A soul record we'd put up there with some of our favorites produced in Chicago during the early 70s – a gospel album from Pastor TL Barrett, but one that's gone on to legendary status among funk and soul collectors over the years! Barrett works here with his Youth For Christ Choir, of Mt. Zion Baptist Church – a south side ensemble that's filled with genuine spirit and passion, aimed towards lofty ideals – but set up with some deep secular soul production touches and instrumentation that keep things razor sharp throughout! The album was cut at the affordable Sound Market Studio – but behind the soaring, spirited lead and chorus vocal arrangements are players supervised by Chess Records sax player and arranger Gene Barge – with other Chess players Richard Evans and Phil Upchurch on the sessions too. Raw drums, grooving organ, and incredible bass lines lay the foundation, but it's the voices that really shine on this completely wonderful, totally essential set! Titles include "Like A Ship", "Wonderful", "It's Me O Lord", "Ever Since", "Nobody Knows", "Joyful Noice", "Medley/Dr. Watts Hymn & The Disciples Prayer" and "Blessed Quietness". (Gospel, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy duty fuzzy funk – and a landmark album from one of the most Hendrix-inspired groups of the early 70s! The style here is guitar funk with plenty of rock thrown in – all really fuzzed-up in production, and often a bit distorted – so that the group are kind of a lost link between the work of Betty Davis and the more mainstream sounds of Jimi! These guys also backed up Fugi on the massive "Mary, Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip", but the sound here's even heavier – even more guitar-jamming than early work by Funkadelic! Titles include the great stoned track "Cynthy-Ruth", plus "Prophet", "Reality", "I Don't Want To Die", and "Over & Over". LP, Vinyl record album

Almost a "greatest hit" of "greatest hits" collection – given the importance of this album to the David Bowie catalog! Sure, it compiles tracks from other releases – but it also was the album that gave the world the killer cut "John I'm Only Dancing" – one of the key cuts in Bowie's gender revision in the 70s – and a title that was previously only out as a single! Alongside that gem, you also get a fantastic run of greatness from Bowie's first chapter of recording – the kind of cuts that would make other singers weep – including "Space Oddity", "Changes", "Ziggy Stardust", "Suffragette City", "Jean Genie", "Diamond Dogs", "Rebel Rebel", "Young Americans", "Fame", and "Golden Years". (Rock, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

A righteous treasure from the end of the 60s – an album of vocal tracks recorded by the Minister Of Information for the Black Panther Party, set to backings from the legendary jazz visionary Horace Tapscott! Elaine Brown's less of a soul singer than a powerful speaker who delivers the lyrics with an almost folksy quality – singing boldly and with a sense of power that matches Tapscott's great orchestrations for the record – done in a style that's a fair bit like his Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra work for Nimbus Records, but a bit more inside – given the vocal setting of the record. Titles include "The Meeting", "The Panther", "Assassination", and "Very Black Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning set – and one of our favorite modern soul albums ever! The set was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in 1980, and it's one of the best-ever records to come out of that hallowed hall of grooves – a one-off debut from the team of Tonee & Bill Collins, set to impeccable arrangements from the mighty John Davis! The set's not really disco – more a blend of mellow soul and midtempo club – with a sound that evokes artists like Barry White, Leon Ware, and Leroy Hutson – but which also grooves with a feel that's all its own. Nearly every cut's fantastic, and although you may know the duo's classic "Top Of The Stairs" from other collections, there's loads of other nice tracks here too – like "You Know How To Make Me Feel So Good", "Can't Turn Down Love", and "You Made Me Believe". LP, Vinyl record album

An early full length album from the great Arthur Crudup – and one that wasn't cut until after he'd had years on the scene, including some work that was a key inspiration for Elvis Presley and others of his generation! The set's done in a nice raw style – that grittier side of the Fire/Fury label, with a vibe that's much more southern than you'd expect from the legendary New York imprint – really just Crudup on vocals and lean electric guitar, but with a nicely skittish drummer urging things on in a great way too! Titles include "Look On Yonder Wall", "Ethel Mae", "Greyhound Bus", "Coal Black Mare", "Dig Myself A Hole", and a great version of "That's Alright". (Blues, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

The fantastic first album by one of the most unique funk groups of all time! A key part of the crumbling British colonial network that produced some excellent music in the postwar years, Cymande was comprised mostly of West Indians who'd emigrated to England in the 60s, eventually meeting up under a shared musical vision – a completely new blend of funk, dub, jazz, and soul that was unlike anything else that had been recorded before, save for the work of a few other Brit groups of a similar nature. This first album's one of their greatest – and it's a refreshing batch of tunes that mix together heavy basslines, laidback drumming, and a righteous soul vocal style that's got a bit of a stoner touch. The album includes the group's massive cut "The Message", a bit of a minor hit when it was released (and later sampled quite famously) – plus the funky classics "Dove", "Zion I", "Listen", "Bra", and "Rickshaw". Pick this up, and sample one of the 70's most unique funk groups! LP, Vinyl record album

The final album from Betty Davis – and a killer cap to her stunning run of female funk classics in the 70s! The album was recorded at the end of the decade, but has a sharpness that's every bit as great as her earlier work for the Island and Just Sunshine labels – grooves that are more than sharp enough to match that raspy edge in Betty's vocals – given support with instrumentation that's a lot more mid 70s funk than some of the more disco-oriented productions in mainstream soul at the time! There's a fullness to the record that sometimes recalls Labelle at their best, or maybe even solo work from Nona Hendryx – but as always, Betty is very much her own woman, and opens up some new doors on a few mellow cuts or jazzier moments that come as a nice surprise, and which balance out the album in a great way. The set features work from Herbie Hancock on keyboards and Alphonse Mouzon on drums – and titles include "Quintessence Of Hip", "She's A Woman", "I've Danced Before", "I Need A Whole Lot Of Love", "Hangin Out In Hollywood", "Crashin From Passion", "You Take Me For Granted", and "No Good At Falling In Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost album from 70s funk diva Betty Davis – and one that's every bit as essential as her music released back in the day! The set was recorded hot on the heels of Betty's classic Nasty Gal album – but it's got a groove that's almost more in the territory of her first two records on the Just Sunshine label – very hard, heavy, freaky, and fuzzy – with lots of sharp-edged guitar licks wrapped up around Davis' badass vocals – which have just as much attitude as ever! It's not clear why the album never saw the light of day back in the 70s, but it's an essential follow-up to Davis key classics – undeniably funky music by one of the most unique figures ever in soul – the kind of set that would have been a bomb, had it dropped in the 70s – and which will have an even greater impact when let loose in the 21st Century. Titles include "Stars Starve You Know", "Bottom Of The Barrel", "Crashin From Passion", "Whorey Angel", "It's So Good", "Is It Love Or Desire", "Bar Hoppin", and "Let's Get Personal". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost album from 70s funk diva Betty Davis – and one that's every bit as essential as her music released back in the day! The set was recorded hot on the heels of Betty's classic Nasty Gal album – but it's got a groove that's almost more in the territory of her first two records on the Just Sunshine label – very hard, heavy, freaky, and fuzzy – with lots of sharp-edged guitar licks wrapped up around Davis' badass vocals – which have just as much attitude as ever! It's not clear why the album never saw the light of day back in the 70s, but it's an essential follow-up to Davis key classics – undeniably funky music by one of the most unique figures ever in soul – the kind of set that would have been a bomb, had it dropped in the 70s – and which will have an even greater impact when let loose in the 21st Century. Titles include "Stars Starve You Know", "Bottom Of The Barrel", "Crashin From Passion", "Whorey Angel", "It's So Good", "Is It Love Or Desire", "Bar Hoppin", and "Let's Get Personal". LP, Vinyl record album

Raw funky blues from the Cleveland scene – unreleased recordings from the obscure singer Fred Davis, who hardly ever set his music to wax back in the day! The album's got a gritty blend of blues inflections and soulful expressions – similar to some of the hippest west side work from Chicago around the same time, but maybe even grittier and more stripped down – as the whole thing wasn't done by a bigger, professional label! Titles include "Express Train", "Midnight Is Falling", "Euclid Avenue", "Five Long Years", "Piano Boogie", "Time When You Say You Love Me", "Express Train", and "Wine Hop". (Blues, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Never-heard live work from Gary "Chocolate Star" Davis – a set that's got a nice raw edge, and a surprising club vibe that's very different than some of his other material from the time! The tracks often stretch out, and mix together funky rhythms, vibes, and keyboards – with currents of jazz running throughout, in a vibe that's like some of the rare 70s live material from other underground funk artists, like Billy Wooten or Webster Lewis! We wish there was a bit more in the way of notes, but we can say that Gary seems to have a surprisingly big group behind him – although one that comes across with a nice lean vibe throughout. Titles include "Theme Of Wynn", "Rhond", and "Lonely Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful soul album on the Black Fire label – a hip 70s imprint best known for spiritual jazz – stepping out here on a record that has a lot more vocals than their other releases, but which makes for a mighty nice fit! Wayne Davis is wonderful here – singing with the warmth of a Leroy Hutson at times, and some of the more righteous currents of DJ Rogers at others – often with harmony backings that really elevate the tunes, and a jazzy current in some of the instrumentation that ties things strongly back to the other artists on the Black Fire label! One of those groups, Experience Unlimited, lend their horn section for the record – and Davis himself shows off his deeper musical skills by also handling the piano and keyboards on the record. The whole thing is great – and titles include "Morning", "Things See Just Right Now", "Strive On and Be Strong", "The Garden", "Look at the People", and Al Johnson's "Dawn of a New Day". LP, Vinyl record album

The rare first album by The Brief Encounter – a mid 70s funk group from North Carolina, but one who doesn't feel like a southern soul combo at all – as they work here with a sweet, strong, and jazzy flavor that makes them feel like the best of the California scene in the 70s! The group shift effortlessly between tight ensemble funk – including a few tasty instrumentals – and sweeter soul material that feature group vocals, with a strong falsetto lead stepping out front, in a way that really helps the music soar. The material was recorded in Muscle Shoals, but sounds so different than most of the other work from that studio at the time – on titles that include "Just One Moment", "Visions", "Smile", "Loving & Caring", "In A Special Kind Of Way", "Good Thing Bad Thing", "We're Gonna Have A Good Time", "Time Is Moving", "Smile", and "Get A Good Feeling". LP, Vinyl record album

The rare first album by The Brief Encounter – a mid 70s funk group from North Carolina, but one who doesn't feel like a southern soul combo at all – as they work here with a sweet, strong, and jazzy flavor that makes them feel like the best of the California scene in the 70s! The group shift effortlessly between tight ensemble funk – including a few tasty instrumentals – and sweeter soul material that feature group vocals, with a strong falsetto lead stepping out front, in a way that really helps the music soar. The material was recorded in Muscle Shoals, but sounds so different than most of the other work from that studio at the time – on titles that include "Just One Moment", "Visions", "Smile", "Loving & Caring", "In A Special Kind Of Way", "Good Thing Bad Thing", "We're Gonna Have A Good Time", "Time Is Moving", "Smile", and "Get A Good Feeling". LP, Vinyl record album