Diana and the ladies recorded live at London's Talk Of The Town nitespot – with arrangements conducted by Jimmy Garrett, and a set of tracks that includes a number of medleys of standards and late 60s pop tunes. Titles include "Mame", "Reflections", "In & Out Of Love", "Without A Song", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Michelle", "You Keep Me Hangin On", "The Lady Is a Tramp", and "The Happening". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary live set from the 60s all-stars of Stax Records – a performance in London in the late 60s, as the label follows Motown's lead on taking its big names overseas! The lineup is legendary, and most of the tunes are familiar by the artists, but get nice fresh versions here – sometimes a bit quicker, and sometimes a bit rougher – both of which makes a nice change from the iconic classics. Titles include "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MGs, "Philly Dog" by The Mark-Keys, "Knock On Wood" and "If I Had A Hammer" by Eddie Floyd, "Hold On I'm Comin" and "I Take What I Want" by Sam & Dave, "Shake" by Otis Redding, and "Yesterday" by Carla Thomas. LP, Vinyl record album

Chuck Berry makes the same London move as some of his other Chess Records contemporaries – and the result is one of Chuck's best albums from the later years! The set's not as star-studded as other efforts of this nature – but that's fine with us because Chuck really shines as the lead star out front, on both vocals and guitar – getting some great gritty backing from players who include Derek Griffiths and Owen McIntyre on guitar, Ian McLagen and Dave Kaffinetti on piano, and Rick Gretsch on bass. The set features a mix of London studio recordings and a few live tracks – and titles include "I Will Not Let You Go", "London Berry Blues", "Let's Boogie", "Mean Old World", "Johnny B Goode", and "I Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

This is the second of two live albums that Marvin Gaye cut during the 70s – and in many ways, it's the better one! The record features three sides of work recorded live at the London Palladium – mostly in these swirling medleys that are introduced by Marvin in a very soulful mode, then swing into well-arranged combinations of classic tunes with some excellent instrumentation. The album features a few straight cuts like "Since I Had You", "Let's Get It On", "Trouble Man", and "Come Get To This" – but the medleys are great, too, especially the one on side 2, which features kind of a mini version of the album What's Going On! But then, even after all that, side 4 opens up in a slamming studio track – the extended funky groover "Got To Give It Up", which has some great keyboards by Marvin and cool rhythm work by Jack Ashford. All very funky, and Marvin's big bid at a club cut – one that worked pretty darn well! LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal album in the development of Philadelphia International – who seemed to be taking a cue from Motown and Stax in the 60s, by bringing their biggest act to a European audience! The set features the O'Jays working as beautifully in a live setting as they had in the Sigma Sound studios – singing to arrangements by Dennis Williams, but still getting enough production by Bobby Martin to keep the sound in line with their better known studio work from the time. There's a bit of a deeper soul sound overall here – especially on the vocals, which crackle nicely with a live sense of spontaneity. Titles include "Back Stabbers", "Sunshine", "Love Train", "When The World Is A Peace", and "Put Your Hands Together" – plus a few vocal introductions! LP, Vinyl record album

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Seminal work from Bloodstone – an album that may be the group's best-remembered effort, and for good reason too! The album sets a whole new standard for harmony soul in the 70s – one that's tighter than some of the east coast groups, yet never too slick or polished – kind of a slow-building style that's filled with warmth, but has some trippier elements on the funky cuts too – a really great mashing of styles that instantly set Bloodstone apart from their contemporaries! At one level, the group seem to channel the fragile sounds of The Moments/Whatnauts – but at another, they pick up the heavier vibe of the Norman Whitfield-produced groups – with lots of bass at the bottom, and some psych soul production. The album includes their monster track "Natural High", which has some killer harmonies, plus other nice ones like "You Know We've Learned", "Peter's Jones", "Ran It In The Ground", and "Tell It To My Face". LP, Vinyl record album

Bloodstone's augmented here by a heck of a lot of studio players – more than enough to fill out the needs of the soundtrack to this so-so film from the mid 70s. A few cuts still have the group singing in their better harmony style, but more than a few numbers are remakes of 50s vocal group classics or older standards – in a mode that clearly shows that Bloodstone's control over the score was maybe not as strong as that of other groups working on soundtracks at the time. Titles include "Yakety Yak", "Hooray For Romance", "Go To Sleep", "I'm In Shape", and "Money". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work from the legendary Fela – definitely at the top of his game here, and brimming over with energy supplied by the Africa 70 ensemble! The tracks are long and freewheeling – but never without a sense of direction – as every ounce of the music is devoted to serving up the message of the man – from the way the keyboards step out over the grooves, to the sublime saxophone solos, to the rising energy when the vocals take flight in call/response mode! "Upside Down" is a monster groover with great rumbling sound – and "Go Slow" is slightly mellower, but no less soulful and funky. (Global Grooves, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the funkiest grooves recorded in the UK during the early 70s – the wicked first album by the Olympic Runners, a group who almost got their start by accident! The combo was booked to back up bluesman Jimmy Dawkins for a one-off session in London – but worked together so well in the studio, jamming before Dawkins showed up, that they decided to make it a go with a groove of their own – and this fantastic funky album is the result! The tracks are all instrumental, mostly short and midtempo – with tight changes, lots of guitar and keyboards, and a vibe that's almost in the spirit of Average White Band – but grittier and funkier overall. The title cut – "Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is" – begins with this riffed bass part that's virtually a blueprint for the BDP generation of samples – and other cuts include "Everyone A Winner", "Do it Over", "Taco Toes", "Grab It", "Sproutin Out", "Just Once Is Enough", and "Be My Main Squeeze". LP, Vinyl record album

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An obscure bit of disco from the UK – possibly put together by Brit Easy man Roland Shaw – mostly pretty sleepy, but with a few nice numbers that have kind of a smooth and easy feel to them. There's a few female vocals floating in and out of the mix, but mostly on the campier numbers that are kind of throwaway material. The best cuts are the mellow "Discover Me", and the funky "Bubbling Brown Sugar". LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool – the London production of this hip musical adaptation of Othello – maybe even better than the American one! Singers include PP Arnold and PJ Proby – and backings are by the rock group Gass! (Soundtracks, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Hammering stuff! This is one of the hardest of the Goldmine compilations – with a heavy-duty garagey mix of soul, R&B, and beat-heavy tunes that fit perfectly together. The overall sound is super-mod, with the kind of grooves you'd expect to find at some wonderful underground party in London during the late 60s – where original soulboys are dancing all night long to a color-blind mix of storming chunes. Titles include "The Snake" by Al Wilson, "Jump & Dance" by Carnaby, "Exus Trek" by Luther Ingram, "Alligator Boogaloo" by Sandy Nelson, "These Boots Were Made For Walkin" by The Happy Cats, "Charley" by The Soul Runners, "Coffee Pot 2" by Bo Junior, "Crawling Up A Hill" by John Mayall, "Wobble Legs" by Tommy Dark, "Chain Gang" by The Powerhouse, and "Baby You Got It" by The Truth. 20 cuts in all – and all hardcore! (Funky Compilations, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest soundtracks ever for a Burt Reynolds film – an a hip mix of soul and jazz tracks that's gone onto become a classic over the years! The album's a compilation of sorts, but most of the material was recorded fresh for the film – and the different artists really work together here to forge some great backdrops for the action on the screen! Al Capps handled the larger charts, but most numbers really spotlight an individual artist – and highlights include Randy Crawford singing a new version of "Street Life" – different than the one with The Crusaders – Sarah Vaughan singing "Love Theme From Sharky's Machine", Peggy Lee vocals on "Let's Keep Dancing", and Julie London singing "My Funny Valentine" – as one of the first recordings after many years of retirement. Other great numbers include "Dope Bust" by Flora Purim & Buddy DeFranco, "Sharky's Theme" by Eddie Harris, "Before You" by Sarah Vaughan & Joe Williams, "8 To 5 I Lose" by Joe Williams, and the instrumental cuts "Sexercise" and "High Energy" by Doc Severinsen. (Soundtracks, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful little live album from Jose Feliciano – recorded in London at the end of the 60s, with a sound that's often more stripped down than his studio work of the time! Jose's on vocals and guitar, backed by only a bit of bass and percussion – so the record's almost got the intimacy of a solo effort, which is quite astounding – given the obvious size of the concert setting! The double-length nature of the record allows Jose to stretch out a bit more than usual – and take on a nice variety of material that really show his growing talents at the time. Titles include "High Heel Sneakers", "Mama Don't Allow It", "La Entrada De Bilboa", "The Comedy Bit", "Malaguena", "No Dogs Allowed", "Day Tripper", "Black Orpheus Medley", "California Dreamin", "Light My Fire", "Day In the Life", and "El Voh". (Rock, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

A great vinyl release of beautiful live material from one of the greatest new soul stars of the past decade – plus rare and previously unreleased tracks! Sides A & B of this double vinyl set features rare tracks and remixes of album tracks by some of the most influential hip hop figures of the last couple of decades. Tracks include "Brown Sugar" (Buckwild rmx feat Kool G Rap", "Cold War" (remix featuring GZA & Inspectah Deck), "You're My Lady" (Premier remix featuring AZ), "Ghetto Heaven" (rmx) with Common and more! The live portion of the album on sides C & D is essentially the Japanese release Live At The Jazz Cafe – a stellar D'Angelo set from legendary London groove room! The crowd is extremely enthusiastic, and the whole thing falls together beautifully – with a hard raw soul vibe that's similar to, but edgier than, D'Angelo's studio albums. Lots of great electric piano, soulful vocals, and great backing by a tight band. Titles include "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker", "Me & Those Dreamin Eyes Of Mine" (featuring Angie Stone", "Brown Sugar", and "Cruisin". Also includes great covers of 70s soul classics "Can't Hide Love" and "Heaven Must Be Like This". (Neo Soul, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

An Afro-Funk classic! The track "Bananaticoco" by Max B has been compiled a number of times over the years, but few have gotten a chance to hear Max's super-heavy album of funk from 1973. The record's quite different than the fast Fela-like "Bananaticoco" groove, with a melange of slower funky styles – a bit like Chakachas, a bit like Lafayette Afro Rock Band, and with traces of some of the post-colonial Afro Funk groups working around London during the late 60s and early 70s. This one's got plenty of fuzzed-out guitars, rolling blown-out basslines, and heavy acoustic percussion to give the album a kick from underneath. Lots of party grooves on this one – and titles include "Free", "Samba", "Bameloo", "Nessa", "1er Movimiento", and "Poker". (Global Grooves, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

The continuing evolution of the great Jess Roden – an lesser-known 70s talent who emerged from the jazz rock scene in the UK at the end of the 60s – but who's working here in a much more sophisticated mode! Jess always had a lot of soul in his style right from the start – that 60s London love of R&B and American roots – and here he fuses it with some hip arrangements from Leon Pendarvis, who takes the older Roden groove into sweet New York territory that comes across with a surprising degree of modern soul at times. There's lots of jazz in the instrumentation – including sax solos from Harold Vick and Scott Hamilton – and Jess has honestly never sounded better – extremely expressive, even on the mellower moments. Titles include "The Hardest Blow", "Drinking Again", "Sensation", "Misty Roses", "Woman Across The Water", and "The Quiet Sound Of You & I". (Rock, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album