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Sublime spiritual soul from Dyson's Faces – a mid 70s east coast group headed by singer/songwriter Clifton Dyson, an ensemble that was equally well suited to uptempo groovers and mellow harmony soul! The vocals here are especially great – handled beautifully by the group with an earnest, honest quality that reminds us a lot of the harmony soul coming out of the Philly and New Jersey scenes a few years before, but which is presented here with a professional approach that only adds to the sweetness of the lyrics. Most numbers step along in a mellow or midtempo mode – with the vocals lifting beautifully up alongside full arrangements – and the more uptempo tracks hit kind of an ensemble funk style that still also works great with the group's approach. Tracks are all originals, and include the spacey "Wait A Minute Girl", which also has a great monologue – plus "We're Two Fools In Love", "Ole Jose What You Gonna Say Today", "Happy Days Again", "Welcome To All This Love Again", and "Don't Worry About The Joneses".

The second incredible album from Dyson's Faces – one of those underground 70s groups that should have been huge! The set's got a soaring sound that's even more righteous than the group's debut – a quality that glows wonderfully with the quartet's mix of male and female voices – a sound that almost reminds us a bit of Voices Of East Harlem at times. Backing is by the Hard Times Band – a tight combo who groove hard on the more uptempo numbers, and lay back nicely on the mellower ones – just throwing in some licks here and there on guitar or keyboards next to the warmer harmony vocals. The voices are an especially great part of the record, and really sparkle with a sound that's even fresher than most other groups from the time – a sound that shows that Dyson's Faces wasn't just one of those funk groups who happened to also be able to sing – but a strongly committed soul outfit who really put a lot of energy into their music! Titles include "This Time It's Gotta Be Love" in both vocal and instrumental versions – plus "Till I've Got This Feelin Of Love", "Try Me Baby", "You & Me", "Working My Way To Something Better", and "Cry Sugar" – as well as "Welcome To All This Love Again" and "Don't Worry About The Jones", which both appeared on the group's first album.

Second issue of this lost treasure from Art Farmer – a tremendous album that hardly ever shows up in the history books! The set's a rare jazz side originally recorded for the mostly-pop Scepter label – featuring Farmer at the head of a small group working with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Charles McPherson on alto, and either Steve Swallow or Ron Carter on bass. The album was done under the direction of Tom McIntosh – the brilliant young composer who had a magical talent for blending together modern and lyrical modes while still keeping a strong degree of soul. McIntosh contributed a few tunes to the set, as did Dennis Sandole – the nearly-forgotten trumpeter from the Philly scene of the 50s. There's a dark beauty to this session that surpasses even many other Farmer sides from the time – and titles include "Hyacinth", "Alley", "Happy Feet", "Minuet In C", and "Saucer Eyes".

Manfred Mann's the guy in the lead, but the group's definitely one that's got five faces – thanks to the sharp talents of all the members of the quintet! Drummer Mike Hugg gets things going with a sharp Brit beat, vocalist Paul Jones really gives the songs some shape and a bit of harmonica too, Mike Vickers adds in great guitar and alto sax, Tom McGuinness brings some bluesy bass, and Manfred Mann himself really sends the whole thing home with soulful piano and Hammond lines! Jones contributed a few original tunes to the set – including "She", "Can't Believe It", and "Did You Have To Do That" – and the record also features versions of "Groovin" and "Watermelon Man" – plus the hit single "Sha La La".

A great little set from Archie Shepp – one of his strongest of the 70s, and a real return to the kind of spiritual jamming he was doing at the end of his time with Impulse Records! The album's well-known for it's great track "Song For Mozambique" – a spare and righteous number that features Bunny Fox singing in a sweet spiritual mode, while Charles Greenlee and Shepp recite chants over the jamming grooves of the band. Fox also sings on the mellow and soulful "I Know Bout The Life", and the Shepp group picks up a straight but hard mode on Cal Massey's great track "Lookin For Someone To Love". The extended jammer "Hipnosis" takes up all of side one – and it's a great little groover that builds nicely with a comping rhythm, yet which gives the band some nice room to solo in an exploratory fashion. The cut's written by Grachan Moncur III, and has Charles Greenlee blowing trombone in Grachan's place!

A set with younger players – "New Faces" – including Kenny Kirkland on piano, Branford Marsalis on tenor, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass! Ttiles include "Birk's Works", "Tin Tin Deo", "Fiesta Mojo", and "Tenor Song".

The namesake Small Faces album on Immediate – some of the tightest work the great Brit rockers ever recorded! The album's amazing right from the very first note – a perfect bridge between the ongoing mod energy of the London scene, and the psychedelic sounds in years to come – served up with a tight, compact, focused approach that still blows away most of the many groups it helped inspire! The group would dive into a heady psychedelic groove about a year later with incredible success on Ogden's Nut Gone Flake – but here, the group is still riding on the walloping soul and R&B influences on this record – driving and tuneful, with some hints at the strange sounds to come in the freewheeling organ and occasional odd instrumentation. Titles include "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me", "Something I Want To Tell You", "Feeling Lonely", "Happy Boys Happy", "Things Are Going To Get Better", "Become Like You", "All Our Yesterdays", "Show Me The Way", and "Eddie's Dreaming".

One of the best Brit psychedelic rock albums of the late 60s – one that sounds incredible to this day! On Ogden's Nut Gone Flake the group really found a way to spin a heady, organ rich, drum heavy, and all around big sound into the structure of the 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 minute pop structure – with out sacrificing a bit of the bombast, or burying a genuine groove in superfluous noise cycles. Truly wonderful stuff – we'll listen to this more often than Sgt. Peppers in our lifetime! Tracks include "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake", "Afterglow Of Your Love", "Long Ago And World's Apart", "Rene", "Lazy Sunday", "Rollin' Over", "The Journey", "Mad John", "Happydaystoytown" and more.

Small Faces 1968 debut Immediate Records in AmericaTitles include "Itchykoo Park", "Talk To You", "Up The Wooden Hills", "My Way Of Giving", "Tin Soldier", "Here Come The Nice", and "Green Circles".

Quite possibly the greatest record ever from Clifton Dyson – a solo effort that has him stepping away from his Dyson's Faces group, and emerging as a heck of a great singer on his own! The album's got a warm modern soul feel throughout – much more mid 70s indie than you'd guess from the date on the record – and every aspect of the record is great – from the vocals to the instrumentation to the tight production on the record – a sound that's professional, and really a cut above the usual effort of this type. Al Johnson and Rodney Brown helped on arrangements – and titles include the extended groover "Slow Your Body Down", which takes up all of side one – plus "Hypnotize", "I'm Giving Up", and "So Lonely".

Heavy funk from the Indy scene of the late 60s – the lost album by one of the funkiest combos in the Midwest! Ebony Rhythm Band have an incredible sound that seems to take the heavy bottom of New Orleans Funk and merge it with the trippier elements of Detroit psychedelic soul – no surprise, considering they hailed from Indianapolis, a point about halfway between the two cities! The tracks on the set have a really great tripped-out groove – using lots of guitar and organ over heavy rhythms, in a style that's a bit like the Meters at times – but a lot freer flowing. The album features 2 tracks that formed the basis of one of the group's singles – plus a lot more that were never issued at the time, including a few by other incarnations of the combo! Titles include "Soul Heart Transplant", "Ode To Billie Joe", "Light My Fire", "Vanilla Fudge", "Get Yourself Together (Smiling Faces/Sunshine Of Your Love medley)", "Drugs Ain't Cool", "Fool Am I", and "It's Too Late For Love".

Smoking hot rod grooves – put together by studio maestro Bruce Johnston in the years before he became a bigger Beach Boy! The set's one of many groovy surf/car sets that Johnston cut during this mid 60s stretch – although it's more obscure than most, given its release on Smash Records – instead of the usual Capitol or Columbia outlets for his work. But the lineup features some key familiar faces from those other projects – guitar from Glenn Campbell and Tommy Tedesco, and some mighty drums from the great Hal Blaine! Hot Rod enthusiast George Barris adds his name to the project – and also gives up some nice car knowledge on the back cover – and titles include "Stick Six", "Fireball", "Jive Driver", "Super Fine", "Firecracker 400", "Hotty 32", and "Speed Shifters".

Sublime work from one of the coolest funky combos around – a group who aren't content to just hit the same funky styles as other outfits – and one who really stretch strongly in their pursuit of new sounds! The set's definitely funky – especially on the drums – but there's also this amazing interplay between the horns, weird sounds from the organ, and cool extra touches on auto harp and ukulele – which gives the music these exotic elements that are simply mindblowing! The set's a stone smoker from the start – instrumental, but in ways that let the Menahan Street Band open up way more than when working with a singer – showing us that they've got some of the freshest ideas in the contemporary funky underground. Titles include "The Crossing", "Sleight Of Hand", "Three Faces", "Keep Coming Back", "Seven Is The Wind", "Driftwood", and "Ivory & Blue".

Even at this early point in their career, the Modern Jazz Quartet were plenty proud of their relation to and reception in Paris – almost rubbing their international fame in the faces of other American combos with the title and cover of this record! The set's still got the quartet at their crisp early best – before any of the sometimes too academic or too serious tones of later sides – and tracks are mostly shortish, ringing out with especially nice vibes from Milt Jackson. Titles include an early reading of the title cut "Concorde", plus an extended "Gershwin Medley", and the tracks "All Of You", "I'll Remember April", "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", and "Ralph's New Blues".

This album's like a funky 45 party! Senor Soul first started out as one of those fake Latin acts in the LA scene – kind of a soul jazz version of the Tijuana Brass – but by the time of this album, they've turned into a hot funky combo, with a really wonderful sound! The groove here is a wonderful blend of piano, vibes, percussion, and some totally great funky flute – with a blown-out sound that reminds us of the way the instrument sounds on later work by groups like SOUL or The Duke Of Burlington. The group groove hard on the album's cuts – a great mix of original funky 45 type numbers, plus a few well-chosen covers that keep the groove hard. Titles include "The Mouse", "It's Your Thing", "Soul Sermon", "Make The Funk Jump", "Hypnotizer", "Soul Fiesta", "El Loco", and "Love Has Two Faces".

A real turning point for Rod Stewart – but a record that still holds onto all the wonderful sides of his work with the Faces, too! Includes the sublime "Mandolin Wind" – plus "Every Picture Tells A Story", "That's All Right Mama", "Reason To Believe", "Losing You", and "Maggie May".

Sublime work from the Temptations – still recording here with Norman Whitfield, who's really opening up his bag on most of the record – and taking the group into expansive territory that was barely hinted at in their early work! The album's got some incredible tracks in the Whitfield mode – long numbers that build and build, opening up into long righteous soul grooves with more than a bit of funk – a hard-rolling style that the harmonies really work wonderfully to match – giving Motown some of its most powerful sounds of the time! The best cuts include the album's 9 minute reading of "Love Can Be Anything", it's 12 minute version of "Smiling Faces Sometimes", and the cuts "Just My Imagination", "Man", and "Ugena Za Ulimwengu".

Sublime work from the Temptations – still recording here with Norman Whitfield, who's really opening up his bag on most of the record – and taking the group into expansive territory that was barely hinted at in their early work! The album's got some incredible tracks in the Whitfield mode – long numbers that build and build, opening up into long righteous soul grooves with more than a bit of funk – a hard-rolling style that the harmonies really work wonderfully to match – giving Motown some of its most powerful sounds of the time! The best cuts include the album's 9 minute reading of "Love Can Be Anything", it's 12 minute version of "Smiling Faces Sometimes", and the cuts "Just My Imagination", "Man", and "Ugena Za Ulimwengu".

A killer collection of east coast soul from the 70s – work that originally appeared on a handful of different labels, but which was all put together by Robert Hosea Williams – an unsung producer working out of a small studio in Silver Springs – with an incredible ear for up-and-coming talent! The music here is totally deep and righteous throughout – the hippest of the indie label scene on the east coast – and work that really lives up to the progressive, righteous reference you'd get from the Red, Black, & Green in the title! There's plenty of group soul here – of a type that mixes older harmony modes with hipper 70s references – creating a really badass approach to soul music that's simply mindblowing – and way different than the mainstream variants that were hitting the charts at the time. The whole thing's great – one of the best Numero comps in years – and titles include "Phoney People" and "I Really Really Love You" by Father's Children, "Sleepwalking" and "Let's Do It Over" by The Summits, "Don't Worry About The Joneses" and "We're Two Fools In Love" by Dysons Faces, "Day By Day" and "It Must Be Love" by The Exceptions Featuring Mark Greene, "Town Called Nowhere" and "I Need Your Love" by Skip Mahoney & The Casuals, and "Summer In The Parks" and "Generation" by East Coast Connection.

A perfect example groove that got The Undisputed Truth big hit fame in the early 70s – sort of a rumbling funk, full-on approach, using male/female vocals in kind of a "wall of soul" approach. Includes the huge hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes", plus lots of covers of cool tracks like "California Soul", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Ball Of Confusion", and "You Got The Love I Need". Norman Whitfield production all the way through, with a lot of nice twists similar to those he was taking with other Motown groups at the time.

The title says it all – as Yusef Lateef works here in that wonderful mixture of hardbop, soul jazz, and Eastern stylings that he brought to all of his best early sessions as a leader! Lateef himself is playing tenor, flute, and oboe – which he uses to craft these eerie snakecharmer lines that work perfectly with the modal grooves of the tracks – very unusual rhythms for the time, and a real precursor to some of the world jazz experiments to come from overseas. The rest of the group features pianist Barry Harris, drummer Lex Humphries, and bassist Ernie Farrow, who also plays a strange instrument called a rabat – which further adds to the charm of the record. Titles include "Plum Blossom", "Purple Flower", "Three Faces Of Balal", and "Chinq Miau".

The title says it all – as Yusef Lateef works here in that wonderful mixture of hardbop, soul jazz, and Eastern stylings that he brought to all of his best early sessions as a leader! Lateef himself is playing tenor, flute, and oboe – which he uses to craft these eerie snakecharmer lines that work perfectly with the modal grooves of the tracks – very unusual rhythms for the time, and a real precursor to some of the world jazz experiments to come from overseas. The rest of the group features pianist Barry Harris, drummer Lex Humphries, and bassist Ernie Farrow, who also plays a strange instrument called a rabat – which further adds to the charm of the record. Titles include "Plum Blossom", "Purple Flower", "Three Faces Of Balal", and "Chinq Miau".

Incredible! The record's one that will blow away all your previous understandings of Rod Stewart – a wicked reinterpretation of the Faces sound, done with heavily acoustic instrumentation and really wonderful production. Includes Rod's landmark take on "Handbags & Gladrags" – plus "Man Of Constant Sorrow", "Cindy's Lament", "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down", and "I Wouldn't Change A Thing".

A pair of great albums – brought together in one super-heavy package! First up is the legendary East Of Underground record – an uber-obscure LP recorded in 1971 by a group of US Army servicemen at the Armed Forces Network studios in Frankfurt, Germany – originally used as a recruiting tool during the Vietnam war! Given the strength of the set, we wouldn't be surprised if plenty of folks signed up for a tour of duty after hearing it – as the set cooks like some of the best American funk from the indie 45 world at the time. The production is nice and dark – with an echoey quality that makes us guess the album was a live recording – done by American servicemen with the feel of some backroom funk show from the Indy or Ohio scene of the 70s. Some of the tracks are familiar numbers from American hits – but redone here with a nicely gritty feel – and titles include the awesome medley "Bet'Ya Never Lose My Love California Dreamer" – plus "Higher", "Smiling Faces", "Hell Below", "Getting Over", "Popcorn/Santana", "I Love You", "Java Girl", and "Walk On By". The set also includes the Soap album – a very similar record with a mix of rock and soul, done with the same sort of US Army-endorsed approach – and some great raw production that really makes the album sparkle! Many tunes are covers, but they're played here with a gritty live energy – so that even the rock tunes feel a bit funky at times – given a really odd edge. Titles include weird versions of "Uncle Albert", "Ticket To Ride", "Southern Man", "I Just Want To Celebrate", "Get Together", and "Walk Away".

Nothing too silent here, as the set's filled with the kind of soulful fusion grooves we'd expect from Hubert Laws in the 70s! The album's a real standout in his Columbia catalog – a perfectly balanced set that features plenty of great work from Hubert on flute, amidst arrangements that also have a bit of a groove on most numbers – never too smooth, nor too commercial – and very much in the spirit of Bobbi Humphrey's excellent late 70s sides for the label. As with those records, there's a bit of vocals here – sung in a lovely way by Debra and Eloise Laws – and there's also a bit of strings here, but used sparingly to match the sweetly stepping rhythms. Titles include "The Baron", "False Faces", "Love Gets Better", "It Happens Every Day", and "Say It With Silence".

A perfect example groove that got The Undisputed Truth big hit fame in the early 70s – sort of a rumbling funk, full-on approach, using male/female vocals in kind of a "wall of soul" approach. Includes the huge hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes", plus lots of covers of cool tracks like "California Soul", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Ball Of Confusion", and "You Got The Love I Need". Norman Whitfield production all the way through, with a lot of nice twists similar to those he was taking with other Motown groups at the time.

The eerie synth-stoked score for Halloween 3 – featuring tripped out, cosmic horror keyboard compositions for a flick that cast off the lurking "shape" for cyborgs, witchery and masked faces that melt into piles of insects! Whatever you might think of the movie – or even if you don't want to see damn thing – the soundtrack is completely excellent! The sound is great – and nearly, if not wholly analog synth-based, and recorded to 24-track tape – therefore perfectly suited to vinyl listening! Titles include "Chariots Of Pumpkins", "Starker And Marge", "Robots At The Factory", "The Rock", "Challis Escapes", "South Corridor", "Goodbye Ellie" and more.

A stellar set of surviving 70s Black Ark productions by Lee Perry – with rare and unreleased cuts plus pivotal, if long-buried sides by Junior Byles, U Roy, Delroy Butler, Tinga Stewart, The Upsetters, The Flames, The Ethiopians, Jah T and more – Perry-produced gems for Kingston's cultural rebels and sufferers! The Sound Doctor compilation is really an essential, perfectly-collected batch on Pressure Sounds – the UK label that once again proves to be among the finest and most respectful of Sound Doctor devotees. Among the exceptional rarities are the unreleased "Army Of Love" by Junior Byles, an exclusive dub plate mix of the Upsetters "Horny Train", the raw original mix of U Roy's "006" and many more – stirringly soulful Black Ark singles and dub versions including "Sound Doctor" by Bobby Floyd, "Do Good" by Al Maytone", "Different Experience" by Brother Ray", "Smiling Faces" by Tinga Stewart, "It’s Impossible" by The Ethiopians, "Grandfather Land" by Jah T, "King Of Kings" by Pat Francis, "Be Prepared" by Keith Poppin, "Key Card" by Lee & Jimmy, "Start Over" by The Gatherers and more.

What can we say? When this record came out, everybody we knew thought they'd totally lost it, and stopped being funky. From the vantage point of this generation, though, the record's a jazz funk masterpiece, with a smooth R&B sound that's virtually flawless, and a perfect summation of all of the great studio work being done in 70s LA. Includes the massive extended version of "Street Life", with vocals by Randy Crawford, plus other great cuts like "Night Faces", "The Hustler", and "Rodeo Drive".

One of the greatest hip hop acts from the early days of Sugar Hill – but a group who don't often get the same sort of cred as the label's bigger names at the time! The Crash Crew have a youthful energy that really lives up to their name – a loose approach to rhyme that sounds especially live on the longer tracks on the album – mixes with a more tuneful style at times that almost prefaces the growth of the genre in years to come! "Breaking Bells" and "We Want To Rock" both have a massive South Bronx party feel – and other cuts include "Scratching", "On The Radio", and "We Are Known As Emcees".

One of the greatest hip hop acts from the early days of Sugar Hill – but a group who don't often get the same sort of cred as the label's bigger names at the time! The Crash Crew have a youthful energy that really lives up to their name – a loose approach to rhyme that sounds especially live on the longer tracks on the album – mixes with a more tuneful style at times that almost prefaces the growth of the genre in years to come! "Breaking Bells" and "We Want To Rock" both have a massive South Bronx party feel – and other cuts include "Scratching", "On The Radio", and "We Are Known As Emcees".

A great change of pace for Billy Taylor – and one of the most striking sessions he made in the 50s! As you'll guess from the title, the record features Taylor's piano along with four flutes – played by Frank Wess, Herbie Mann, Jerome Richardson, and Phil Bodner – working here both in group formation, and in solo mode – fluttering nicely with a cool jazzy sound that really prefaces lots of use of the instrument in the 60s! Another added bonus on the record is added congas from Chano Pozo on most tracks, making for a groovy Latinesque bounce. Titles include "Blue Shutters", "One For The Woofer", "The Song Is Ended", "Back Home", "No Parking", and "Lady Be Good".

A slightly sweeter version of Cluster than on previous records – a bit more focused, tuneful, and rhythmic – thanks to some great use of the "rhythmusmaschine"! Most numbers here have a slightly pulsating feel – one that really prefaces the electronic modes that would come from the UK at the end of the decade, especially the best work of the Sheffield scene. Cluster here show the way brilliantly – taking the longer jams of earlier years, and honing them down into simple melodies and rhythms – yet still delivered with a fair bit of edge throughout, and not nearly as much of the softness that would characterize later work by Moebius or Roedelius. Tracks include "Hollywood", "Caramel", "James", "Rote Riki", "Fotschi Tong", and "Marzipan".

Cinematic funky soul instrumentals from the El Michels Affair – the loose NYC collective's long awaited full length nod to the Wu Tang Clan! The crew brings their tried and true slow rolling and dirty funk to their interpretations of classic Wu Tang tracks, with some straight up beautiful sophisticated soul backdrops, too, and Leon & the crew pull it all off masterfully! The RZA's sonic stamp is too innovative and idiosyncratic for a simple live band rehash, and the group is wise to use the famous crackling sample built soundscapes to craft both an homage to the Wu Tang's best material, as well as the 70s funk, soul and cinema sounds that informed them in the first place. A few of the tracks first blew our minds as funky 45s, and this full formed set was worth the wait – from the moody organ funk of "Can It All Be So Simple", the funky drummer rhythms of "Uzi (Pinky Ring)", the string accented moods of "Heaven And Hell", the brass band and children's chorus cover of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and lots more! Other tracks include "Glaciers Of Ice", "Incarcerated Scarfaces", "Bring Da Ruckus" and more.

Cinematic funky soul instrumentals from the El Michels Affair – the loose NYC collective's long awaited full length nod to the Wu Tang Clan! The crew brings their tried and true slow rolling and dirty funk to their interpretations of classic Wu Tang tracks, with some straight up beautiful sophisticated soul backdrops, too, and Leon & the crew pull it all off masterfully! The RZA's sonic stamp is too innovative and idiosyncratic for a simple live band rehash, and the group is wise to use the famous crackling sample built soundscapes to craft both an homage to the Wu Tang's best material, as well as the 70s funk, soul and cinema sounds that informed them in the first place. A few of the tracks first blew our minds as funky 45s, and this full formed set was worth the wait – from the moody organ funk of "Can It All Be So Simple", the funky drummer rhythms of "Uzi (Pinky Ring)", the string accented moods of "Heaven And Hell", the brass band and children's chorus cover of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and lots more! Other tracks include "Glaciers Of Ice", "Incarcerated Scarfaces", "Bring Da Ruckus" and more. Limited 12" vinyl picture disc edition!