much as Marvin's previous effort, What's Going On. Like that one, this album's an amazingly unified batch of tracks – with a visionary message about sex and love that is as honest and bracing as the politics and social commentary of his... read more

A wonderful 70s live album from Marvin Gaye – a set that was as expansive, ambitious, and sophisticated as his studio work from the time! The album's put together almost like a 3-sided portrait of Marvin – in that it begins with a long section of current work, moves into a "fossil... read more

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working... read more

THE lasting classic from Gloria Gaynor – the record that contains her tremendous hit "I Will Survive", and a great batch of disco grooves overall! The album's got a simple, honest sort of approach, despite its release in an era of overblown dancefloor sets – and arranger... read more

A legendary record from one of the most unique Latin groups of their time! In an early 70s world where many Latin combos were going for class and poise, the Ghetto Brothers moved in another direction entirely – working here with a fair bit of electric guitar alongside more familiar Latin... read more

A long-overdue collection of work by this sublime Ohio soul group of the 60s – a trio of lovely ladies with a really tremendous sound! Gigi & The Charmaines are hardly the girl group cliche you might think from their sweet name and the image on the cover – and on most of the... read more

An overlooked gem from the glory days of the TK soul empire – a mix of sweet soul steppers and more upbeat groovers – all set to tight arrangements from Snoopy Dean! There's a great Miami groove to most numbers – especially that modern soul style that started coming in during the... read more

A great album by one of lost groups on the Invictus label! Glass House were a stellar male/female vocal group with a good deep soul sound – very much in the spirit of other Invictus albums of the era, with a tremendous feel for down home, gritty soul but executed with the smooth HDH vibe... read more

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... read more

An overlooked chapter in the Zapp/Roger story of the 80s – the only album ever issued by vocalist Bad Bobby Glover! Roger Produced, and there's plenty of Zapp talent on hand for the record, too – which means that the overall groove is heavy on the kind of funky basslines, electrified... read more

Sweet funky jazz from the 70s! Gonzalez were an obscure UK combo – probably known a lot better over in England, but pretty darn hard to find over here in America – and they've got a tight style that reminds us of some of the more well-produced jazz funk coming out on labels like Blue... read more

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... read more

A long-overdue album from UK soul singer Jaki Graham – a vocalist who seems to have gotten better and better over the years! As you might guess from the title, a fair bit of tracks on the set are older standards – sung by Jaki in a jazzified approach to soul, with elements that are... read more

Larry Graham's definitely got his groove back – and steps out here with his funkiest album in years! Graham's not content to just recall the glory days of Graham Central Station – as he really goes for a nice range of flavors in the set – including a taste of New Orleans, heard... read more

Grand Slam take plenty of inspiration from the P-Funk universe – and as proof of that fact, they've got Gary Mudbone Cooper on vocals for a few tracks on this sweet little set – a record that definitely offers up a 21st Century evolution of the original P-Funk groove! The combo are... read more

Sweetly grooving early 80s UK soul from David Grant – his first solo album after the breakup of Linx – and it's a nice one! There's a leaner pop soul sound at play here, one that would have sounded right at home on the US charts of the time – but it's never too poppy – and... read more

The amazing debut of RB Greaves – a soul singer with a difference! RB struck big with this album on late 60s Atlantic Records – yet despite production at Muscle Shoals, and arrangements from Arif Mardin, the sound here is quite different than most of his contemporaries – and... read more

A tasty double-live set from Al Green – one that has him working through longer versions of tunes than you'd hear on his studio albums, and really doing great in front of an appreciative Japanese crowd! The overall approach here is a bit more modern than on some of his older Hi albums –... read more

A windy city hero – the amazing Garland Green, a singer who makes us mighty proud we hail from Chicago! Garland's got an incredible style that few others can touch – partly schooled in the 60s iceman modes of Jerry Butler and Walter Jackson, with all the sophistication that might imply... read more

The first-ever tribute to this overlooked genius of southern soul – a set that brings together the rare early 70s singles from Dan Greer, plus a huge amount of unreleased work as well! Dan recorded these cuts for the Sounds Of Memphis label, in a style that really shows the changes in... read more

Wonderful solo work from Billy Griffin – the man who headed The Miracles after Smokey Robinson left the group – heard here on a string of classic 80s sides for Columbia Records! Billy's got a sound that's almost as sweet as Smokey at his best – but a groove that's a bit deeper... read more

A stone classic from the great Gwen Guthrie – a singer who forged some brilliant vocals in the backdrop of other folks' soul sessions – then really exploded forth as a star on her own, with a handful of key albums in the early 80s! This cooker really shows off Guthrie's ear for the... read more

Classic work from Gwen Guthrie – a tight batch of keyboard-heavy cuts that sparkles with a strong 80s groove! Deodato's at the helm on production, and he clearly helps direct the sound of the set – giving it some of the sharpness and focus of his other 80s soul productions – and... read more

Early work from Gwen Guthrie – produced by Sly & Robbie, but with a sweet modern soul sound that's got a lot less of their influence than you'd guess! The sound is much more New York than Jamaica – and that's probably due to some great instrumental backing on keyboards by the likes... read more

Some of the funkiest, clubbiest work we've ever heard from the African scene of the 70s – great grooves that would be right at home on the New York dancefloors of the time! The style here is definitely drawn from disco, yet is a lot more funk-based too – more in the farther reaches of... read more

An overlooked gem from the equally-overlooked Clay Hammond – a sweet 70s groover that offers up a great mix of modern and deep soul modes! Clay's vocals are still every bit as great as on some of his earlier soul singles, but the arrangements push things into tighter territory that's mighty... read more

Seminal sides from Herbie Hancock – amazing material recorded for Warner Brothers in the years between his time at Blue Note and his big fame at Columbia Records – all sides that definitely show Hancock as one mighty righteous cat! Herbie's really stretching past his more conventional... read more

Sax-heavy New Orleans R&B instrumentals from Herb Hardesty – the tenor player and secret weapon in Fats Domino's band – one of those incredible players whose name isn't as well known as the sound of his instrument! His sax sounds really great out front and in the lead –... read more

Funky, soulful, and completely sublime work from keyboardist Gene Harris – working here with some great help from Jerry Peters on arrangement and production – in a style that makes the album one of Harris' most compelling sets of the 70s! The backings are full, but tight too –... read more

One of the best 70s mellow soul talents at Atlantic Records – sounding completely sublime here in a full set of Philly arrangements! The set was recorded at Sigma Sound – and is a great reminder that even during the disco years, the studio was still a great place to cut a heartbreaking... read more

An obscure west coast soul set from Quinn Harris – a well-titled "mastermind" with a great ear for a gritty groove! The set's got a really unique sort of feel – not just straight funk, but not straight soul either – kind of a hip blend of modes that often includes some... read more

A weird and wonderful album from Tribe Records giant Wendell Harrison – an obscure electric set from the start of the 80s! There's still a strongly spiritual feel on the record, but Wendell also adds some Fender Rhodes and vocals to his work on tenor and flute – bringing in the same... read more

A stunning disco classic from Dan Hartman – maybe an unlikely talent for the dancefloors, given his image on the cover – but an artist who definitely went onto shape the sound of the clubs at the end of the 70s! The album's got the Hartman groove really hitting hard, and right on the... read more

One of the best albums ever by this legendary Chicago soul star! The album's masterful blend of spiritual soul tracks that plumb the depths of Donny's dark soul – done with a level of sophistication that you won't hear in other soul albums from the time! Classic cuts include "A Song... read more

Both Donny Hathaway concert albums in a single set – both on US CD for the first time! CD 1 features Donny Hathaway Live – massively beautiful work from the legendary Donny! After two studio albums that had firmly put him on the map as one of the 70s best soul talents, Atco had the... read more

Perhaps Donny Hathaway's greatest album from the 70s, and certainly the one with the most amazing arrangements! The record was Donny's last studio session, and it's got him working at a level that's far advanced from even his groundbreaking earlier work – using complicated rhythms and... read more

Two live albums and three studio classics – the near-complete Atlantic recordings of the legendary Donny Hathaway! Donny's one of our favorite soul artists of all time – not just because he hails from our hometown of Chicago, but also because his music is beautiful, brilliant, and... read more

An amazing collection of music – and essential to any collection of blacksploitation soul and funk, even if you own the original Shaft album on Stax! Disc 1 features the original film score for the Shaft movie, not the record issued by Stax – so although Isaac Hayes handled the music,... read more

Leon Haywood's best album from the 70s! After working as a keyboardist and sometimes vocalist for a number of years – making some strong and some tentative entries into the soul genre – Leon really exploded with this album, an electric funk classic that gave the world his fantastic... read more

A massively tripped-out set of guitar-based funk – played to perfection by the legendary Eddie Hazel, best known for his work in the George Clinton P-Funk empire! The album offers a different side of Eddie's talents – one that's produced with a smoothly compressed California groove, in... read more

Amazing sounds from the SF scene of the 70s – previously unreleased work that really opens up a whole new chapter of jazz on the west coast! The HE3 Project is the brainchild of keyboardist Herman Ebertizsch – who plays lots of Fender Rhodes and moog on this sweet little record –... read more

The coolest chapter so far in the long-lost story of the He3 Project – wonderfully spiritual jazz sounds from the San Francisco scene of the early 70s – recorded with a wicked blend of instrumentation and vocals, and a really cosmic sound overall! The music isn't just the usual... read more

A second chapter of excellent jazzy soul from the HE3 (Herman Eberitzch III) Project – killer stuff recorded from 1974 to 1977 at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco – with a sound that blends intense, yet sultry disco era live soul with both jazzier and funkier sounds! HE is on... read more

A seminal set of grooves – two Headhunters classics on a single set! First up is Survival Of The Fittest – a landmark bit of jazz funk from one of the greatest backup groups of the 70s! Herbie Hancock first brought The Headhunters to light – working with the San Francisco-based... read more

Man, these guys never seem to miss – and always come up with some great little tunes that snap along in a really compelling way! This album might be easy to overlook in favor of the band's bigger classics, but it's a stone winner all the way through – with a number of tunes that groove... read more

A pair of mid 70s classics from Heawave – Too Hot To Handle & Central Heating – in a 2CD set with bonus tracks! Too Hot To Handle is a killer album of crossover soul – one that dropped like a bomb when it hit, and gave this UK group a number of big hits in America! ... read more

A crowning moment from the Chicago scene of the late 70s – the second Mercury album from Heaven & Earth, and a stunner all the way through! The set's an undisputed groover right from the start – thanks to the massive arrangements from the great Floyd Morris – an artist who... read more

Excellent work from this smooth Chicago vocal group! The album may well be the best the group ever recorded – and it features some stellar ballad work produced with a nice spacey tone, almost in a Rose Royce mellow mode – by Jerry Butler's Fountain Productions team and by Clarence... read more

The first compilation to really do justice to jazz funk legend Eddie Henderson – and a great one, too! Henderson's spacey trumpet style graced some of the best Blue Note and Capitol jazz sides to come out during the 70s – and his open-ended snakey way of playing was very different than... read more

A sweet 80s classic from Finis Henderson – and the kind of record that should have launched him on a much bigger run as a lead singer! Despite the plastic look of the cover, the album's really solidly put together – produced by Al McKay with a vibe that definitely echoes his work with... read more