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A landmark crossover album – featuring Buddy Miles' mixed Freedom Express group, and a heavy jazz-rock sound that would soon dominate the charts with other groups. Buddy's drums are super-heavy, even if his vocals always get us the wrong way. Includes the original recording of "Them Changes", plus "Memphis Train", "Your Feeling Is Mine", "Dreams", and "Down By The River". One for the Fillmore crowd!

One of the most soulful sets ever recorded by the Buddy Miles Group – a really searing set of live performances from 1971, often done in a way that has the band stretching out and jamming heavily! The core group seems a bit bigger than usual – with a lineup that includes guitar and organ alongside some heavier tenor, alto, trumpet, and trombone. The horns come on strong, but are offset by lots of searing guitar from Charlie Karp – and Buddy, as usual, is a real monster on the drum kit. There's plenty of instrumental moments here that cook with funky soul intensity – and titles include "Wrap It Up", "Joe Tex", "Take It Off Him & Put It On Me", "Down By The River", "Place Over There", "The Segment", and "Them Changes".

Bluesy soul from Buddy Miles – an album that was half-produced by Jimi Hendrix, and which showcases the really crowd-pleasing side of Miles' sound! Tracks are a mix of soul covers and original numbers – done in a mode that puts plenty of guitar out front in the mix, and which uses Buddy's screaming vocals a bit more than his heavier drums. Horns are used on most numbers to give them a bit of southern soul inflection, and titles include a great live jamming take on "Wrap It Up", the funky "Destructive Love", and the cuts "Cigarettes & Coffee", "Miss Lady", "Texas", and "My Chant".

Pure crossover genius from Buddy Miles – a great mix of funky soul and rockish touches – and the kind of record that easily put Buddy in the same camp as Sly Stone or The Isley Brothers with mainstream audiences of the time! Tracks here are a bit longer and more jamming than work by either of those two artists – with the kind of heavy guitar and horns that played heavily to the Fillmore crowd – but the overall sound of the record is a fair bit more soulful and even funkier than some other Miles' efforts from the earlier years too, with plenty of his tight drums in the mix! Titles include a great 12 minute reading of the title track "We Got To Live Together" – plus "Take It Off Him & Put It On Me", "Runaway Child", "Walking Down The Highway", and "Easy Greasy".

A super tripped-out blend of rock, funk, and soul – easily one of Buddy Miles' most mindblowing albums – and a classic that never lets up at all! Buddy's leading the whole group on drums – really kicking things large from behind the kit – while the rest of the group jams in a heavy style that's got plenty of fuzzed-out guitar and jazzy horn riffs – virtually a blueprint for countless other rock funk groups that copped Buddy's style in years to come. The drums alone are worth the price of admission – but the whole album's so right, tight, and outta sight that it's been a favorite in our crates for years! Titles include "Train", "Let Your Lovelight Shine", "Don't Mess With Cupid", "Funky Mule", and "Wrap It Up".

One of Sarah's few albums for Columbia – and quite possibly the best, thanks to some great small group backing, heard on 8 of the album's 12 tunes! The group's a really great one – with Miles Davis on trumpet, Benny Green on trombone, Buddy Johnson on tenor, Tony Scott on clarinet, Mundell Lowe on guitar, and Billy Taylor on piano – all of whom get some surprising solo space on the album, and make the record one of Sarah's best jazz outings of the 50s. The remaining tracks on the set have a lusher ballad style, but are still quite nice – and titles include "Mean To Me", "Goodnight My Love", "Can't Get Out Of This Mood", "East Of The Sun", "Pinky", "Ooh Whatcha Doin To Me", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine". 10 bonus tracks too – including unreleased cuts and alternates.

A rich array of underground sounds from late 60s London – most of which appear here for the first time ever! The set follows on the previous 94 Baker Street collection – and like that one, features obscure English singer/songwriters under contract to Apple – fresh talents signed up in the hopes that they'd later break big – lost to the shuffle of years amidst the misworkings of the company. Now, though, the folks at Cherry Red have done a great job of reconstructing this lost history – and have come up with a really great assortment of tracks pulled from rare demos – but mostly done at a level that's right up there with all the commercially-released British rock of the time. Most of these tracks have never been issued before – and titles include "Hold On" and "Sailing" by Joker, "You've Got A Hold On Someone" and "This Little Man Mk 1" by George Alexander, "Windy Love Affair" by Robert & Miles Priestley, "It's You" by Buddy Britten, "Any Day Now" by Coconut Mushroom, "Who Needs A King" and "Something New Every Day" by Timon, "How Does It Feel" by The Perishers, and "Kingfisher" by Barry Alexander.

Groovy jazz from 2 very cool labels – the related Skye and Gryphon companies of the late 60s and mid 70s, respectively – home to some very very cool bits! Skye's best known as the home of Cal Tjader and Gary McFarland in their post-Verve years – and the label's got a feel that's very much in the spirit of both artists – often blending together jazz, Latin, and easy grooves with a dreamy floating sort of quality. Gryphon recordings came a few years later – and had a warm and mellow 70s jazz sort of feel – using richer production to deeply color work by a variety of well-known artists who got a chance to stretch out in their albums for the label. Despite the difference of a few years between them, the work from both labels sits very nicely together here – thanks to an expert job of compilation by Toru Hashimoto, the force behind the Café Apres Midi and Free Soul series! Titles include "Mixing" by Airto, "What's Going On" and "My Favorite Things" by Louis Hayes, "Tandoori" by Barry Miles, "Flea Market" and "Suburbia" by Gary McFarland, "Theme From Peter Gunn" by Chuck Rainey, "Don't Fence Me In" by Grady Tate, "Viva Peraza" by Armando Peraza, "La Pasionaria" by Michel Legrand, "You'll Never Get To Heaven" and "Armando's Bossa" by Cal Tjader, "Bluesette" by Mel Torme & Buddy Rich, and "Change Partners" by Phil Woods.

An excellent collection of funky tracks – with a groove that's slightly different than the usual comp! This set focuses on funky rock tracks that have been sampled over the past decade – moving past the soul and jazz racks to find some tasty grooves that you might have missed had you not been willing to expand your horizons further! And if the sound of the package might be enough to put you off if you're a funk fan, don't worry – because this one's filled with heavy beats, riffing guitars, and more funky grooves that you could hope to find in a van full of dodgy wax! There's a few soul tracks thrown in to open up the groove, but even those are far in the leftfield style. Titles include "Elegy" by Colosseum, "Down By The River" by Buddy Miles, "Tiger" by Brian Auger, "Vitamin C" by Can, "Aquarius" by Headhunters, "Life is Just A Passing Paradise" by Santana, "Indian Ropeman" by Julie Driscoll, "The Mexican" by Babe Ruth, "Yellow Sunshine" by Yellow Sunshine, "If You Lose Your Woman" by Zoo, and "Your Love Been So Good To Me" by Ruth Copeland.

One of Sarah's few albums for Columbia – and quite possibly the best, thanks to some great small group backing, heard on 8 of the album's 12 tunes! The group's a really great one – with Miles Davis on trumpet, Benny Green on trombone, Buddy Johnson on tenor, Tony Scott on clarinet, Mundell Lowe on guitar, and Billy Taylor on piano – all of whom get some surprising solo space on the album, and make the record one of Sarah's best jazz outings of the 50s. The remaining tracks on the set have a lusher ballad style, but are still quite nice – and titles include "Mean To Me", "Goodnight My Love", "Can't Get Out Of This Mood", "East Of The Sun", "Pinky", "Ooh Whatcha Doin To Me", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine".

The music of Otis Redding – sung by some of his hippest contemporaries, and by a whole new generation inspired by his talents! The tunes here are all numbers you'd know from Redding's famous recordings for Stax and Atlantic – yet the versions are nice and fresh – some done with a gritty down-home feel that's rougher than any of Redding's records, others done with an inventive style that pushes the music forward into new modes – possibly those that Otis might have explored on his own, had he not been taken from us so soon! The package is a great testament to the Otis Redding legacy in soul music – and is filled with a whopping 25 tracks, all of them well-chosen – including "Baby Cakes" by Maxine Brown, "Just One More Day" by Clarence Carter, "Give Away None Of My Love" by Buddy Miles, "Wholesale Love" by Arthur Conley, "Hawg For You" by Tina Britt, "Hard To Handle" by Patti Drew, "Chained & Bound" by Bettye Swann, "I'm Missing You" by Mitty Collier, "Sister Pitiful" by Judy Clay, "These Arms Of Mine" by Albert Washington & The Kings, "Monkey On My BacK" by Jackie Hairston – plus the previously unreleased "Loving By The Pound (part 2)" by Otis Redding himself!

A tremendous little tune – heavy Hendrix at the height of his young powers – working here in a trio with Stephen Stills on bass and Buddy Miles on drums! The tune's never been released before – and both the vocals and guitar are pure Jimi – driven on strongly with great rhythms from Miles! The single also includes "Power Of Soul", recorded a few years later – and also a previously unissued track – not on the upcoming People Hell & Angels album!

The music of Otis Redding – sung by some of his hippest contemporaries, and by a whole new generation inspired by his talents! The tunes here are all numbers you'd know from Redding's famous recordings for Stax and Atlantic – yet the versions are nice and fresh – some done with a gritty down-home feel that's rougher than any of Redding's records, others done with an inventive style that pushes the music forward into new modes – possibly those that Otis might have explored on his own, had he not been taken from us so soon! The package is a great testament to the Otis Redding legacy in soul music – and is filled with a whopping 25 tracks, all of them well-chosen – including "Baby Cakes" by Maxine Brown, "Just One More Day" by Clarence Carter, "Give Away None Of My Love" by Buddy Miles, "Wholesale Love" by Arthur Conley, "Hawg For You" by Tina Britt, "Hard To Handle" by Patti Drew, "Chained & Bound" by Bettye Swann, "I'm Missing You" by Mitty Collier, "Sister Pitiful" by Judy Clay, "These Arms Of Mine" by Albert Washington & The Kings, "Monkey On My BacK" by Jackie Hairston – plus the previously unreleased "Loving By The Pound (part 2)" by Otis Redding himself!

A stone cold live date from Charles Earland – recorded in Newark, at just the sort of club where he got his start! The tracks are quite long and openly grooving – even more so than Charles' killer studio sets from the time – and there's a bit of a harder edge here too, thanks partly to the live setting – and to the amazing young tenor work of Grover Washington Jr, who really sounds incredible here – much harder than in his later Kudu years! Other members of the group include trumpeter Gary Chandler – playing with a sound that's right up there with his landmark date on Eastbound Records – plus Maynard Parker on guitar, Jesse Kilpatrick on drums, and Buddy Caldwell on congas. As usual, Charles doesn't need a bassist to help him find a nice chunky bottom on the tunes – and he really sails out majestically throughout, with those famous long-running solo lines of his on the Hammond! Titles include "Killer Joe", "Milestones", and "Key Club Cookout".