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The first album ever from The Chambers Brother – a much rootsier set than the psychedelic soul that later earned them fame in the 60s! The set's heavy on influences from folk, blues, and gospel – and pitches the group more towards the crossover college scene than the mainstream soul crowd – thanks to an appreciatively rootsy style of production that really has the vocals and acoustic instrumentation presented without any other augmentation. Tracks were recorded live at The Unicorn in Boston and the Ash Grove in LA – and most numbers are covers, with versions of "Summertime", "Your Old Land", "It's All Over Now", "Reconsider Baby", "People Get Ready", "Tore Up", and "Money".

The Chambers Brothers may not actually be playing on Mars for this set, but they've definitely got a spaced-out sound – a freaky electric groove that goes even farther than some of their other studio work of the 70s! The set has some of the earthy soulful moments from the group's earliest years, but it also brings in blend of electric guitar too – extended the styles first explored at Columbia in the freer space of the live setting here. Steve Cropper joins the group for the performance, and you can definitely hear some of his grit in the grooves – and some tracks are quite long and jamming, even more so than we might have expected from the group! Side two features a 17 minute medley of "Stealing Watermelons" and "Mama Your Daughter (Is Hot Enough To Burn Water)" – and side one features "Me & Your Mother", "Superstar", and "Midnight Blue".

This one has the Chambers working in a number of styles, sweating hard in a gritty version of Otis Redding's "I Can't Turn You Loose" and to some funky percussion and call-and-response vocals on "Do Your Thing", and grooving softly on "Guess Who" and others. Other tracks include Pete Seeger's "Where Have All The Flowers Gone", "Love Is All I Have", "You Have The Power - To Turn Me On", "Rock Me Mama", and "Satisfy You".

Plenty of echoes of Chess, King, and Atlantic Records here – a late 60s live performance by the Chambers Brothers – but one that's already retro-styled towards modes from earlier in the decade, and styles from the R&B years of the 50s! As with all the group's Vault LPs, the sound here is much rougher than the more psychedelic soul of their Columbia albums – a mode that's plenty darn righteous, and which is presented on live tracks for side one, but which also features more studio material and a few original compositions on side two. Titles include "Blues Get Off My Shoulder", "I Got It", "Shout", "There She Goes", "Seventeen", "Rained The Day You Left", and "So Fine".

We're not normally the biggest fans of The Chambers Brothers, but this album's a cracking winner from the mid 70s. Shouldn't be so, given the date and the label, but there's a really funky track on here that's one of their best – the great break cut "Stealing Watermelons", which has a great drum part, a strong bassline, and cool harmonica on the intro! Other tracks are pretty nice too – and titles include "Stop The Train", "Miss Lady Brown", "Lotta Fine Mama", "Smack Dab In The Middle", and "Pretty Girls Everywhere".

A really wonderful soundtrack, with loads of groovy tracks! The film stars Jack Lemmon, and the format of the record is similar to the Odd Couple – in that musical tracks are interspersed with dialogue, to keep the feel of the progression of the movie. Side one has some especially groovy moments, as Percy Faith and chorus perform a great version of Bacharach's "April Fools", which then leads into Mongo Santamaria's chunky groover "La La La", and "Wake Up" by The Chambers Brothers, which is one of their nicest tracks! Other tunes include the instrumentals "The April Fools", "I Remember The Rain", "The Safari Club", and "Peter's Pad" – plus "Sugar Kite" by California and "Flame" by Robert John.

A triple-header of hardbop albums – a great package that features 3 Savoy Records classics from 1955, with bonus tracks and great notes too! First up is Bohemia After Dark – an excellent hardbop session from the glory days of the Savoy label – easily one of the label's key 50s classics! Drummer Kenny Clarke's at the front of the group – but all players are great, and the set features work by Cannonball Adderley on alto, Jerome Richardson on tenor, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Nat Adderley on cornet, Hank Jones or Horace Silver on piano, and Paul Chambers on bass. The Adderley brothers sound especially great – and the young Cannonball has a quality here that's more soulful and sharp-edged than his work on Mercury – much more in a Prestige blowing session style! Titles include "Late Entry", "Chasm", "Bohemia After Dark", and "Hear Me Talkin To Ya". Next is more material from the same stretch, originally issued under the title Spontaneous Combustion under Cannonball's name. Adderley and his alto sax are joined by Donald Byrd on trumpet, Nat Adderley on cornet, Jerome Richardson on tenor sax and flute, Horace Silver on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. The tracks include "Spontaneous Combustion", "Caribbean Cutie", "A Little Taste", "We'll Be Together Again", "Still Talkin To Ya", and "Flamingo". Last up is the album That's Nat – a real smoker from a young Nat Adderley – a session that has the leader on cornet, working in a tight hardbop combo with Jerome Richardson on tenor and flute, Hank Jones on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums! The tracks are all nicely sharp-edge – that soulful Savoy sound of the mid 50s – and Richardson is especially nice, really getting a great sound from both his tenor and flute. Tracks are somewhat long, with good room for solos – and titles include "Porky", "I Married An Angel", "Kuzzin's Buzzin's", and "You Better Go Now".

One of the most old school volumes of this always-great series – a set that features mostly obscure soul singles from the late 60s and early 70s – many of which we've never had on reissues before! The groove here is more in the style that Chicago Steppers used back in the day – the mellow soul that first burned brightly in the mid 60s, then continued to supply the scene with some great music as years went on. And because of that mode, many of the tracks here have a great late nite feel – not exactly sweet soul, but not too far away either – thanks to some great vocals. Titles include "I Made Up My Mind" and "I'm Not Ready To Settle Down" by The Cheers, "I Love You More" by Lee Williams & The Cymbals, "Feel Kind Of Bad" by The Radiants, "You've Said It All" by Steve Karmen Orchestra, "Pull Together" by Nite Liters, "Here I Am Baby" by Barbara McNair, "Stay A While With Me" by Sharon Ridley, "Here I Am & Here I Stay" by Sonji Clay, "Stealing Watermelons" by Chambers Brothers, and "Got No One" by Delcardos.