A long-overdue look at the short but rich career of Sandy Posey on MGM Records – presented here in a set of four full albums, plus bonus non-LP singles too! Posey has a very unique approach, music that's a little bit country and a little bit pop – and which carries a distinct sound that really sets Sandy apart from so many other of her 60s contemporaries! Posey's approach is always a bit hard to peg, and that's what makes it great – a southern singer, working in Tennessee – but with soulful production from Chips Moman that pushes things both past the poppier side of Nashville, and some of the lighter girl singer modes of the east coast too – really on the cusp of something wonderful, and cresting nicely in all sorts of really wonderful ways – as distinct for Sandy maybe as Roy Orbison's special blend was for him. Chips Moman produced almost all the work here, although he gets a bit of help from Joe South near the end – and the 2CD set features 55 tracks in all, including "Born A Woman", "What A Woman In Love Won't Do", "All Hung Up In Your Green Eyes", "Deep In Kentucky", "Handy", "The Big Hurt", "Sunglasses", "Miss Lonely", "Single Girl", "Shattered", "Ways Of The World", "Take Me With You Baby", "I Take It Back", and "Bread & Butter". CD

A great mix of jazz and blues from Joe Turner – a set that seems to draw from his Kansas City roots, yet also inflect the sound with some of the blues changes of the 70s! Joe's got two key soloists here – Sonny Stitt on tenor and alto, and Pee Wee Crayton on guitar – and the vamping piano lines of JD Nicholson ensure some very timely rhythms for the record, maybe tipping things a bit more towards the blues side of the spectrum overall. Titles include a very long take on "Lucille", the nine-minute "Martin Luther King Southside", which is a laidback blues with plenty of solo room – and the cuts "Everyday I Have The Blues", "Shake Rattle & Roll", and "Piney Brown". (Blues, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime stuff! Sure, it's easy to sit back and say that you don't really dig Ray Charles albums that mix together country music and soul, and that you prefer his hard raw raunchy Atlantic recordings from the earlier days. But let's be honest, Ray really made his biggest splash with this stuff – and although it became extremely popular over the years, it's also part of a huge country soul tradition that's a very accurate representation of the rich crossover culture going on in southern soul, a tradition that for some reason always gets underplayed by folks who want to carve up the world in easy racial lines. Truth is, Ray was not the only soul artist to embrace country, and we can think of a host of others – including Solomon Burke, Ivory Joe Hunter, Joe Simon, Clarence Carter, Brook Benton, and Bobby Womack who all participated in this rich tradition. This set's essential if you're interested in checking out this side of Ray's career – and the price is pretty nice, considering that you get 4CDs, a great book, and 92 songs in all! Work is pulled from Ray's classic ABC sides in the format, plus others from before and after that generation. Titles include "A Born Loser", "I'm Movin On", "Busted", "Crying Time", "Teardrops In My Heart", "Half As Much", "No Letter Today", "Oh Lonesome Me", "Ring Of Fire", "What Am I Living For", "Let Your Love Flow", "Down In The Valley", and "Take These Chains From My Heart". (Soul, Vocalists) CD

Three wonderful albums from this legendary Brazilian singer – all presented in a single set! First up is Nothing Will Be As It Was Tomorrow – a record that's quite different from Flora's earlier work, but in a way that we find very compelling! The record was produced by Leon Ndugu Chancler, and it's got a smooth fusion sound that's kind of in a southern California R&B mode, played by a huge range of excellent Brazilian and west coast talents that include Patrice Rushen, Dorothy Ashby, Fred Jackson, Raul De Souza, Toninho Horta, and Airto. While this sound overwhelms the core of Flora's usual Brazilian jazz approach, it also expands some of the tracks to a great groove – with Flora's vocals on top, stretching out in a whole new way! Includes a great English language version of the Milton Nascimento classic "Nada Sera Como Antes", plus the cuts "You Love Me Only", "I'm Coming For Your Love", "Corre Nina", "Angels", "Bridges", and "Fairy Tale Song". Every Day Every Night is a beautifully soulful record from Flora Purim – still awash with touches from her Brazilian roots, but also done with a great 70s LA sound! Airto's helping Flora out on production, but the real hero here is Michel Colombier – who handles most of the arrangements and wrote a good deal of the tunes with Purim and Airto – mixing his own expansive studio talents with their organically-forged groove, in a way that makes the record a real standout from the California fusion scene of the 70s! Players include Randy Brecker, Lee Ritenour, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Harvey Mason, and other jazz heavyweights – and titles include "The Hope", "I Just Don't Know", "In Brasil", "Blues Ballad", "Why I'm Alone", "Walking Away", and "Samba Michel". Carry On is one of Flora Purim's more R&B-sounding albums from the 70s, produced by George Duke with an appreciation for Flora's Brazilian jazz roots, but with a smoother sound that's in keeping with Duke's own work of the time! The combination is pretty sweet – a professional culmination of the mixture of fusion and Brazilian jazz that had been happening in the San Francisco scene during most of the 70s, and featuring many of the musicians who had helped make that groove so strong. Players include Airto, Sheila Escovedo, Joe Farrell, Ronnie Foster, Bobby Lyle, and Larry Williams – and tracks include "Niura Is Coming Back", "From The Lonely Afternoon", "Freeway Jam", "Beijo Partido", "Corine", and "Love Lock". Includes bonus tracks too – "Tango Blues" and "Sad Song". (Brazil, Vocalists) CD