All Categories — LPs  

Zulema's first album – and one that's got a much deeper soul feel than any of her later work for RCA. Zulema wrote a lot of the tracks, plays piano, and sings in a very righteous soul voice that's equal parts gospel and equal parts 70s soul – much more stripped down than on later sides, and with a really earthy feel - especially on cuts like "Ain't It Sad", "American Fruit, African Roots", and "This Child Of Mine".

A landmark LP of guitar-based funk! Dennis Coffey had been playing, arranging, and producing all over the Detroit soul scene by the time this album came out – so it wasn't like he really needed a hit to get paid or anything – but the record forever marked him as a guitar player to be reckoned with, and it was a perfect showcase for Coffey's fuzzed-out funky style, instantly recognizable and still extremely popular today! The album contains the monster breakbeat cut "Scorpio" – kind of a seminal text of hip hop – plus plenty of other groovers like "Getting It On", "Garden Of The Moon", "Big City Funk", and "Sad Angel".

Their first album of funky soul, and still a major classic from the early 70s! Creative Source were way more than just a regular soul vocal group from the start – as they had some superior vocal arrangements from Skip Scarborough, who really gave the group a unique approach that mixed jazz, soul, and funk into a sound that worked off of earlier male/female styles laid down by groups like Friends Of Distinction and the 5th Dimension, but make them work more in a straight soul vein. The group does a classic rendition of Scarborough's "You Can't Hide Love", which was a hit for Earth Wind & Fire, plus nice covers of two tracks by Sussex labelmate Bill Withers – "Who Is He & What Is He To You" and "Let Me In Your Life". Also includes their own "Oh Love", which is a nice groover!

Good album by this female-male-female soul trio, with a lot of tracks written and arranged by Van McCoy, with the good New York soul sound that he was laying down with groups like this in the days before he hit the disco. Zulema's on vocals, and she also wrote a few tracks. Cuts include "God Bless The World", "I Worship The Very Ground You Walk On", "Heavy Love", "I Was There", and "We Can Change The World".

The fourth album from Bill Withers and an overlooked gem recorded for Sussex – and a great bit of funky soulful stuff in the best Withers tradition – a record that's sadly kind of withered in relative obscurity for far too many years! The soul in Withers voice is in as fine of form as ever on this set, and for us, this has earned its steadily growing reputation as his lost masterpiece. The material has a conversational, wise and world weary tone that's brilliantly effective and more intimate than Bill's bigger hits of the day – and the arrangements are more centered around soulful and lightly funky keys than the more acoustic guitar driven rhythms that got him more radio play on earlier hits. There's also some subtly innovative parts to the production that are really moving, from the harp accented piano on "Stories" and the funky percussion flavored rambler of a closing number "Railroad Man". Other tracks include You", "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh", "Heartbreak Road", "Green Grass", "Ruby Lee", "Can We Pretend", "Liza" and "Make A Smile For Me".

A strange little film with a western motif – starring Bill Cosby, Leif Erikson, and Yaphet Kotto! Fortunately, Quincy Jones was the musical supervisor – so the tracks are hip enough in the best parts – a bit rootsy at times, but with a 70s soul approach that keeps things real. The best cuts include the vocal number "Better Days" by Bill Withers – but even better are the instrumental numbers by JJ Johnson, including the oft-sampled groover "Pull, Jubal, Pull".

Very interesting soul material from this enigmatic singer. Ralph had a righteous approach that mixed larger arrangements with a folksy style – in an overall effect that was a few parts Terry Callier, a few parts late Jerry Butler, and a few parts Grady Tate – but which had an approach that was really all its own. The record is almost heading into the folk-funk realm, but the orchestrations are a bit too lush – although nice! Some tracks were produced by Clayton Ivey, and titles include "Stay On The Good Side", "Differently", "I Don't Want To Play This Game", "My Love Goes With You", and "Ain't No Need".

One of a handful of enigmatic albums cut in the early 70s by Sixto Rodriguez – a Latin-tinged singer with a style that's a bit like that of Jose Feliciano, but trippier, and with more rock and folk touches! This set's probably his best one – thanks to arrangements and production by Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore, both of whom give the album a stoned-out feel that sets it up nicely with other work on the Sussex label at the time. The album's got a lot of "deep" cuts with semi-political lyrics – including "Inner City Blues" (not Marvin's version), "Like Janis", "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst", and "Crucify Your Mind" – and Rodriguez seems like he must have been one hip cat back in his day!

A beautiful album by Bill Withers – filled with incredibly well written songs, and an amazing instrumental technique that blended folksy elements with smoother 70s soul, in a sound that would put Bill at the top of the charts for many years, yet still give him cred with soul fans for decades! Booker T Jones arranged, produced, and played electric piano on the album – and we can say without a doubt that the record's one of the few good things to come out of his move to LA! Although the album's not a greatest hits one, given the strength of the tracks, it may as well be, as it includes Withers classics like "Grandma's Hands", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Harlem", and "Hope She'll Be Happier". Also features the nice groover, "Better Off Dead", which has a very tasty intro!

Classic funky groovers from Dennis Coffey – with his hard guitar sound gettin' all fuzzy over some loud drums and funky Sussex production! This one's still very much on the "Scorpio" vibe, when the label was keeping things nice and hard – and before Dennis got a bit hooked into disco. Includes the cuts "Ride Sally Ride" and "Taurus", which was his similar sounding follow-up to "Scorpio". Also includes "Can You Feel it", "Midnight Blue", "Toast & Jam", "Man & Boy", "It's Too Late" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

One of Wither's most underrated sets, a nice effort from the latter part of his Columbia career. The set has the sort of modern soul polish throughout that separates these CBS sides from his earlier grittier work for Sussex, and though the sound has a little more commercial and mainstream appeal than some of the funkier folksier early albums, it's aged a lot better than we might have predicted upon its release. Overall the vibe is a lot like the excellent Menagerie album which immediately preceded this, with some nice jazzy touches, and even though it didn't produce a big hit like "Lovely Day", it does features some arrangements by Wade Marcus that contribute to the warm, polished production. Titles include "Love Is", "All Because Of You", "You Got The Stuff", "Don't It Make It Better", and "Look To Each Other For Love".

Damn! Bill Withers can never do wrong in our book – and this album is definitely case in point! The set marks Bill's big move from Sussex Records to Columbia, and it's the start of an amazing run in the late 70s – completely sublime soul that wraps up all Withers' roots from the earlier part of the decade, and focuses them beautifully in some sweet keyboard-driven grooves! Bill's voice is marvelous – that raspily charming sound that no other soul singer could ever match – and the album features arrangements from Larry Nash, who plays keyboards on the date along with Dave Grusin. Electric piano makes for plenty of great moments – and titles include his classic "Hello Like Before", plus "The Best You Can", "Make Love To Your Mind", "Paint Your Pretty Picture", and "Don't You Want To Stay".

Bill Withers' second "best of" collection for Columbia – and like the other one, this set features tracks from his earlier years at Sussex, plus some numbers cut for Columbia. Great stuff throughout – from the more recent smooth mellow soul of "Just The Two Of Us" and "Lovely Day", to earlier rawer numbers like "Hello Like Before", "Grandma's Hands", "Ain't No Sunshine", and "Use Me". Also features the tasty cut "Soul Shadows" – and as usual with Bill, the whole thing's sublime!

One of Bill Withers' greatest albums of the 70s – a set that has hip stepping off the acoustic sound of his Sussex records, into a warm and jazzy style that we like every bit as much as his earlier work! The album's got a wonderfully sophisticated jazzy vibe, and includes the excellent cut "Lovely Day" – a perfect midtempo track with some great electric keyboards behind Bill's raspy soulful voice, and a great hook on the chorus! Paul Riser handled a lot of the arrangements – and other titles include "Wintertime", "It Ain't Because Of Me Baby", "I Want To Spend The Night", and "Then You Smile At Me".

Smooth jazzy soul from this massively overlooked group from the 70s! Although many know their bigger recordings on Sussex, these Polydor sides are much more appealing to us, and have a nice jazzy soul sound that's similar to work of groups like Side Effect – with a mixture of harmony soul and more complicated arrangements, touched by a bit of funk, and some more sophisticated modern soul production. This LP includes an excellent funky cut called "Funky Luvah", plus the tracks "Pass The Feelin On", "Turn On To Music", "Don't Be Afraid", and "I Want Ya (Loving Me)".