Funky Compilations — CDs  

Here's some chillout music we can really get behind – mellow soul tracks with a beautifully gentle groove – all cut back in the days when an artist could relax a bit without ever losing their cool! The set's heavy on mellow modern soul numbers – all hand-picked by Expansion Records frontman Ralph Tee – who's shown us for decades that he's really got a golden ear when it comes to music like this! There's loads of great gentle steppers on the package, sung by some of the best voices of the mainstream soul scene at the end of the 70s – cuts that include "We Need Love" by Chapter 8, "Be My Girl" by Michael Henderson, "We Found Love" by The Dynamics, "Gonna Make Changes" by Phyllis Hyman, "No Love Nowhere Without You" by Linda Williams, "Ain't That Love Baby" by Lou Rawls, "Brother Brother" by Esther Phillips, "What Do You Want Me To Do" by Lou Courtney, "Stay" by Glenn Jones, "We Never Said Goodbye" by Dionne Warwick, and "Paintings Of Love" by Keni Burke.

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.

A treasure trove of wonderful tunes – all written by the legendary southern soul team of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham! The pair rarely entered the spotlight themselves, but contributed countless compositions that helped forge the sound of southern soul in the 60s – classic tunes that made the music of Memphis and Muscle Shoals even more mighty than anyone might have expected – thanks to a depth of feeling, sensitivity of emotion, and a trademark undercurrent of sadness that really helped the music set a new level at the time! This collection is the first to really do justice to the full range of the Penn/Oldham catalog – a beautiful batch of soul singles from a variety of different 60s labels – laid out back to back, in a breathtaking tapestry of soulful music. Titles include "Feed The Flame" by Ted Taylor, "Take Me" by Solomon Burke, "I'm Your Puppet" by Dionne Warwick, "Out Of Left Field" by Percy Sledge, "Cry Like A Baby" by Arthur Alexander, "It Tears Me Up" by Jeanne Newman, "I Met Her In Church" by Tony Borders, "I Need Someone" by The Wallace Brothers, "In The Same Old Way" by Arthur Conley, "Let It Happen" by James Carr, "Are You Never Coming Home" by Sandy Posey, and "I Worship The Ground You Walk On" by Etta James.

Not straight soundtrack work, but a wealth of groovy jazz and vocal cover versions – almost all of them from hip 60s movies, presented here in a really wonderful package! The tunes often have the sort of exotic tinges you might guess from the title and cover – an approach that's somewhat loungey, but never in a sleepy or gimmicky way – thanks to an excellent choice of artists for the set! Instrumentation includes vibes, flute, Hammond, and plenty of percussion – and the balance here has a lot more on the instrumental side than the vocal one – although the tracks with singers are still pretty great too. Titles include "Our Mann Flint" by Herbie Mann, "Moon River Cha Cha" by Barney Kessel, "Exodus" by Quartette Tres Bien, "Kookie's Mad Pad" by Ed Byrnes, "Daktari" by Shelly Manne, "Theme From Lawrence Of Arabia" by Les Baxter, "Never On Sunday" by Calvin Jackson, "Batman Theme" by The Marketts, "It's Not Unusual" by Marty Paich, "Latin Golightly" by Barney Kessel, "A Mann & A Woman" by Herbie Mann & Tamiko Jones, "Alfie" by Dionne Warwick, "Theme From MASH" by Jimmy Smith, "Sunday In New York" by Mel Torme, "Theme From Midnight Cowboy" by Young-Holt Unlimited, and "The Shadow Of Your Smile" by Esther Phillips.