Features Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Joe Lovano, and Houston Person – plus arrangements by Hank Crawford and Benny Golson. CD

One of Lou's most jazz-oriented albums – featuring backing by Les McCann's famous trio with Leroy Vinnegar and Ron Jefferson, perfectly suited to Lou's soulful renditions of the tunes on the album. Most of the numbers are bluesy ones, but as usual, Lou manages to give them his own hip twist – always a pleasure for us! Titles include "In The Evening", "Sweet Lover", "Willow Weep For Me", "Stormy Monday", and "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do". CD features 3 bonus cuts – "A Little Les Of Lou's Blues", "Blues Is A Woman", and an alternate take of "Stormy Monday". CD

Features Bobby Watson, David Newman, Jack Walrath, and Steve Turre on horns – plus Steve Kahn and Cornell Dupree on guitar. CD

2 early Capitol classics by Lou Rawls – back to back on one CD, and perfectly paired throughout! Black and Blues is quite possibly the first truly great Lou Rawls album for Capitol – an all-out swinging jazz session done with arrangements by Onzy Matthews, in a mode that firmly helped put the Lou Rawls sound on the map! The tracks are mostly older numbers from a long lineage of blues and R&B – but with hipper 60s touches by Matthews in the backings, Lou really swings the work into a whole new territory – moving older, clunky compositions into more adult, more mature modes that aren't nearly as sad or downtrodden as their roots! Titles include "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water", "Roll Em Pete", "Kansas City", "World Of Trouble", "Trouble In Mind", "Strange Fruit", and "Six Cold Feet Of Ground". Tobacco Road was a real breakthrough for Lou – a set that again paired him with arranger Onzy Matthews, and which even more deeply explored the unique space between jazz, soul, and the blues that became Rawls' prime territory back in the 60s! Matthews' backings are hip and jazzy throughout – filled with bold horn touches from players that include Lou Blackburn, Curtis Amy, Sonny Criss, and even Horace Tapscott – who's playing trombone here instead of his more familiar piano. Ray Crawford's guitar underscores a good number of the tracks here with that clean, lean, single-note style of his – but Lou is the clear star throughout with his deeply-voiced lyrics of older familiar tunes. Titles include his landmark reworking of "Tobacco Road", plus "Summertime", "Stormy Weather", "Rocking Chair", "Ol Man River", "St Louis Blues", and "Sentimental Journey". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and the previously unissued "Gloomy Sunday". CD

Nice compilation of material by Lou from his early jazzy period in the 60's. There's lots of nice straight jazz renditions of material like "Willow Weep For Me", "Nobody But Me", "Rockin' Chair", and "If It's The Last Thing I Do" – and they're all done in Lou's best jazz voice. 18 tracks in all, with no pop schmaltz or 70's material. CD

More than just a great overview of Lou Rawls' jazz work for Capitol Records – because the set also features 3 previously unissued numbers that Rawls recorded with the Curtis Amy Sextet! Those 3 tracks are almost worth the price of the album alone – as Amy's combo was one of the hippest on the LA scene of the time, and offers Lou a rare opportunity to sing in a more relaxed setting than some of his more tightly arranged big band numbers. But honestly, all the work here is pretty darn great – and even the already-issued tracks are tremendous – a great illustration of how Lou linked together jazz and blues during the 60s soul era – and came up with a classy, sophisticated groove that inspired many others in years to come! Arrangements are by Benny Carter, Onzy Matthews, and HB Barnum – and titles include "Nobody But Me", "How Long How Long Blues", "Blues For Weepers", "Something Stirring In My Soul", "I Wonder", "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield", "Old Folks", "Somebody Have Mercy", and "Why Do I Love You So" – as well as the 3 unissued numbers, "Fine & Mellow", "Mean Old World", and "Long Gone Blues". CD

With 17 tracks including "World Of Trouble", "Tobacco Road", "Stormy Monday", "Dead End Street", "Love Is A Hurtin' Thing", "At Last", "Fine Brown Frame", and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". CD

A rare soul treasure – previously unissued work from Little Willie John, cut for Capitol Records by the mighty David Axelrod! The pairing is quite unique, but it's a great one – and if anything, Little Willie John sparkles here even more than on his later King sides – finding a hipper 60s groove that moves way past older R&B modes! Willie's vocals are still wonderful, and they're set up here with arrangements from HB Barnum – who brings in plenty of bounce, snap, and vamp to the grooves – similar to his more famous Axelrod productions for Lou Rawls, but rougher and grittier here in the company of John. A few cuts bring in more ambitious backings – taking Little Willie into the same space as his longtime fan and supporter James Brown – at least in the way Brown hit ballads during the 60s – and given Axelrod's hand in the studio, there's a clarity here that the singer hardly would have found at King Records, who blocked the initial release of this material back in the 60s. CD features 20 tracks in all – a number of alternates, and the master takes – with tunes that include "Crying Over You", "Country Girl", "Suffering With The Blues", "Never Let Me Go", "I Had A Dream", "In The Dark", "Welcome To The Club", "I Need Someone", and "Early In The Morning". CD

Features music from Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Rose Royce, the Brothers Johnson, Curtis Mayfield, the Spinners, the Jackson 5, the Emotions, Lou Rawls, Labelle, Isaac Hayes, Chic, Al Green, the O Jays, Kool & the Gang & more. CD

A dozen tracks from the Emotions, O'Jay's, Cheryl Lynn, Wild Cherry, Tavares, Three Degrees, Heatwave, Lou Rawls, MFSB, and Johnnie Taylor. CD

Includes 18 tracks by Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Minnie Riperton, Tyrone Davis, Johnnie Taylor, Luther Ingram, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Gladys Knight, The Chi-Lites and more! CD

Music from the Intruders, Billy Paul, Bunny Sigler, Ebonys, Jacksons, Futures, Lou Rawls, Dee Dee Sharp, O'Jays, Three Degrees, and more. CD

A key moment from the late sixties – probably better known now through the film by D.A. Pennebaker – but just as great here in this deluxe box set! The set features music from John Phillips, the Association, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Canned Heat, Country Joe & the Fish, the Steve Miller Band, the Electric Flag, Lou Rawls, Ravi Shankar, Jefferson Airplane, Booker T & the MGs, the Who, Otis Redding, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Mamas & the Papas, and more – plus an awesome oversized booklet packed with great photos and notes! (Rock, Soul) CD

Music from John Phillips, The Association, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Canned Heat, Country Joe & The Fish, Steve Miller Band, Electric Flag, Lou Rawls, Ravi Shankar, Jefferson Airplane, Booker T & The MGs, The Who, Ottis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas & the Papas, and more. (Rock, Soul) CD

A key moment in the career of vocalist Ernestine Anderson – a record that not only returned her to the public eye after a flurry of initial sides in the late 50s and early 60s, but which also finally helped Anderson find a sound that worked! The album's done with backing by the Monty Alexander trio – in a style that's bluesy and soul jazz inflected, but with a sweeter west coast sound – almost an early 80s equivalent of the groove explored by Lou Rawls or Ernie Andrews in LA during the mid 60s, but done with an even more relaxed, jazz-based approach here. The title track – "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" – was an instant standout that got Anderson play in many corners of the US – and other tracks are more familiar numbers, but done in a similar mode – with titles that include "Old Folks", "As Long As I Live", "Just One More Chance", "Poor Butterfly", and "My Shining Hour". (Vocalists, Soul) CD

A key moment from the late sixties – includes music by the Animals, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Lou Rawls, and Johnny Rivers. (Rock, Soul) CD