Soul — Recently Added  

Great later work from BT Express – a record with a sound that's cleaner, leaner, and more stripped-down than some of their earlier records! The style here is still the same as before – mostly soul aimed at the dancefloor, served up with a tremendous sense of bottom rhythm – but ...

The setting is the Golden Gate, but the sound is pure Philly International – a rare early live performance from the label, featuring some of its key vocal heavyweights working here with live accompaniment from MFSB! Although the instrumental group backed Philly artists often in the studio, ...

A beautiful collection of all the great and rare material Eddie Holland cut as solo singer in the late 50s and early 60s – including the incredible early Motown material, plus tracks he cut for Mercury, Kudo, Tamla and United Artists! Of course Eddie Holland is best remembered for uber-legend ...

The only compilation of 60s female soul trio The Apollas we've ever seen – beautiful tunes with sweet and soulful vocals, big emotions and excellent arrangements – fantastic stuff from the trio, earlier material recorded as The Lovejoys and solo numbers by singer Leola Jiles! We'd love ...

Wow! We really grew to love southern soul singer Paul Kelly's sweet run of records for Warners in the 70s, but heard scant few of his earlier 45s – recorded for Lloyd, Dial, Phillips and the Happy Tiger label from the mid 60s into the early 70 – it's wonderful stuff! Hot Runnin' Soul ...

A great second volume of pivotal episodes of The Johnny Otis Show from Ace Records and a compilation that represents two eras of Johnny Otis! On With The Show starts out by continuing the story of his late 50s and early 60s R&B years – then segues hard into his grittier funk-honed style ...

A wonderful album from Sly and crew – moving way past the straight funk approach of earlier records, into a complicated crossover soul style that's filled with warmth and righteousness! Despite the political tone implied by the "riot" in the title and the co-option of the American ...

Excellent work from this smooth Chicago vocal group! The album may well be the best the group ever recorded – and it features some stellar ballad work produced with a nice spacey tone, almost in a Rose Royce mellow mode – by Jerry Butler's Fountain Productions team and by Clarence ...

Not the same sort of new wave you'd know from the rock mainstream – but a fresh version of soul music for the 80s – very stripped-down, and performed almost entirely by Andre Cymone! The set's got a fullness that goes way past bedroom soul, though – thanks to advances in ...

It's easy to survive the 80s when you've got an army of future-suit cats behind you – and given the groove here, it's clear that Andre Cymone was doing way more than just surviving back in the day! The set's a super-tight batch of 80s grooves – with a sharp sound that comes from lots ...

The rare second album from Bobby Boyd – a set that's even more soulful than his first, and which is filled with funky gems! Boyd's vocals are wonderful – tight, but with an earnest quality that almost pushes him more towards a Bill Withers vibe than some of the other funky singers of ...

Quite possibly THE mother of all funky soundtracks – the legendary score to Rudy Ray Moore's classic first Dolemite film! The record's been referenced for years, and all the hype is totally right – because the whole thing's overflowing with funky tracks both vocal and instrumental ...

An incredible spacey club track from the mid 70s – originally only released on a 7" single, but presented here on a 12" – with a previously unavailable full mix! The tune starts out with a righteous spaced-out bit, then rolls into a harder, heavier funk-based groove that's ...

A hip little set from Ruth Brown – miles away from her earlier R&B for Atlantic, and much more in the adult, righteous, and contemporary mode you'd expect from the title! The session's one of the key sides from the late 60s Skye Records catalog – and like others on the label, it ...

One of the rare gospel albums on Riverside! ...

2LP set that compiles Sylvester's post-disco singles for the Megatone label – tracks that are definitely less soul-oriented than some of his earlier work, and which earned him a lifetime (albeit short) working in the gay club scene. Titles include "Sex", "Hard Up", "L ...

Killer early instrumentals from The Mar-Keys – that great early sound of the Memphis scene, back when it was two parts rock to two parts soul – and all gritty all the way through! Titles include "Gonna Work Out Fine", "Pop Eye Stroll", "Straight From The ...

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Recorded in 1985 for the Philly World label as Gardner's debut LP, the story as we understand it is that this record never really hit the shelves – for some reason it was pulled at the last minute by the label. We can't figure out why, as the set's got very nice 80s Philly production and ...

Solid 80s grooving soul from Howard Johnson – a singer who'd worked often with other, bigger artists – but who only cut a handful of albums under his own name. The set's got a lot of production help from Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who make their presence known in the record's ...

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A sock-soul set of material from Larry Williams and Johnny Watson – and one that really updates their older groove for the Northern Soul generation! The album's pretty amazing – hardly anything you might expect from any of Williams' earlier work, and drenched in the charms that Johnny ...

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The King Curtis combo in all of its glory – really grooving hard here in a set of instrumental performances recorded at the same time as Aretha Franklin's famous live date at the Fillmore West! King backed Aretha up on her own record from Fillmore, but this set features all the instrumental ...

A long buried treasure trove of southern soul from deep deep down in the Muscle Shoals scene – gritty, beautiful, powerful work by Mary Gresham – an unjustly unknown singer who we'll put way up there with very best female funk & soul vocals of the 60s, 70s and beyond! Mary found ...

An overlooked gem from the early 80s groove scene – the only album we've ever seen from Private Eye, a tightly funky trio that features drummer Will Kennedy of the Yellowjackets! The sound here is definitely funky soul, but with an undercurrent of jazz – given the strength of the ...

Groovy 80s soul from Howard Johnson! Doin It My Way features is a sweet batch of electro-influenced pop soul – produced by Mic Murphy & David Frank of The System! The record has a very System-y vibe, but Howard's sunny approach to soul vocals really leads the way! Titles include " ...

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A great revival of sorts for The Staple Singers – and a record that has them hitting a whole new groove to really open up their sound! Gone are the cliches of earlier albums, and in their place is a tightly-crafted approach to 80s soul – one that's clearly aimed at the dancefloor, and ...

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 guitarist. The overall sound of this one's perhaps a bit slicker than his first 2 albums on Buddah – but there's still some ...

A great Motown set from the 70s – a record that grooves with the new styles the label was exploring at the time, yet still has a rock-solid quality that links back to its 60s heritage too! The main strength here comes from Bonnie Pointer – whose vocals have an instantly classic sound ...

An incredible record from Alicia Myers – one that may well be our favorite ever from this old school soul singer – and that's saying a hell of a lot, given the depth of her classic work! There's an amazing groove to the set right from the start – a warm, midtempo soul vibe that's ...

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") – ...

Great work from Noel Pointer – one of the leading lights in the United Artists soul spectrum at the end of the 70s! As with other Pointer sets from the time, there's a pretty strong fusion undercurrent here – a groove that's built up from Noel's own work on electric violin, plus some ...

A great revival of sorts for The Staple Singers – and a record that has them hitting a whole new groove to really open up their sound! Gone are the cliches of earlier albums, and in their place is a tightly-crafted approach to 80s soul – one that's clearly aimed at the dancefloor, and ...

One of the best-ever albums by this lovely soulful singer! Linda Lewis had an amazing style that was somewhere in between Minnie Riperton, Joni Mitchell, and Ellen McIlwaine – meaning that she mixes soul, folk, and a bit of jazz into her own unique vibe. This album's a gem, and is filled ...

Late 80s – but Norman's still the king of the mellow soul groove! The album's got Connors working with his Starship Orchestra on a set of tunes that bubble forth with the same jazzy touches as in earlier years – showing a bit of the trace of their time in the group's silly costumes on ...

Talk about a meeting of the minds – a pair of ultra-amazing classics from the team of Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson – back to back in a single set! At the time of Step Into Our Life, Henderson & Ayers were probably the biggest names in the jazz funk business – both with a ...

Classic Etta for Chess, yet largely overlooked In her canon! This is really strongly produced stuff – it's got its sweet moments, but there's plenty of heft and grit, too! It's the kind of material that works really well with her deep, soulful voice – and the female backing vocal ...

Smooth soulful jazz from Harvey Mason – one of his strong 70s winners for the Arista album, and a record that really brings a new level of class to his sound! There's less of the grit in the grooves than you might expect from the down-home reference of the title – and in a way, the ...

The best of a handful of albums that the one-time Prince bassist put out in the early-to-mid 80s – a record that made a splash via the great Prince-penned "The Dance Electric" – possibly a blessing and a curse for AC, as Prince was so huge at the time that the record going ...

A much-needed look at the mighty Sugar Pie DeSanto – a singer who really rocked Chess Records back in the 60s! DeSanto came to the label already boasting one hell of a groove – a rock-solid sense of rhythm that made all of her tunes groovers right from the get-go – and a raw ...

An excellent Chess session by Etta, with hard Chicago soul production by Monk Higgins and Ralph Bass – and the kind of searing vocals that always made Etta a treat, whether rocking or mellow! The album's got some wonderful hard soul tracks, of the style that Etta could really cut loose with ...

The only RCA album from Enchantment – and a great little set that has the group stretching out from their earlier records on United Artists! The groove here is still awash in the great harmonies we've always loved from the group – and production is by Don Davis, who always has a great ...

The beginning of an amazing run on RCA for vocalist Jon Lucien – working here in a sublime blend of styles that's way beyond simple soul or standard jazz! Lucien's got a sound that's unlike anything we can think of – apart from the countless imitators who've tried for his style in ...