All Categories — CDs  

Two club corkers by Black Ivory – back to back on a single CD! The self-titled Black Ivory album is a pivotal set for the group – released at a time when Black Ivory, like so many other east coast vocal groups, was making the transition away from an older sweet soul style to a more... read more

Angela Bofill's sublime first album – a mixture of jazzy soul and soulful jazz, all put together with a sound that's really a cut above most of her contemporaries! As with Jean Carn or Phyllis Hyman, there's a sophistication to Angela's sound here that indicates roots in much hipper... read more

Mirror Man is an all time Beefheart classic – fleshed out and made even more necessary in its late 90s release as Mirror Man Sessions! The long tracks find the band stretching out from their bluesy roots into the outer limits on the 4 main Mirror Man numbers "Tarotplane", "25t... read more

The album that started it all for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band – the monumental Safe As Milk – a more focused effort than the epic strangeness to come, but still a freak rock masterpiece! Don Van Vliet and the first Magic Band get loose on some messed up, raw, white boy blues... read more

A pair of mellow soul and jazzy groove masterpieces by Norman Connors – You Are My Starship form '76 and Romantic Journey from '77 in a single set! The former opens with the heavenly title cut – which features Michael Henderson on vocals and Gary Bartz on sax. Bartz plays on a number... read more

The Ebonys sing about life, and a host of other groovy topics too – in this lost soul treasure from the 70s! The set is one of only two albums ever cut by The Ebonys – a consistently great group from the 70s, as is testified by their constant popularity in our racks! The quartet has a... read more

Killer work by this fab Chicago soul group – a bunch of young kids, ala The Jackson Five, with sweet soul sound that actually predates the work of Jermaine and Michael and Tito, and which paved the way for countless 70s groups to come! The Five Stairsteps were first discovered by Curtis... read more

Soaring soul from The Futures – a Philly group who'd already worked for years in the underground before cracking the racks with this debut LP in 1975 – schooled strongly in their best vocal modes from previous singles, and ready to unleash the best side of their sound on the world! The... read more

Smooth mellow soul by Michael Henderson – taking up where he left off with his work with Norman Connors, and proving that he was an even better vocalist than bassist! The overall sound of this one's perhaps a bit slicker than his first 2 albums on Buddah – but there's still some strong... read more

A soaring standout from Michael Henderson – proof that his move from jazz bassist to lead soul star was a great one! The album's got a tight groove that's right on the money – a style that's rooted in funky jazz, yet delivered with some straight soulful lyrics too – balancing... read more

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A great 2-in-1 from Gladys Knight & The Pips – the Claudine and Pipe Dreams soundtracks back to back on a single CD! Claudine is a wonderful mid 70s set from Gladys Knight & The Pips – a soundtrack date written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, who really helps bring a lot of... read more

Classic work by Barbara Mason – easily some of her best recordings, cut for Buddah Records during the early 70s, with production work by soul luminaries Curtis Mayfield and Don Davis. Although Barbara began as a "little girl" singer, these sides show her maturing nicely –... read more

The sensuous soul gem from Barbara Mason – a sweetly soulful groover all the way – one of her strongest albums of the 70s! Give Me Your Love earns our love from the open second, and it features the great title hit, a reworking of Curtis Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love",... read more

A pivotal album for Barbara Mason – one in which she takes the little girl soul sound of earlier albums, and turns it into a sophisticated range of emotions that foreshadows later Philly work by singers like Jean Carn and Phyllis Hyman! Despite the Philly arrangements by Ronnie Baker, Norman... read more

A righteous group soul classic from the 70s – the one and only album from The Modulations, and a lasting classic that almost beats the multiple album runs of some of their contemporaries! The group's a southern harmony quartet at their core, but they also get some really great backings on... read more

A album of club tracks, as you might guess from the title, but every bit as strong as Melba More's other work from the late 70s! The album's got some top-shelf club help throughout – including production from Van McCoy and McFadden & Whitehead, the latter of whom also contributed a few... read more

Soaring soul from Melba Moore – a singer who really came into her own with this sweet 70s album! Melba always had a great voice, right from the start – but here, she's working with arrangements and production by Van McCoy – updating her sound with a bit of a clubby groove, in a... read more

A peach of a record from Melba Moore – one that's produced by Eugene McDaniels, who helps find a tight funky sound that unlocks some of the most righteous elements in Moore's vocals! Like some of McDaniels' best productions of the time, there's a good sense of balance here – a way of... read more

The vocals of Melba Moore, and some great Philly soul rhythms – put together with tight arrangements from McFadden & Whitehead, who give Moore a similar approach to some of the best Philadelphia International records of the time! There's a really nice sense of balance to the record... read more

One of the landmark albums of 70s mellow soul! Bobby Wilson hasn't left behind much of a recorded legacy, but he did come up with this godlike album that should be in any collection of classic soul. The record is a perfect blending of the styles of soul that were running through the east coast... read more