Funky Compilations — All Formats  

Very cool compilation featuring a whole mess of great lost funk tracks from the legendary Westbound label – including a few unreleased cuts! There's a number of tracks on here that we just about never see, and some more that you'll only find on rare funky 45s. Tracks include "Getting It Off", an instrumental by Fuzzy Haskins, "Super Funk" by Erasmus Hall, "In The Pocket" by Boots, "Funk It Down" by Caesar Frazier, "Just Us" by Crowd Pleasers, "Funky Beethoven" by Gene Anderson, "Be What You Is" by U.S. Music & Funkadelic, and "Funky World (parts 1 & 2)" by Silky Vincent. Very cool stuff, and with a good set of notes! Plus, this CD version includes the extra tracks "Hickey Burr" by Caesar Frazier, "Loose Booty" by Funkadelic, "Sweet Thing" by Houston Outlaws, "Hit It & Quit It" by Bobby Franklin's Insanity, and more!

A host of wonderful work produced by James Brown – most of it by a range of different singers, and one by The Godfather himself! The collection brings together some of the earliest James Brown productions – mid 60s tracks recorded for King and Smash Records, most of which aren't nearly as well known as later JB productions for the People and Polydor labels! As with that later work, all the grooves here are right in the same territory that James was hitting himself – upbeat, funky, and stone out of sight soul – all with plenty of rough edges, and backings from the same tight core of musicians that were helping out Brown on his recordings. The package is a real treasure – and is a great complement to the James Brown Singles collections from the Hip-O Select label – proof that even in these early days, James was clearly the hardest working man in show business – given all his time in the studio with other artists! 22 tracks in all – including "I Found Out" and "I'll Keep Pressing On" by Bobby Byrd, "That's When I Cry" and "If You Don't Think" by Anna King, "I Don't Care" and "Unexplainable" by Dizzy Jones, "Got No Excuse" and "If You Don't Work You Can't Eat" by James Crawford, "Do You Really Want To Rescue Me (part 1)" by Elsie Mae, "Lookie Lookie Lookie" by The Jewells, "Wide Awake In A Dream" and "Nobody Cares" by Vicki Anderson, "Devil's Den" by The Poets, "It Hurts To Be In Love" by Yvonne Fair, "That's The Spirit" by Rev Willingham, "Faith" by The Five Royales, "I Cried" by Tammy Montgomery, "Soul Food (parts 1 & 2)" by Al Brisco Clark, and "New Breed (The Boo Ga Loo) (part 1)" by James Brown.

One of the best-ever compilations of James Brown work – and the second slammin' hard compilation of great tracks from the People label. This one's got some more obscure stuff (including 2 unreleased tracks), and material by Bobby Byrd, Vicki Anderson, Maceo, Marva Whitney, Hank Ballard, and more! The groove's tight and hard, and tracks include "Do Your Thing", "Cross The Track", "I Know You Got Soul", "From The Love Side", "What Do I Have To Do To Prove My Love To You", and the massive "Message From the Soul Sisters", and incredible track with a great sample! Also includes 2 CD bonus cuts, one of which is the insanely great "Super Good (parts 1&2)" by Vicki Anderson (recording as Myra Barnes).

A pretty impressive testament to the songwriting of Skip Scarborough – a great compilations of soaringly soulful numbers he wrote from some of the best and biggest soul & R&B singers and groups of the late 70s onward! The set is pretty heavily weighted with numbers from the last couple years of the 70s, with a few from the 80s and later gem or 2 – songs by Earth Wind & Fire, Phyllis Hyman, Freda Payne, Syreeta, LTD, Creative Source, Bobby Humphrey, Patti Labelle, The Emotions and more. A good deal of it is in the somewhat laidback, yet purely soulful and sophisticated style – but his songwriting talent has quite a reach, from string-laden disco era dancefloor soul to boogie, tduets fodder and well beyond. A very well chosen set! Includes "Lover To Lover" by Maxi Anderson, "Earth Wind & Fire" by Earth Wind & Fire, "Funky Luvah" by Creative Source, "Tell Me Please" by Freda Payne, "Love Changes" by Mother's Finest, "Can't Hide Love" by Dionne Warwick, "Don't Ask My Neighbors" by The Emotions, "Dancin To Keep From Cryin" by Bobby Humphrey and more. 18 tracks in all.

Soul Jazz Records takes on country music – and the result is one of their most compelling collections in years! As you'd guess from the title, there's a definite focus on females here – country singers from the 60s and 70s especially, often presented in unusual tunes that work together perfectly – showing a strong sense of power as the set rolls on, a surprisingly strong feminist bent that most folks might miss in the music! That special focus is what really makes the collection shine – a great ear for tunes we might have missed otherwise, pulled together from the farther reaches of the artists' careers, and given the special Soul Jazz spin in the notes – just to let you know that none of these great qualities were accidental. Titles include "Mr Walker It's All Over" by Billie Jo Spears, "Two Whoops & A Holler" by Jean Shepard, "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" by Tammy Wynette, "Reunion" by Bobby Gentry, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" by Kitty Wells, "I'll Never Do You Wrong" by Diana Trask, "I've Done A Lot Of Living Since Then" by Jeannie C Riley, "Fancy" by Lynn Anderson, "Saunders Ferry Lane" by Sammi Smith, "A Woman Left Lonely" by Jody Miller, and "He's All I Got" by Norma Jean.

Soul Jazz Records takes on country music – and the result is one of their most compelling collections in years! As you'd guess from the title, there's a definite focus on females here – country singers from the 60s and 70s especially, often presented in unusual tunes that work together perfectly – showing a strong sense of power as the set rolls on, a surprisingly strong feminist bent that most folks might miss in the music! That special focus is what really makes the collection shine – a great ear for tunes we might have missed otherwise, pulled together from the farther reaches of the artists' careers, and given the special Soul Jazz spin in the notes – just to let you know that none of these great qualities were accidental. Titles include "Mr Walker It's All Over" by Billie Jo Spears, "Two Whoops & A Holler" by Jean Shepard, "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" by Tammy Wynette, "Reunion" by Bobby Gentry, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" by Kitty Wells, "I'll Never Do You Wrong" by Diana Trask, "I've Done A Lot Of Living Since Then" by Jeannie C Riley, "Fancy" by Lynn Anderson, "Saunders Ferry Lane" by Sammi Smith, "A Woman Left Lonely" by Jody Miller, and "He's All I Got" by Norma Jean.

The tough, but tender ladies of 60s and 70s country music – sweet, soaring and soulful tunes from a bunch of women who'd eventually crossover to mainstream superstardom – and others who are mostly beloved these days to us vintage honky tonk and country soul diggers! The Country Soul Sisters series does a terrific job of highlighting the strains of soul and countrified funk rumbling underneath so many great 60s and 70s Nashville productions – something we've tried to convince folks of for years – and beyond doing us that cultural solid, it's a straight-up fantastic batch of groovy music. Vol 2 is even better than the first – with tunes by Dolly Parton, Jeannie C Riley, Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Bobbie Gentry, Jean Shepard, Kitty Wells and many more! Includes Includes "Little Town Square" by Jeannie C. Riley, "Color Him Father" by Linda Martell, "The Bargain Store" by Dolly Parton, "My Baby Walked Right Out On Me" by Wanda Jackson, "Okolona River Bottom Band" by Bobbie Gentry, Linda Ronstadt's country chanteuse take on Dylan's "Baby, You've On My Mind", "I'm Alone" by Jean Shepard, "Your Ole Handy Man" by Jan Howard, "I Never Said I Love You" by Barbara Mandrell, "If I Can't Be Your Woman" by Lynn Anderson and more.

The tough, but tender ladies of 60s and 70s country music – sweet, soaring and soulful tunes from a bunch of women who'd eventually crossover to mainstream superstardom – and others who are mostly beloved these days to us vintage honky tonk and country soul diggers! The Country Soul Sisters series does a terrific job of highlighting the strains of soul and county-fied funk rumbling underneath so many great 60s and 70s Nashville productions – something we've tried to convince folks of for years – and beyond doing us that cultural solid, it's a straight-up fantastic batch of groovy music. Vol 2 is even better than the first – with tunes by Dolly Parton, Jeannie C Riley, Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Bobbie Gentry, Jean Shepard, Kitty Wells and many more! Includes Includes "Little Town Square" by Jeannie C. Riley, "Color Him Father" by Linda Martell, "The Bargain Store" by Dolly Parton, "My Baby Walked Right Out On Me" by Wanda Jackson, "Okolona River Bottom Band" by Bobbie Gentry, Linda Ronstadt's country chanteuse take on Dylan's "Baby, You've On My Mind", "I'm Alone" by Jean Shepard, "Your Ole Handy Man" by Jan Howard, "I Never Said I Love You" by Barbara Mandrell, "If I Can't Be Your Woman" by Lynn Anderson and more.

A different side of the stepper's scene in Chicago – the more bluesy, southern soul-inflected one – kind of a criss-cross of two different modes in the Windy City! The tracks here are from a variety of sources, but all echo kind of a down home mode – often a modern take on older southern styles that comes off with a sweet little groove – one that's almost a musical illustration of the regional shifts that have taken place as folks from points south moved up to Chicago over the years. That's not to say that all the tunes here have Chicago origins, just that they play well in a side of the city's scene – and the track list includes "Hard Road To Travel" by Shakey Jake, "Wrapped Up In Your Love" by Joe Perkins, "That's When The Crying Begins" by Kip Anderson, "A Good Date" by Charles Earland, "Man To Woman" by Lonnie Youngblood, "Too Many Hands" by Otis Clay, "I'm At The Crossroad" by Vernon Garrett, "Blues For Gerry" by Mark III Trio, "Stone Hearted Woman" by Andrew Tibbs, and "Give It Back" by Lee Roberts.