All Categories — LPs  

A great little album by Roy Ayers – one that features none of his hits, but which has great examples of both sides of Roy's talents at the time. The dancefloor side of Roy kicks in with "Love Will Bring Us Back Together", an extremely catchy groover that's very much in the mode of "Running Away", with plenty of choppy funky riffs, and a good soul base at the core. Even better, though, is the mellow spacey side of Roy – which shows up wonderfully in the cuts "Is It Too Late To Try" and "If You Love Me" – two overlooked gems that float along in a perfect blend of jazz and modern soul, with great breathy vocals and vibes, very much in the spirit of stuff on the You Send Me album.

The record that defined a generation, and a set with some surprisingly nice soul tracks, too – including "Open Sesame" by Kool & The Gang, "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps, "KJEE" by MFSB, "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph MacDonald, "Fifth Of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy, "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, and "More Than A Woman" by Tavares.

A key turn in the groove for The Fatback Band – one that has the group getting a good dose of "night fever", and smoothing out their funk for the 70s disco crowd! Yet although clubby, the record's still plenty funky – a refinement of the groove first started on Yum Yum, streamlined into a sweet blend of bass, drums, guitar, and plenty of horns – but all still with a sense of liveness and jamming that plenty shows the roots of the combo from the old days. A few tracks here have a nicely sweet soul sound – sometimes with backing vocals from Donna McGhee and Phyllis Hyman – and titles include "Night Fever", "A Little Funky Dance", "The Joint", "Disco Crazy", and "The Booty".

Lean, righteous blowing from the legendary Frank Foster – one of a handful of extremely hip sessions he cut in the 60s under his own name! The album's the only record Foster ever did for Blue Note – and we dare say it's even better than his previous 60s work on Prestige and Impulse – with a quality that's even darker, even deeper, even more advanced from his earlier years with Basie. There's a rolling, joyous groove to many numbers – that late 60s take on soul jazz that made for so many great tracks on albums by Hank Mobley or Lee Morgan near the end of the decade. Foster keeps things tight, but he's also got an expansive vision too – an edge in the horns that points the way towards some of the chances he'd take in the 70s, but which is still wrapped around a leanly leaping soul jazz groove! Foster wrote 5 of the 6 tracks on the album, and he's working here with a sextet that includes Garnett Brown on trombone, Marvin Stamm on trumpet, and Richard Wyands on piano, who brings in some offbeat notes and colors throughout. Rhythm is by the excellent team of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums – and titles include "Seventh Avenue Bill", "Stammpede", "Little Miss No Nose", "Manhattan Fever", and "Loneliness".

Disco Fever was quite a disease in the late 70s – especially contagious if you happened to be recording for Casablanca Records! In this case, it doesn't do too much damage to The Sylvers, who'd been moving that way already on their Capitol Records – and it does give them the chance to work here with Harold Faltermeyer, who handled all the arrangements on the record. All tracks are fast, done in the sing-song vocal mode that the group had been using on their pop hits from the mid 70s. The album was recorded in Munich, LA, and Milan – and titles include "Gimme Gimme Your Lovin", "Mahogany", "Dance Right Now", "I Feel So Good Tonight", and "Forever".

A stone classic from Brother James – a wonderful 60s album built around the incredible track "Cold Sweat", served up here in a massive two-part version, and surrounded by a good range of material that really show James in a great variety of styles! The Godfather's vocals burst out nicely with some wonderfully soulful overtones, no matter what the tune – and titles include "Fever", "Good Rockin Tonight", "Back Stabbin", "Mona Lisa", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "Nature Boy" and "I Want To Be Around" – as well as "Cold Sweat (parts 1 & 2)".

One of the greatest records ever by this hip jazz ensemble – and one of their most unique! The record has the band grooving hard through two incredible suites of Latin music – Gary McFarland's "Latin Kaleidoscope" and Francy Boland's "Cuban Fever" – each of which takes up a side of the record, both driving the band to new solo heights with a very hip edge! Players include the usual cream of the crop of European jazz residents – like Sahib Shihab, Dusko Goykovich, Jimmy Deuchar, Phil Woods, Tony Coe, and Benny Bailey – and the tracks include "Uno Graso De Areia", "A Rosa Negra", "Olhos Negros", "Cara Bruja", and "Fiebre Cuban". Wonderful all the way through – and always a treasure! One of the shining jewels in the crown of MPS – and a Gilles P classic all the way through!

One of the grooviest albums ever cut by Papa John Creach – a set that mixes his bluesy roots with some stoner funk and rock elements from the early 70s! Creach is on vocals and violin, and working here with a host of famous luminaries – including Grace Slick, Carlos Santana, Paul Kantner, and Jerry Garcia – each of whom definitely leave their mark on the record! Yet despite all these famous names, the record's got a pretty unified feel – and the best cuts have a nicely messed-up funk sound that we really like a lot – kind of in a Blue Thumb sort of blend, with a mix of rootsy elements and wilder electric ones and plenty of funky rhythms at the bottom. Titles include "Soul Fever", "String Jet Rock", "The Janitor Drives A Cadillac", "Plunk A Little Funk", and "Papa John's Down Home Blues".

Sweetly smooth grooving from The Dramatics – tighter than their years at Stax, but still tremendous stuff vocally – with a sound that mixes the rough and the sweet like nobody else! The album features works by a number of different producers – including group members Ron Banks and LJ Reynolds, plus Michael Henderson and Don Davis, whose talents are perhaps most responsible for the strength of any of the group's best records. David Van De Pitte does a bit of arranging on the record too – bringing in some of the fuller, clubbier styles he's known for. The album features a sublime mellow harmony track entitled "I Get Carried Away" – plus the tunes "Be My Girl", "I Can't Get Over You", "Stand Up & Move", "Finger Fever", "After This Dance", and "Say The Word".

Let's get this straight. Merle Haggard SINGS "Okie From Muskogee" but he is not THE "Okie From Muskogee". Nevertheless, this is the record that put the honky in honky tonk. Merle sure pretended to not like hippies back in '69, and story has it he even refused an invitation to produce Gram Parson's GP album on the basis that Gram was just another damn dirty hippie. Of course that's just a story – Merle simply didn't fancy himself a producer. Okie From Muskogee is pretty much the definitive portrait of the Hag at his most reactionary, and if the ignorant politics of the title track gives us a few goosebumps along the way, it's well worth it to hear him perform some of his best tracks at the very peak of his career. Besides, what's an outlaw if he doesn't scare you a little? Many of the great ones are here, including "Mama Tried", "No Hard Times", "In the Arms Of Love", "If I Had Left It Up To You", "White Line Fever", "Blue Rock", "Okie From Muskogee", and a medley of "Swinging Doors", "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive", "Sing Me Back Home", and "Branded Man".

Wonderful later work from Isaac Hayes – a gem from his Polydor years that has a good mix of mellow cuts and more upbeat numbers! The record has 3 long "quiet storm" tracks that take off on Ike's earlier expanded ballad style (forged on tracks like "Walk On By") – turned into late 70s late night jams with lots of stretched out production, breathy vocals, and seductive instrumentation. The best of these is "What Does It Take", which has a nice hook, and the other two are "Someone Who Will Take The Place Of You" and "A Few More Kisses To Go". Other tracks are a bit more upbeat – but Ike does a wonderful job with groovers at this point of his career – really finding a new outlet for his amazing vocals! Remaining titles include the club classic "Don't Let Go" and "Fever".

Slammin party rock from The McCoys – a garagey group with a sound so catchy, they managed to catch on big on both sides of the charts! The group's well-known title hit is in the lead of this set – but the whole thing's plenty darn groovy, with a tight style that mixes together equal parts rock and soul – and which still maintains a rough kind of energy that must have made these guys great to see live! Titles include "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", "All I Really Want To Do", "I Don't Mind", "Fever", "If You Tell A Lie", "Hang On Sloopy", "High Heel Sneakers", and "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow".

An overlooked gem from Sylvester's years on Fantasy Records – a set that has him working strongly with soul maestro Harvey Fuqua, in a really great blend of disco and more laidback modes! There's a balance here that's like early Luther at his best – a way of being proudly poised, yet never in an overdone way – a captivating approach to the music that pushes past any obvious cliches you might expect, and which will definitely have you digging deeper for more Sylvester if you only know his hits. The set list includes a few older classics remade – including "Fever" and "Cry Me A River" – plus the tracks "Change Up", "I Need You", "My Life Is Loving You", and "Doin It For The Real Thing".

A landmark album from The Trammps – and a record that broke the group firmly out of the Philly ghetto, yet still carried all the best touches of the Sigma scene! Sure, the title track was a super-huge hit – thanks to a plug in Saturday Night Fever – but the record itself is Philly club soaring high, with key arrangements and production from the team of Norman Harris, Ronald Baker, and Earl Young – all of whom provide tremendously mighty grooves to soar the multi-voiced sound of the group well over the top of the clubs! Titles include an 11 minute version of "Disco Inferno", plus "Starvin", "Don't Burn No Bridges", "You Touch My Hot Line", and "I Feel Like I've Been Livin (On The Dark Side Of The Moon)".

After his run of funky organ records for Prestige in the early 70s, Charles took a similar route to Herbie and others, and picked up a host of electric keyboards for his spacey fusion records on Mercury. The core of Earland's groove here is the Arp, which he plays masterfully – running from tight funky melodies to wilder outer spacier sounds. The groups that back him up include many crack 70s fusion players – and the record has a style that's overall more slick and sophisticated than his Prestige sessions. Titles include "Journey Of The Soul", "Phire", "We All Live In The Jungle", and "Cosmic Fever".

The Isley Brothers in prime 70s mode here – hitting a warm and wonderful blend of soul and funk throughout – always delivered with that sweet talent for smooth understatement that makes them so great! The costumes on the front cover may be freaky, but the grooves are nicely restrained – and by this point in the decade, the brothers have definitely learned that their strongest suit is often their mellow one – tracks that groove, but often in more subtle ways! Titles include the massive slow jam track "Groove With You", plus "Take Me To The Next Phase (parts 1 & 2)", "Love Fever (parts 1 & 2)", "Fun & Games", "Ain't Givin Up No Love", and "Coolin Me Out (parts 1 & 2)".

With a few tracks produced by the Neptunes, most notably the gigantic hit "Shake Your Ass". Also includes "Danger (Been So Long)", "I'm Throwed Off", "Big Truck Boys", "U Would If U Could", "Mystikal Fever", "Ain't Gonna See Tomorrow", "Smoked Out", and "Neck Uv Da Woods".

Smooth and sophisticated grooving from Esther Phillips – a record that really has her shaking off the rag-tag and rootsy modes of earlier years, and gliding sweetly into the mainstream! Phillips' vocals are still as soulful and compelling as ever, but the backings are quite full – penned by Joe Beck, who also plays a fair bit of guitar on the record too – and done with a sound that's in the same mode as David Matthews' backings for other Kudu sides of the time. There's a definite soul-heavy focus going on here – with some clubby touches too – and titles include "Caravan", "Fever", "Pure Natural Love", "Unforgettable", "For All We Know", "Fools Rush In", and "Going Out Of My Head".

Rare disco soul from Canada – the self-titled set from Zig Zag! The sounds range from tightly vamping funky guitar grooves, to spacier synth driven sounds - and it's energetic dancefloor funk & soul all the way! The lyrics are sung in Quebecois French, often with a funky grit, but the longer cosmic soul instrumental are in the driver seat. Titles include "Disco Danser", "Disco Fever", "Stop Stop Stop", "Gay'O", "Voyage Voyage", "Le Prophete" and "Discoville".

Kay-Gees "Tango Hustle", Johnny Bristol "Lusty Lady", Radiance "This Is A Party", The Electric Indian "Rain Dance", Syrius "The Fever", James Brown "Since You Been Gone", Jimmy Castor Bunch "When", and B.T. Express "Energy Level".

The second volume of this series was even better than the first, and contains more hard funky stuff, like "Jungle Fever" by Chakachas, "Doin' It to Death" by the JB's, "Theme from Cleopatra Jones" by Joe Simon, "Fencewalk" by Mandrill, and 16 other funky cuts from the likes of James Brown, Lyn Collins, First Choice, O'Jays, Chi-Lites, Curtis Mayfield, etc. Have yourself a funky K-Tel record party!

Titles include "Do Ya Wanna Go Dancin", "Rock Around The Clock", "Let's Make Love Tonight", "Round & Round & Round", "Spirits", "The Little Rock Dancer From Dallas", "Dance With Me", and "Midnight Fever."

Chicago mainstay John Young offers his own expressive take on pop tunes and film themes from the late 50's and early 60's on this trio side cut for the Argo label (Chess record's jazz wing) in 1961. This trio, featuring William Yancey and Phillip Thomas, served as the rhythm section for many of the sides cut for the Argo label behind leaders such as Sonny Stitt, Howard McGhee and Gene Ammons. Here, they shine in their own light on numbers like "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Mr. Lucky", "Spartacus(Love Theme)" and "Fever".