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The wild first album from Bloodstone – a much trippier affair than some of the group's later work, as you might guess from the image on the cover! There's a really heavy vibe going on with some of the tracks here – almost an echo of psychedelic soul from the Norman Whitfield camp, with perhaps some of the fuzzy guitars of the Westbound scene too – all a very different change from the sweeter harmonies Bloodstone would drop later in the 70s still a bit rough around the edges here, but in a great way! The album's got plenty of appeal for fans of heavy funk, and there's a definite righteous undercurrent to the music – as you'll hear on tracks like "This Thing Is Heavy", "Dumb Dude", "Lady Of The Night", "Friendship", and "Take These Chains".

The second album from disco superstar Peter Brown – and a batch of tracks that's a bit less clubby than before! Brown's emerging here more as a fully-fledged pop singer in his own right – showing at least a bit of confidence by putting himself on the front cover this time around, even though his back is to the camera! The tunes are catchy, and co-produced with Cory Wade – who'd helped so strongly with Brown's Fantasy Love Affair classic for TK Records – and there's plenty of that sweetly compressed production in this set too. Titles include the crossover classic "Love In Our Hearts" – which almost has a Queen-like chanting groove – plus "Penguin", "West Of The North Star", "Leadmeon", "Got To Get The Show On The Road", "It's Alright", and "Crank It Up".

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".

Killer stuff – and probably the best record ever by this Chicago soul group! The record's got a full batch of original tracks written and produced by the group's mentor, Curtis Mayfield – including their amazing, funk steeped version of "Don't Change Your Love", with a breakbeat that lit up the sampler culture for years! That raw drum sound is in effect on even the more delicate numbers, and the lead vocals and harmonies soar or sink deep to the soul, as the groove demands. There's also some kind of tripped out touches in the production in spots, making for a nice balance of sweet soul and leftfield touches. Kind of an underappreciated effort in the grand scheme of Curtis Mayfield productions, but wholly essential! Other titles include "Stay Close To Me", "New Dance Craze", "Baby, Make Me Feel So Good", and "Little Young Lover".

Great stuff from one of our favorite soul vocalists of the 60s! We love Deon Jackson – we love his sweetly honest vocal style, we love his songs, and we love the great production he gets from the legendary Ollie McLaughlin! This album is the only one he ever cut – and it's a masterpiece all the way through! Ollie's production mixes some wonderful lilting qualities with rollicking hard soul – it's a far-reaching approach that works incredibly well with Deon's unique approach to the vocals! Includes the super-hit "Love Makes The World Go Round" and a charming uptown soul take on "King Of The Road", plus "Come Back Home", "1-2-3", "You Said You Love Me", "SOS", "Love Is What You Make It" and "Hush Little Baby".

Classic 70s work from KC & The Sunshine Band – a record that's not as hit-heavy as previous efforts, but still a plenty great set that's filled with catchy dancefloor funk! KC's clearly feeling the heat of the disco fire he helped to ignite a few years before – and there's definitely an ear hear towards tracks that would boom out nicely on a heavier sound system – kind of a deepening of the sometimes bargain basement production the group got on earlier TK records. That approach doesn't dampen the groove, though, and there's still a nice mix here of soul, funk, club, and tropical modes – sometimes a bit off the mark, but still a heck of a lot better than most of the group's contemporaries! Titles include a remake of "It's The Same Old Song", plus "Who Do Ya Love", "How About A Little Love", "Sho-Nuff'" and "Come To My Island".

Arthur Lyman in 1966 – heard here on two albums from that year, packaged together on a single CD! Lyman 66 has Arthur still working strongly in the vibes/percussion blend of his start – moving into tunes that are familiar 60s pop numbers, but still done here in a smaller combo instrumental mode – and not the "added orchestrations" style of other exotica players of the time. Vibes are often the dominant instrument, played with a nice sense of tone and color – and titles include "Kon Tiki", "Jungle Cat", "Waimea Cowboy", "Fiddler On The Roof", "Only Yesterday", "Mary Poppins Medley", and "Taste Of Honey". The Shadow Of Your Smile is almost jazzy at times – exotically so, but still with a jazz-based sense of sound, tone, and timing – one that shows that Arthur Lyman's really grown since his days in the Martin Denny combo, and certainly earns all the recording time in the studio given to him during the 60s! Percussion, piano, guitar, and even a bit of electric bass come into play nicely here – and the tunes change up rhythms a bit more than usual, with even a dose of Latin in the mix. Titles include "I'll Remember You", "Moon Over Naples", "Marobi", "Yesterday", "Shadow Of Your Smile", and "Hang On Sloopy".

A very high-art moment for Jack Nitzsche – and a set that prefaces most of his famous soundtrack work to come! The album's completely different than Jack's earlier work in the 60s – and is more of a full-scale orchestral session, done with the London Symphony Orchestra, and featuring some very serious compositions that go way beyond "The Lonely Surfer"! There's a dark complexity here that's really great – a sense of sound that's sometimes slightly off-camera (or off-mic, as the case may be) – brewing and bubbling up from the bottom, and giving a real sense of depth to the record. There's little here that will please fans of Nitzsche's earlier instrumental pop, but if you're a fan of his soundtrack work, you'll find this one to be especially amazing! The work "St Giles Cripplegate" is presented here in 6 movements – all composed and orchestrated by Jack!

Not Sweet Soul, but deep soul – courtesy of one of the best artists recording for Atlantic Records in the 60s! The album's way more than a similarly-titled follow up to Conley's debut for the label – and stands beautifully on its own with a host of great numbers that are right up there with the best 60s soul on Atlantic! Production was handled both at Fame Studios and American Recording – giving a mixed Memphis/Muscle Shoals groove to the set that really keeps things fresh. Also keeping things fresh is a good selection of tunes that includes original Conley tunes "Aunt Dora's Love Soul Shack", "Run On", and "Shing A Ling" – plus the cuts "Stuff You Gotta Watch", "Take A Step", "Speak Her Name", "Ob La Di Ob La Da", and "Something You Got".

Titles include "Black Roses", "With All In Mind", "The Ballad Of Freddie & Larry", "Sand", and "Night Sounds Loud".

The first Atlantic album from Margie Joseph – a great second generation southern soul singer who really helped the label find a new sound in the 70s! Margie got her start on Stax, but she sounds even better here – a bit more mature, slightly more urban, and backed with a bad-walking set of arrangements by Arif Mardin that help pull her out of the country into a wider 70s soul mainstream. There's still plenty of rootsy touches on the set, and the blend is one that's similar to that of Aretha Franklin's work of the time – one that echoes older southern styles, but brings them up to date nicely with some more sophisticated touches. Titles include "Make Me Believe You'll Stay", "Turn Around & Love You", "Let's Go Somewhere & Love", "You Better Know It", "I'll Take Care Of You", and "I'm So Glad I'm Your Woman".

Dionne Warwick's making a bit of a break from formula for this album – by singing a batch of tunes from films and shows, none of which were written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David! Yet despite this change from earlier records, the album's still got a sound that's strongly in keeping with Warwick's 60s years at Scepter Records – thanks to arrangements by Burt that help transform these older tunes, and update them with a new sense of maturity for Dionne's singing style. The real appeal of the record is the way that Bacharach changes things up with some of these overdone numbers – finding new corners to explore, and creating a sense of surprise that's quite different than other albums of this nature. Titles include "Something Wonderful", "Summertime", "My Favorite Things", "I Believe In You", "My Ship", "Anything You Can Do", and "He Loves Me".

Excellent live work by The Association – quite different than their earlier pop hits, but still with the same great harmony feel! The style here is in the rougher, more guitar-based mode of albums like Birthday and Stop Your Motor – and the band really sounds great in this live setting, which helps us to understand just how much of their magical sound came from the group itself, and not just Warner Brothers studio tricks. The set's got 22 tracks in all – 2LPs worth of music – and titles include "Dream Girl", "Goodbye Columbus", "I'll Be Your Man", "Never My Love", "Seven Man Band", "Cherish", "Requiem For The Masses", "Are You Ready", "Just About The Same", and "Along Comes Mary".

Dick Gregory raps it proud and loud – in a set of recordings that features one side recorded on the east coast, and one on the west! Gregory's still very much a comedian at this point in his career, but already his work is peppered strongly with political elements – the kind of personal, earnest approach to his material that was years ahead of its time – and which went onto open the door for countless other comedians to come! Side one was recorded at The Blue Angel, and side two at The Hungry I.

Margie Joseph's working here with 70s smooth soul maestro Johnny Bristol – and the resulting album is every bit as great as Bristol's own work from the time! Johnny's in perfect form here – coming up with those slightly funky, slightly polished backings that were his best stock in trade in the years after he parted company with Motown – a way of hitting the rhythms that was partially learned from Detroit, but which grew into even warmer, more sophisticated territory in the California sun. Margie's deeply crafted vocals are a great match for Bristol's music – searching, soaring, and digging in nicely when the lyrics really need it. The album's a wonderful treasure – especially given that Joseph easily could have been turning out weaker work at this point in her career! Titles include "You Turned Me On To Love", "He Came Into My Life", "I Feel His Love Getting Stronger", "Come On Back To Me Lover", "Love Takes Tears", "Discover Me", and "All Goodbyes Aren't Gone".

Margie Joseph's really hitting on all burners here – thanks to sublime production from Lamont Dozier, working at the height of his mid 70s powers! Joseph's earlier deep soul vocals are given a nice sense of focus and righteous energy from Dozier's production – a fullness that somehow makes her sound almost better than before, with that mix of professionalism and personal presence that Lamont was laying down on his own great albums. Most of the rhythms are in a mellow midtempo mode – never too aimed at the clubs, but nicely picked up and smoothed out a bit from Joseph's earlier work – and sort of given that Detroit "umph" that rose to prominence in the early 70s HDH generation. Titles include "Didn't I Tell You", "Hear The Words Feel The Feeling", "Prophecy", "All Cried Out", "Feeling My Way", "I Get Carried Away", "Why'd You Lie", and "Something To Fall Back On".

Margie Joseph gets a hipper treatment than on earlier records – a mix of east coast styles that adds in some Philly and early modern mellow arrangements, both of which provide a great contrast to Margie's southern-tinged vocals! The approach here is great – a fulling up and fleshing out of Joseph's initial promise – with strong arrangements from Arif Mardin, focused around smaller combo backing by players who include Bernard Purdie on drums, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Norman Harris on guitars. The groove is nice and lean on the bottom, but Margie's vocals are augmented by a brace of backing singers – Judy Clay, Cissy Houston, and others – all of whom create a sense of interplay that's similar to Aretha Franklin with The Sweet Inspirations on earlier records. But Margie's also upfront in the mix on most numbers – singing personally, and somewhat intimately with an easygoing sense of soul. Titles include Margie's own "Ridin' High", Paul Kelly's "Come Lay Some Lovin On Me" and "Come With Me", Norman Harris' "(Strange) I Still Love You", and a great version of Stevie Wonder's "To Know You Is To Love You".

A creative highpoint for The Mekons – even if too few were listening at the time! The greatest curse The Mekons have to deal with is their relative obscurity, outside of underground rock aficionados – and if you don't require the fieriness of their punkier earlier albums, we can't recommend Curse Of The Mekons highly enough. It includes the fierce "Authority" – one of our favorite Mekons songs ever – a that roars and mourns at the same time! The album's a stunner from beginning-to-end, though. Includes "The Curse", "Blue Arse", "Wild & Blue", "Secrets", "Nocturne", "Sorceror", "Brutal", "Waltz" and "100% Song". This CD edition also includes their great A&M EP Fun 90 – with "Makes No Difference", "Sheffield Park", "Having A Party" and "One Horse Town".

A pre-Beach Boys gem from Bruce Johnston – and definitely the party promised in the title! We're not sure about the pajamas, though – because things are so romping, nobody's sure to get any sleep – as Johnston and crew cook things up with a great mix of garage and surf, and maybe a dose of Memphis soul too – loads of gritty guitars, rumbling rhythms, and a slightly sinister sound that hints at the changes to come on the Sunset Strip! Johnston sings a bit on the record – in a rough style that's more influenced by R&B than the sweet harmonies of his later group – and the recording has a "live in studio" quality that really keeps things on edge throughout. A surprising gem – with cuts that include "What'd I Say", "Surfer Stomp", "Ramrod", "Last Night", "Surfer's Delight", and "Mashin The Popeye".