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This beautiful LP was released by Stax in the early 70s, but somehow got lost in the shuffle between all the Isaac Hayes LPs. Fortunately, it was rediscovered by the international groove community about 10 years ago, and it's been at the top of everyone's playlist (and want list) ever since! This is sort of a politically conscious mini-opera, or suite, with 8 tracks of spiritual funk and soul, all strung together in a righteous package that's as perfectly-conceived as you could imagine for an independent soul release from the 70s. You've probably heard at least one sample from this LP – maybe from the cuts "Brown-Baggin", "Food Stamps", or the title cut "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth", a great sample cut – but the whole album's great, and it totally deserves its massive reputation! We've got it here on a reissued CD, in a better mix than on the original LP, which is a little too quiet!

2 of the funkiest tracks ever from this legendary group! "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth" is the title track to the group's album of the same name – and it's got a slow, sinister bass/keys riff that you'll recognize instantly from a million samples! The original tune still sounds better than any of the copies – and it somehow comes off better on 45 than on the full LP! The flipside features the longer, more open-ended jazzy groover "24 Carat Black Theme" – another killer funky number, with a wonderfully spacey groove!

An amazing musical discovery – the lost second album from 24 Carat Black – recorded right after the band's legendary debut for Stax Records, but unissued for over 30 years! All the righteous styles of the group's famous Ghetto Misfortune's Wealth classic are fully in place here – and if anything, the record has an even headier feel overall – really complicated sounds that are often deeply spiritual, but still have that snaking, bassline-driven, slow funk quality that we love in the group! The tunes each feel like mini-symphonies in soul – and although the themes center more around love than politics, they're done in a way that goes way past any sexy soul cliches of the time. The group is amazingly laidback – slow-stepping into each tune with a care and confidence that's amazing – and letting the cuts come into their own organically, but always with a mystical sense of order. Numero have done a wonderful job excavating this work – remastering the tapes for great sound, and telling the full story of the group and their too-short career. Titles include "The Best Of Good Love Gone", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Gone The Promises Of Yesterday", "I Begin To Weep", "I Want To Make Up", and "I Don't Love You".

An amazing musical discovery – the lost second album from 24 Carat Black – recorded right after the band's legendary debut for Stax Records, but unissued for over 30 years! All the righteous styles of the group's famous Ghetto Misfortune's Wealth classic are fully in place here – and if anything, the record has an even headier feel overall – really complicated sounds that are often deeply spiritual, but still have that snaking, bassline-driven, slow funk quality that we love in the group! The tunes each feel like mini-symphonies in soul – and although the themes center more around love than politics, they're done in a way that goes way past any sexy soul cliches of the time. The group is amazingly laidback – slow-stepping into each tune with a care and confidence that's amazing – and letting the cuts come into their own organically, but always with a mystical sense of order. Numero have done a wonderful job excavating this work – remastering the tapes for great sound, and telling the full story of the group and their too-short career. Titles include "The Best Of Good Love Gone", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Gone The Promises Of Yesterday", "I Begin To Weep", "I Want To Make Up", and "I Don't Love You".

This beautiful LP was released by Stax in the early 70's, but somehow got lost in the shuffle between all the Isaac Hayes LPs. Fortunately, it was rediscovered by the international groove community about 10 years ago, and it's been at the top of everyone's playlist (and want list) ever since! This is sort of a politically conscious mini-opera, or suite, with 8 tracks of spiritual funk and soul, all strung together in a righteous package that's as perfectly-conceived as you could imagine for an independent soul release from the 70s. You've probably heard at least one sample from this LP – maybe from the cuts "Brown-Baggin", "Food Stamps", or the title cut "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth", a great sample cut – but the whole album's great, and it totally deserves its massive reputation!

One of David Axelrod's oddest records, but still a darn great one! The whole album is sort of a concept album about slavery (hence the title "The Auction"), and it has some spiritual political vocals on a number of tracks – but underneath is the usual great funky instrumentation of David Axelrod, with lots of nice deep grooves that kick the otherwise snoozy lyrics into another level. The whole thing's got a feel that's sort of like the 24 Carat Black record, with a deep soulful groove. Titles include "The Auction", "Oh! Freedom", "The Debt", "Freedom", "Sympathy", "Leading Citizen", and "Be Proud, My Race!".

Classic Rock chronicles the legacy of Deep Purple – with a feature that covers their 45th anniversary – and a whole lot more! This issue has an interview with Neal Peart of Rush, the story of the Tom Waits uber-classic Swordfishtrombones, plus pieces on Pete Way, Alice In Chains, the new wave of Australian rock 'n' roll, The Moody Blues and much more! Also includes a free CD – 24 Carat Gold – with tracks by Deep Purple, Black Star Riders, Big Country, Tracer, Helldorado, The Deafening, Peanut Butter Lovesicle, Alice In Chains, Reagan Brown, Mother Of God, SUN, Scorpion Child, Eureka Machines, Kadavar and more. 15 in all.

Incredible stuff – a never-issued funky soul record from the 70s – but one that you'll proudly stack next to your rare classics from Ramp, 24-Carat Black, and James Mason! Like work by all three of those acts, this early set by Father's Children is massive righteous – filled with deep soul and strong social messages, while also coming across with a hell of a groove, too – thanks to some wickedly funky backings, and production that keeps the whole thing burning along beautifully! The set is amazing – quite different than the later Mercury Records album by the band – and more like the kind of record you'd expect to hear from Curtom or early 70s Stax – a perfect choice for the folks at Numero to bring to light after all these years – and another reason why their efforts are always worth checking out. As usual for the label, there's a full set of notes and photos that tell the story of the group and this lost treasure – but even if it came out with no artwork at all, the music would still have us raving – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Universal Train", "Everybody's Got A Problem", "Linda", "Dirt & Grime", "Who's Gonna Save The World", and "Kohoutek".

Incredible stuff – a never-issued funky soul record from the 70s – but one that you'll proudly stack next to your rare classics from Ramp, 24-Carat Black, and James Mason! Like work by all three of those acts, this early set by Father's Children is massive righteous – filled with deep soul and strong social messages, while also coming across with a hell of a groove, too – thanks to some wickedly funky backings, and production that keeps the whole thing burning along beautifully! The set is amazing – quite different than the later Mercury Records album by the band – and more like the kind of record you'd expect to hear from Curtom or early 70s Stax – a perfect choice for the folks at Numero to bring to light after all these years – and another reason why their efforts are always worth checking out. As usual for the label, there's a full set of notes and photos that tell the story of the group and this lost treasure – but even if it came out with no artwork at all, the music would still have us raving – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Universal Train", "Everybody's Got A Problem", "Linda", "Dirt & Grime", "Who's Gonna Save The World", and "Kohoutek".

The RZA-curated Iron Fists Chronicles! This limited volume in the Man With The Iron Fists soundtrack series is a 2CD compilation of classic Stax deep soul – and it's not only the material that inspired the score for RZA's directorial debut – it's also the funky soul bedrock for his most legendary Wu Tang productions! It's got classics and relative rarities alike by The Dramatics, The Emotions, Soul Children, Mad Lads, Sweet Inspirations, Isaac Hayes, Mel & Tim, Booker T & The MGs, Johnnie Taylor, William Bell and many more! You know RZA isn't compromising or messing around when he's including Isaac Hayes' 15+ minute "Joy" in the set list – and the whole thing is great – really a top-shelf compilation from the Stax vaults! Nearly 2 1/2 hours of music on 2CDs! Includes "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by The Mad Lads, "I Could Never Be Happy" by The Emotions, "All It Takes Is You And Me" by Sweet Inspirations, "Move Over" by Soul Children, "Steal Away" by Johnny Taylor, "Keep The Faith" by Mel & Tim, "Sing A Simple Song" and "LA Jazz Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "Poverty's Paradise" by 24-Carat Black and more.

The funkiest side of Stax Records – a treasure trove of funky nuggets, all hand-picked by RZA! As the title implies, these are some of the grooves that became the building blocks of the Wu-Tang sound – but even without that pedigree, these tracks are more than great enough on their own – a wonderful mix of album cuts and rare singles – some you'll recognize from famous hip hop samples, some you'll discover here for the first time ever! The triple-length package is overflowing with greatness – and titles include "I Could Never Be Happy" and "I Like It" by The Emotions, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by The Mad Lads and another "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell, "Children Don't Get Weary" by Judy Clay, "All It Takes Is You & Me" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Poverty's Paradise" by 24 Carat Black, "I'll Play The Blues For You" by Albert King, "Why Marry" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Steal Away" by Johnnie Taylor, "Hang On Sloopy" by David Porter, "Ike's Mood 1" by Isaac Hayes, "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, "Don't Take My Kindness For Weakness" by The Soul Children, "Packed & Took My Mind" by Little Milton, "Sing A Simple Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter, "LA Jazz Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "Walk On By" by Isaac Hayes, and "Keep The Faith" by Mel & Tim.

A massive amount of classic sample tracks – all funky nuggets pulled from the legendary catalog of Stax Records! The set's the first American set we've ever seen to pay tribute to Stax from this perspective – and alongside a well-chosen batch of tunes, all remastered for the set, the collection also features track-by-track notes that tell the importance and revival of all the tunes within – helping identify later uses of the original grooves, while still showing plenty of respect for the originals! Titles include "Humpin" by The Bar-Kays, "Blind Alley" by The Emotions, "Ghetto Misfortune's Wealth" by 24 Carat Black, "Why Marry" by Sweet Inspirations, "Melting Pot" by Booker T & The MGs, "Hung Up On My Baby" and "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by Isaac Hayes, "Get Up & Get Down" by The Dramatics, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell, "Do The Funky Penguin" by Rufus Thomas, "As Long As I've Got You" by Charmels, "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter, "After The Laughter Comes Tears" by Wendy Rene, and "Packed Up & Took My Mind" by Little Milton.

Classic breaks – all the way through! This may not be the most underground stuff in the world to those out there who've been digging through crates for funk and soul for the past ten years, but it is an exquisite compilation that features some of the best funky tracks used as samples by hip hoppers, nearly every one of them a famous cut that you'll probably recognize in a minute! Titles include "I Like It" by The Emotions, "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly, "Cramp Your Style" by All The People, "Hard Times" by Baby Huey, "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth" by 24 Carat Black, "Kool Is Back" by Funk Inc, "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines, "Heaven & Hell" by 20th Century Steel Band, "Unhooked Generation" by Freda Payne, "Papa Was, Too" by Joe Tex, "Just A Groove In G" by Wilbur Bascomb & The Zodiac, "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William De Vaughn, and "You're Getting A Little Too Smart" by The Detroit Emeralds. 18 cuts in all!

Classic breaks – all the way through! This may not be the most underground stuff in the world to those out there who've been digging through crates for funk and soul for the past ten years, but it is an exquisite compilation that features some of the best funky tracks used as samples by hip hoppers, nearly every one of them a famous cut that you'll probably recognize in a minute! Titles include "I Like It" by The Emotions, "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly, "Cramp Your Style" by All The People, "Hard Times" by Baby Huey, "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth" by 24 Carat Black, "Kool Is Back" by Funk Inc, "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines, "Heaven & Hell" by 20th Century Steel Band, "Unhooked Generation" by Freda Payne, "Papa Was, Too" by Joe Tex, "Just A Groove In G" by Wilbur Bascomb & The Zodiac, "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William De Vaughn, and "You're Getting A Little Too Smart" by The Detroit Emeralds. 18 cuts in all!

The funkiest side of Stax Records – a treasure trove of funky nuggets, all hand-picked by RZA! As the title implies, these are some of the grooves that became the building blocks of the Wu-Tang sound – but even without that pedigree, these tracks are more than great enough on their own – a wonderful mix of album cuts and rare singles – some you'll recognize from famous hip hop samples, some you'll discover here for the first time ever! The triple-length package is overflowing with greatness – and titles include "I Could Never Be Happy" and "I Like It" by The Emotions, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by The Mad Lads and another "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell, "Children Don't Get Weary" by Judy Clay, "All It Takes Is You & Me" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Poverty's Paradise" by 24 Carat Black, "I'll Play The Blues For You" by Albert King, "Why Marry" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Steal Away" by Johnnie Taylor, "Hang On Sloopy" by David Porter, "Ike's Mood 1" by Isaac Hayes, "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, "Don't Take My Kindness For Weakness" by The Soul Children, "Packed & Took My Mind" by Little Milton, "Sing A Simple Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter, "LA Jazz Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "Walk On By" by Isaac Hayes, and "Keep The Faith" by Mel & Tim.