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A pair of post Philly International gems from Lou Rawls on Epic – Now Is The Time from '82 and Close Company from '84 – in a single set! Now Is The Time is a solid soul effort from Lou, still working wonders here in the early 80s on a record that stands the test of time surprisingly well! The production doesn't overdo it with period production flourishes, with some sweeping arrangements on some numbers and more of an easygoing vibe on others. Titles include "Kiss Me One More Time", "Let Me Show You How", "Ain't That Love Baby", "This Love" and "Back To You". Close Company features a fair bit of production from Dexter Wansel, in a way that continues the groove from a few years before! The sound's got a smooth, sophisticated feel that works great with Lou's maturing vocals – and the overall feel is right up there with the best classy soul coming out on Epic at the time – work that's really stood the test of the time because it never gave in too much to commercial trends. Titles include "Close Company", "All Time Lover", "In The Middle Of The Night", "Pretty Eyes", "Forever I Do", "Ready Or Not", and "Say It Again". 17 tracks in all on the CD.

A great little soundtrack – even if it looks a bit snoozy from the outside! Don Costa's usually not our favorite arranger, but he does a great job with this one – laying out some hard blacksploitation grooves that have funky keyboards, sweet sitar, and lots of nice cop show grooves to them. The bulk of the record is instrumental – with some great funky cuts like "Main Title – Charley", "Main Theme to Water Tower", "Can You Dig It?", and "Train's Comin" – plus a few more "with chorus" tracks that are a bit more mellow. Lou Rawls sings on two cuts – the groovy "Sometime Day", which has a very strong "soundtrack theme" feel, and the mellower "Morning Comes Around", which ends the record with a nice soulful tone.

A pretty great little live set – recorded in Central Park in the late 60s, before a very large crowd! Lou sounds great, as always – and the Ramsey Lewis material is very much in the spirit of the live mid 60s Cadet recordings. Maxine Brown is the real treat, though, as the live setting is quite a contrast to her more staid sides for Wand. Maxine sings "In The Midnight Hour" and "Soul Serenade", Lou Sings "They Don't Give Medals", "Tobacco Road", and "On Broadway", and Ramsey plays "Salute To Ray Charles", "Hang On Sloopy", and "Goin Out Of My Head".

It's nice to hear a new MC these days that rhymes largely on beat and can create thought provoking rhymes that go beyond the sort of lowest common denominator topics of ass and money you hear not just on the radio and in the club, but even on supposedly undeerground records. Chicago's own Diverse rhymes over simple, tight beats, with a mellow jazzy feel, and gets remixed by fellow traveller J Rawls of the Lone Catalysts on the flip.

Nice nice set of Lou's great pop soul tracks recorded for Capitol during the late 60s – many of them with arrangements by H.B. Barnum, and production by David Axelrod. This stuff never gets its due, which is a shame – because Lou's fantastically rich voice opens up just about any song he sings, and when he's helped out by the fantastic staff at Capitol, the results are a real treat. This CD includes 19 titles in all, including "For What It's Worth", "Mama Told Me Not To Come", "Down Here On The Ground", "Love Is A Hurting Thing", "Your Good Thing (Is About To End)", "Girl From Ipanema", "Soul Serenade", and others.

The third set of hip hop jazz instrumentals from J Rawls & The Liquid Crystal Project – blending breezy 70s soul jazz inspired keys and horns with the head-nodding beat aesthetic of the most timeless hip hop – working as strongly on the jazzy side here, if not more so! Producer & DJ J Rawls once again works with fellow producer and keys player B Jazz along with drummer Rob Riley, Charles Cooper and Eddie Bayard on sax, plus guest trumpeter Pharez Whitted (the horns really bring some incredible depth). It's wonderful stuff! The electric keys lend a smoothed out finish, though still with a jazz funk vibe, while the bass, drums and beats carry a hip hop-reared insistence. Get it! Includes "Nematic Surprise", "A Tribute To De La", "Stand Up", "A Tribute To JC", "Friedrich And Otto", "Ghetto", "195", "A Tribute To Tribe", "The Equinox", "The Maier-Saupe Story", "Jazzy Bobby", "Where Is The Love", "Work" and more.

One of Lou's classics for Philly International – a warm mix of smooth soul and adult vocals, handled with some great arrangements by Dexter Wansel and Thom Bell. There's less standout singles on this set than previous Philly records, but Lou's class and quality makes nearly every track come out wonderfully – a masterpiece of soulful understatement and grace. Titles include "We Keep Getting Closer To Being Further Apart", "Time Will Take Care Of Everything", "What's The Matter With The World", "Bark Bite", and "Lover's Holiday".

A special radio show – hosted by Lou Rawls, done for the US Navy – and featuring Al Green! Loads of classic Hi Records cuts from the early 70s – and a very unique package!

More than just a great overview of Lou Rawls' jazz work for Capitol Records – because the set also features 3 previously unissued numbers that Rawls recorded with the Curtis Amy Sextet! Those 3 tracks are almost worth the price of the album alone – as Amy's combo was one of the hippest on the LA scene of the time, and offers Lou a rare opportunity to sing in a more relaxed setting than some of his more tightly arranged big band numbers. But honestly, all the work here is pretty darn great – and even the already-issued tracks are tremendous – a great illustration of how Lou linked together jazz and blues during the 60s soul era – and came up with a classy, sophisticated groove that inspired many others in years to come! Arrangements are by Benny Carter, Onzy Matthews, and HB Barnum – and titles include "Nobody But Me", "How Long How Long Blues", "Blues For Weepers", "Something Stirring In My Soul", "I Wonder", "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield", "Old Folks", "Somebody Have Mercy", and "Why Do I Love You So" – as well as the 3 unissued numbers, "Fine & Mellow", "Mean Old World", and "Long Gone Blues".

2 early Capitol classics by Lou Rawls – back to back on one CD, and perfectly paired throughout! Black and Blues is quite possibly the first truly great Lou Rawls album for Capitol – an all-out swinging jazz session done with arrangements by Onzy Matthews, in a mode that firmly helped put the Lou Rawls sound on the map! The tracks are mostly older numbers from a long lineage of blues and R&B – but with hipper 60s touches by Matthews in the backings, Lou really swings the work into a whole new territory – moving older, clunky compositions into more adult, more mature modes that aren't nearly as sad or downtrodden as their roots! Titles include "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water", "Roll Em Pete", "Kansas City", "World Of Trouble", "Trouble In Mind", "Strange Fruit", and "Six Cold Feet Of Ground". Tobacco Road was a real breakthrough for Lou – a set that again paired him with arranger Onzy Matthews, and which even more deeply explored the unique space between jazz, soul, and the blues that became Rawls' prime territory back in the 60s! Matthews' backings are hip and jazzy throughout – filled with bold horn touches from players that include Lou Blackburn, Curtis Amy, Sonny Criss, and even Horace Tapscott – who's playing trombone here instead of his more familiar piano. Ray Crawford's guitar underscores a good number of the tracks here with that clean, lean, single-note style of his – but Lou is the clear star throughout with his deeply-voiced lyrics of older familiar tunes. Titles include his landmark reworking of "Tobacco Road", plus "Summertime", "Stormy Weather", "Rocking Chair", "Ol Man River", "St Louis Blues", and "Sentimental Journey". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and the previously unissued "Gloomy Sunday".

2 albums on one CD – and some great early work by Lou Rawls! No, the albums don't have funky David Axelrod arrangements – but they do feature Lou with some great jazzy backing by Benny Carter – who really knows how to put the right degree of punch in the arrangements to bring out the best in Lou's voice. Together, the albums rank as some of Lou's best pre-Axelrod albums for Capitol – filled with strong renditions of standards and familiar tunes. Titles include "Nobody But Me", "If I Had My Life To Live Over", "Power Of Love", "It's Monday Every Day", "My Buddy", "Three O'Clock In The Morning", "Charmaine", "Cold Cold Heart", "Margie", and "Two Tickets West".

One of the greatest albums ever by studio genius David Axelrod! The album's one of Axelrod's first on his own – cut for Capitol Records at a time when he was working with some of the label's biggest selling soul acts – like Cannonball Adderley and Lou Rawls – turning their already-successful sounds into super-hit material by adding some nice funky touches, and excellent baroque production. This album lets Axelrod fully explore his talents for larger studio arrangements, and complex yet soulful instrumentation. The record is subtitled "an anthology of awareness after birth, based on the 18th century poems of William Blake" – and it features incredible arrangements conducted by Don Randi, played by a host of excellent LA jazz and studio players. The overall sound is spacey and dark, with nice touches of funk, and plenty of cool instrumental passages that have been sampled over the years by hip hoppers and other producers. Titles include "London", "The Fly", "The Human Abstract", "A Divine Image", and "The Sick Rose". Reissued with the original gatefold cover, and everything!

An early vocal set from Les McCann – quite unusual, and pretty darn soulful as well! The album's done in a mode that foreshadows Les' move to soul during the 70s, and features him singing to some hip arrangements by Gerald Wilson – in a soulful, jazzy style that was common for LA of the mid 60s – somewhere in a space between Lou Rawls and Arthur Prysock – with all the hip, adult aspects you'd expect from those references! Tunes include a fair bit of standards, but swung in really fresh ways by Wilson – and McCann's got this restrained style of singing that's really great – almost as if he's hiding a broken heart beneath his groove. Tracks include "It's Way Past Suppertime", "Next Spring", "Bye Bye Black Bird", "Deed I Do", "I Cried for You", and "Wonder Why".

Obscure batch of jazzy pop originals by this obscure singer from Indianapolis. Jimmy's clearly trying for a Lou Rawls Capitol sort of style, but he's also got a voice that's a bit raspier and blusier than Lou. Most of the tracks are originals by Jimmy, and titles include "Searching", "Quiet", "Sorry About That", "Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind", and "Cat Walk".

This is definitely not your father's calypso – no living room limbo or Harry Belafonte cliches – and instead, a smoking batch of Caribbean grooves from The Mighty Sparrow! Sparrow was very much on the edge of the best styles in the 60s and early 70s – and although his basic groove might be termed calypso, he also brought in plenty of Cuban, Haitian, and Jamaican rhythms to his music too – as well as an occasional does of American soul! Like some of the best early sounds from Kingston, the grooves here often echo a deeper R&B sensibility, turned towards island rhythms – and really hit home strongly by Sparrow's wonderful vocals – as catchy, compelling, and charming as some of the best US singers of the time – with touches of the wit of Oscar Brown Jr, the warmth of Lou Rawls, the swing of a young Marvin Gaye, and the spookiness of Screamin Jay Hawkins! This massive collection is the first to really dig through his older records to pull out the best tunes – just the kind of special focus we'd expect from the Strut label, with a wicked track selection and great notes too! Titles include "Bongo", "Calypso Boogaloo", "Zinah", "Fool Fool Fool", "Ah Diggin Horrors", "Jook For Jook", "Sparrow Come Back Home", "Slave", "She's Been Gone Too Long", "Congo Man", "Ten To One Is Murder", and "Kennedy & Kruschev".

This is definitely not your father's calypso – no living room limbo or Harry Belafonte cliches – and instead, a smoking batch of Caribbean grooves from The Mighty Sparrow! Sparrow was very much on the edge of the best styles in the 60s and early 70s – and although his basic groove might be termed calypso, he also brought in plenty of Cuban, Haitian, and Jamaican rhythms to his music too – as well as an occasional does of American soul! Like some of the best early sounds from Kingston, the grooves here often echo a deeper R&B sensibility, turned towards island rhythms – and really hit home strongly by Sparrow's wonderful vocals – as catchy, compelling, and charming as some of the best US singers of the time – with touches of the wit of Oscar Brown Jr, the warmth of Lou Rawls, the swing of a young Marvin Gaye, and the spookiness of Screamin Jay Hawkins! This massive collection is the first to really dig through his older records to pull out the best tunes – just the kind of special focus we'd expect from the Strut label, with a wicked track selection and great notes too! Titles include "Bongo", "Calypso Boogaloo", "Zinah", "Fool Fool Fool", "Ah Diggin Horrors", "Jook For Jook", "Sparrow Come Back Home", "Slave", "She's Been Gone Too Long", "Congo Man", "Ten To One Is Murder", and "Kennedy & Kruschev".

Smooth and jazzy soul from the team of James Mtume and Reggie Lucas – two of the finest producers and arrangers in their field! The set brings together tracks recorded by the pair with a host of different artists across a host of different labels – offering for the first time a true picture of the genius of Mtume, and featuring a load of excellent cuts that are appearing on CD for the first time ever! Mtume himself cut a few famous albums on Columbia, some with Lucas, and together the pair worked across a variety of labels in the late 70s and early 80s – taking modern soul to the next level with a really top-shelf sound! The package is a 15-track monster, filled with loads of great tracks we're happy to have together – and titles include "Love Lock", "Closer I Get To You", and "Juicy Fruit" by Mtume; "Under Your Spell" and "You Know How To Love Me" by Phyllis Hyman, "Never Too Late For Your Lovin" and "Step In The Light" by Sunfire, "What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin" by Stephanie Mills, "Got To Be Love" by The Spinners, "If I Had A Chance" by Rena Scott, "Back To You" and "Now Is The Time For Love" by Lou Rawls, "Keep Going On" by Gary Bartz, and "Two Hearts" by Stephanie Mills & Teddy Pendergrass.

Heavy soul from the great Spanky Wilson – an album that explodes with energy right from the start – in a groove that definitely lives up to the title! Spanky's got a great mix of funk and class on this set – a punch in the rhythms at points, yet also a poise in the way she delivers the lyrics – a blend that's a bit like Marlena Shaw in her earlier years – and set to some killer arrangements from the great HB Barnum! Barnum gives the record all the cool punch of his great 60s work with Lou Rawls – and nearly all the material was written by the obscure Howlett Smith – an excellent lost writer who had a real talent for coming up with cool little soul songs that rise above the usual bag of his generation. This material works great for Spanky, and together, the pair, along with Barnum, cook up a unique lost soul treat! Titles include "Apartment 101", "On The Morning After", "The Other Girl", "You're Gonna Miss Me", "Love Has Me By The Hand", and "Mighty Great Feeling".

Not so much an introduction to Latin jazz, as it a wonderful collection of Latin-tinged tunes from the mighty catalog of Blue Note Records – and not just New York and Cuban Latin grooves, but also a fair bit of bossa nova and Brazilian sounds too! The 3CD package is overflowing with goodness – and titles include a range of killer Blue Note gems from the 60s – plus related cuts from labels like Capitol, Liberty, and World Pacific. The groove changes nicely throughout the set, and the instrumentation is superb – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Sandalia Dela" by Duke Pearson, "Chitlins Con Carne" by Kenny Burrell, "Loie" by Ike Quebec, "Samba De Orfeu" by Charlie Rouse, "Bossa For Baby" by Hank Mobley, "South Of The Border" by Lou Donaldson, "Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso" by Sabu Martinez, "Minors Holiday" by Kenny Dorham, "Congalere" by Horace Parlan, "Ghana" by Donald Byrd, "Latin Fever" by Jack Costanzo, "No Problem" by Jerome Richardson, "Girl From Ipanema" by Lou Rawls, "Rojo" by Bobby Hutcherson, and "Thousand Finger Man" by Candido. 38 tracks in all!

A very cool Capitol Records relic – a special album for radio DJs – with cuts that include "Song Of The Ages" and "Another Day" by Roy Harper, "Requiem 820 Lathem" and "Spinning Wheel" by Mel Torme, "Is That All There Is" by Ty Lemley, "Country Preacher" and "Oh Babe" by Cannonball Adderley, and "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Lou Rawls.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! This totally cool package features 31 mixes in all – pressed up as eight 12" EPs – most with four tracks each, leaving plenty of room for very long mixes! Titles include Moulton mixes of "Jam Jam Jam" by People's Choice, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, "Intro/My Love Don't Come Easy" by Jean Carn, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls, and "Love Epidemic" by The Trammps.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge 4CD package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also a whopping 17 previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! 4CDs, 31 tracks, and Moulton remixes of "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Do It Any Way You Wanna" by People's Choice, "Nights Over Egypt" by The Jones Girls, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Year Of Decision" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "She's A Winner" by The Intruders, "Trammps Disco Theme/Zing Went The Strings" by The Trammps, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Love Is The Message" by MFSB, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, and "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls.

A sweet little set of classic 70s Philly – one of the best collections of work by the team of Gamble & Huff we've ever seen! There's nothing too obscure or offbeat here – and instead, the collection focuses mostly on the massive crossover tracks produced by the pair back in the day – the landmark soul that not only redefined the sound of Philly, but also the 70s as well! And while most of this material has been on the market often over the years, it's still pretty darn nice to see it all clustered together in one place. Most titles are the full-length album versions – and the CD features 14 tracks that include "Me & Mrs Jones" by Billy Paul, "When Will I See You Again" by Three Degrees, "TSOP" by MFSB, "Do It Any Way You Wanna" by People's Choice, "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, "Use Ta Be My Girl" by The O'Jays, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" by Lou Rawls, "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "Love Train" by The O'Jays, "Ain't No Stoppin Us Now" by McFadden & Whitehead, "Close The Door" by Teddy Pendergrass, and "If You Only Knew" by Patti LaBelle.

A great 70s move for Arthur Prysock – and an overlooked disco treasure that sits somewhere between the work of Barry White with Love Unlimited Orchestra, and the best Lou Rawls grooves for Philly International! Prysock's voice has lost none of its depth over the years – and here, instead of jazzy ballads, Arthur's working with some great midtempo grooves put together by John Davis – who produced and arranged, and gives the album all the full clubby depth of his own records with the Monster Orchestra! The mix of groove and grace, baritone and bump, soul and sophistication is all mighty great territory for Prysock – and titles include "When Love Is New", "One Broken Heart", "All My Life", "Love Makin Love To You", "I Wantcha Baby", and "All I Need Is You Tonight". Features a bonus single mix of "When Love Is New".

Here's some chillout music we can really get behind – mellow soul tracks with a beautifully gentle groove – all cut back in the days when an artist could relax a bit without ever losing their cool! The set's heavy on mellow modern soul numbers – all hand-picked by Expansion Records frontman Ralph Tee – who's shown us for decades that he's really got a golden ear when it comes to music like this! There's loads of great gentle steppers on the package, sung by some of the best voices of the mainstream soul scene at the end of the 70s – cuts that include "We Need Love" by Chapter 8, "Be My Girl" by Michael Henderson, "We Found Love" by The Dynamics, "Gonna Make Changes" by Phyllis Hyman, "No Love Nowhere Without You" by Linda Williams, "Ain't That Love Baby" by Lou Rawls, "Brother Brother" by Esther Phillips, "What Do You Want Me To Do" by Lou Courtney, "Stay" by Glenn Jones, "We Never Said Goodbye" by Dionne Warwick, and "Paintings Of Love" by Keni Burke.

Pretty darn great work from OC Smith – on of his biggest albums for Columbia! OC's working in a country soul mode that draws on a tradition shared by Solomon Burke, Joe Tex, Ray Charles, and others – turning the genre towards a more pop-driven version of country, the kind that was creeping into the crossover charts at the end of the 60s. The style's one that might have you suspicious, but it comes off surprisingly well – thanks to arrangements by the always-great HB Barnum, the man who brought a syncopated groove to some of Lou Rawls' best work in the late 60s – his Capitol sides with David Axelrod! The feel here is a bit rootsier, but still has that nice Barnum bounce underneath – and titles include "Wichita Lineman", "I Ain't The Worryin' Kind", "The Best Man", "Stormy", "Cycles", "Keep On Keepin On", "Isn't It Lonely Together", and "Promises".

Soaring sounds from Philadelphia International – the label that virtually defined the sound of soul in the 70s, thanks to a succession of ultra-big hits! Those cuts are great, but this set goes even deeper – to move past the chart standouts, and come up with a brilliant batch of Philly groovers that stayed mostly on the underground – but which have had a huge influence on the global scene over the past few decades! All the best Philly 70s elements are in place here – tight rhythms, impeccable musicianship, and production that finds a way to polish without ever making things too slick – a wonderful blend that makes these tunes totally top-shelf all the way through – and even fresher than some of the bigger hits you'd know from the artists. Titles include "Hey Baby" by Anthony White, "I Heard It In A Love Song" by McFadden & Whitehead, "Old People" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Sunshine & You" by The Futures, "Groovy People" by Lou Rawls, "You Can't Come Back Now" by Jean Carn, "Tell The World How I Feel About Cha Baby" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let The Dollar Circulate" by Billy Paul, "Found A Love You Couldn't Handle" by The Stylistics, and "I'm Just Thinking About Cooling Out" by Jerry Butler.