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Funky organ, hard tenor sax, and plenty of choppy guitar make this another jazz funk gem in the crown of the legendary Funk Inc! The group are still totally at the top of their game here -- stepping out with a deep, soulful Indy-bred blend of jazz and funk -- a groove that was easily one of the ...

Not the band's first album -- as you might think from the "start" in the title -- but a classic batch of jazzy, funky, and soulful grooves from The Blackbyrds -- one of those combos that few groups could match back in the 70s! The set's got a beautifully put-together feel -- tight enough ...

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Classic 80s work from the Isley Brothers -- a set that has the duo of Ronald and Rudolph getting some great help in the studio from Angela Winbush! Angela helped produce the record, and she also wrote many of the songs -- and she plays keyboards on the set too, giving the tracks the upbeat, bouncy ...

A very mellow bit of LA pop and soul by this band that featured Donny Gerrad on lead vocals, and lots of nice electric keyboard and moog work. Includes the soft easy classic "Wildflower", plus "Shall I Fail", "The Writing's On The Wall", "Brother Eddie", and ...

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The debut of greatness from Will Downing -- an album that really sparkled in the late 80s musical galaxy, and which strongly updated an older style of richer soul from the 70s! Will's working here with equal parts influence from jazz and soul -- inflected by work from talents that include Brian ...

A really great set of rare Detroit numbers -- all pulled from the catalog of the LuPine label, a company who cut some great little records in the shadow of Motown! The work on the set includes a lot of early 60s numbers -- including a few tracks by The Primettes, an early incarnation of Diana Ross ...

One the all time great funky albums of the 70s -- a mad little record with a sense of rhythm and timing that was years ahead of its time! The Soul Searchers (along with Chuck Brown) later became known for their heavy-hitting Go Go work at the end of the decade -- but here, they're a really free-thi ...

Some of the greatest funky work you could ever hope to find by Johnny Otis! The package brings together tracks recorded by Johnny in his fantastic post-R&B years -- the late 60s and 1970s, when he was scrappling around a variety of small labels, but also getting the chance to use that freedom ...

Time flies, but Smokey Robinson keeps things cool -- laidback and mellow, and very much in the mode of his best solo work from earlier years -- with a subtle glow in the backings that has us thinking "quiet storm" all over again! Given Robinson's rep, it would have been easy to just ...

Mellow jazzy soul from the crossover genius of Norman Connors! The record is a beautiful blend of styles, and features vocals by Eleanore Mills and Phillip Mitchell -- plus playing by Gary Bartz and Pharoah Sanders. Connors still has some of his jazz influences firmly in place, as you'll hear on ...

One of the later, post-Fantasy albums by the LA Boppers, but still a great one, with some of their nice smooth two step harmony vocals set amidst nice jazz-tinged arrangements. Augie Johnson produced for At Home productions, so there's some nice jazzy moments, and the tracks include "You're ...

A wonderful 70s live album from Marvin Gaye -- a set that was as expansive, ambitious, and sophisticated as his studio work from the time! The album's put together almost like a 3-sided portrait of Marvin -- in that it begins with a long section of current work, moves into a "fossil ...

Rudy Ray Moore's second album, and almost hipper than the first -- thanks to some key musical backings from The Fillmore St Soul Rebellion! The vibe here is as rough and raw as you'd expect -- a no-holds-barred version of party records, with Rudy using plenty of language hardly heard this strongly ...

A great little album by Joceyln Brown -- one of the best soul singers to emerge from the disco years! Jocelyn spent years singing backup behind other artists, came to fame with the group Inner Life, and then broke into her own briefly as a big solo act during the early 80s. This album's based ...

A great post-HDH set from Freda Payne -- one that has Freda singing to arrangements by McKinley Jackson, in that soaring, full-on, pre-disco soul approach that was also used heavily on Lamont Dozier's ABC records from the same time! Freda's vocals are still fantastic, and there's some great hooks ...

A great album of mellow soul tracks from Curtis Mayfield -- laidback, slinky, and almost to his earlier work what Let's Get It On was to the early 70s career of Marvin Gaye! The album's got a warm, soulful vibe that's totally great -- not as all-out funky or politically righteous as before, and ...

Fantastic early O'Jays! The album's the first to feature the group meeting up with the Gamble/Huff team -- a significant shift from their earlier work on Imperial, with a style that still retains all the vocal hardness of those days, but which makes a shift into a sweeter more strident soul groove. ...

A funky soul band with a bit of a clubby groove -- and one that features some great male harmony vocals behind lead singer Jann Harrison! Harrison's got a very light style of singing -- almost soprano at points, which makes the male voices especially welcome -- as they help ground the grooves much ...

Like Esther Phillips, during the early 70s, Ruth Brown moved away from the hard R&B vein, and cut a few nice albums in a more stripped-down jazzy style. This session features Ruth with Richard Tee on organ, David Spinoza on guitar, and Bernard Purdie on drums -- and it includes a number of ...

Gregg Diamond's fortunate enough to have some help again from Luther Vandross here -- whose lead vocals on the cuts "Crazy Lady Luck" and "Lay It On The Line" make them sparkle with a lot more soul than they might otherwise! The rest of the album's pretty decent, too -- and ...

The kind of sweet jazzy mellow stuff that's always been big with the stepper's scene here in Chicago. Ghallab's a keyboardist and vocalist, and the stuff on here could be slotted into a tradition that includes Roy Ayers and Gene Harris, especially their mid-70s fusiony work. Titles include "L ...

A mindblowing set from Little Richard -- a stunning comeback session from the start of the 70s -- recorded at Muscle Shoals with a heavy funk component in the mix! Richard arranged and produced the record himself -- and it's a beautiful illustration of his genius -- hardly dimmed at this point in ...

An early 80s set from Melba Moore -- recorded at a time when she was really coming into her own! Read My Lips has Melba working nicely with some tight Capitol soul backings -- often a bit heavy on the beats, but in a way that guides the tunes strongly from the bottom, and lets Melba's vocals ...

Their first album, and the one that's got their big version of Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" -- which starts with a nice break, too! Other tracks include "Sugar", "Pains & Tears", "Jasa", "River Boulevard", and "Cloudburst". The ...

A nice disco record from Hamilton Bohannon. The album mainly contains uptempo dance numbers but there are a few slower songs like "Daddy's Little Son" -- a dedication to his son whose picture is on the cover of the album. The other tracks are "Andrea", "But What Is A ...

A killer album of crossover soul from the mid 70s -- one that dropped like a bomb when it hit, and gave this UK group a number of big hits in America! Keyboardist Rod Temperton wrote all the tracks on the album -- and he's got keen talent for both funky numbers and ballads. If soul stations ...

Billy Preston & Syreeta handled the music for this slightly-lame, kind of strange Gabe Kaplan vehicle from the late 70s. The music is relatively fine, although the album lacks any totally funky moments. Instrumentals include "Books & Basketball", "Half Time", "The ...

Rock-solid Buddah work from Gladys Knight & The Pips -- still pretty righteous on the vocal tip, but often a bit fuller and more polished than before! Knight shows a great talent for a mature ballad here -- no big hits, but that's part of the charm of the set -- as there's a personal, intimate ...

Tight 80s grooving from Fatback -- kicking it large with the bass-heavy dancefloor sound they virtually invented! There's a really solid feel to the whole set -- as brother Bill Curtis and crew go for an uptempo style of funk that never sells out for cheap gimmicks, and which knows just when to ...

Fantastic stuff! The Emotions may have been a sweet female soul trio from Chicago, but here, they're getting some extra heavy production from Ronnie Williams and David Porter -- who bring a darker side to their sound, coming up with heavy soul grooves that really open them up. The classic example ...

A stone classic from the Isleys -- the album that kicked off their successful T-Neck label, and established that mighty Isleys sound that would have such a huge influence in the 70s! The title cut of the set -- "It's Your Thing" -- is a well-known classic that really sets the tone for ...

An excellent early album from Millie Jackson -- recorded in a southern soul style in New York and Muscle Shoals, but a lot hipper than most of the rest of the female soul that was coming out of the south at the time. For one thing, Millie was a bad mamma singer -- rapping hard and frankly about ...

An 80s soul classic from Kashif -- the guy who really helped transform R&B at the time, all without the benefit of a last name! The album's completely arranged and produced by Kashif himself -- cementing the reputation he'd begun working behind other artists in the earlier part of the decade ...

A turning point for Loleatta Holloway -- as she makes the move from dreamy southern soul diva to club queen of the late 70s! Norman Harris is producing, and the record has a soaring Philly disco sound that proves to be just as great for Loleatta's soulful vocals as the stripped-down southern modes ...

Blue-eyed soul from Boz Scaggs, with a decidedly Philly influenced sound to the production, which we'd hazard a guess comes more from the Hall & Oates side of town than the Sigma Sound axis. Still, this is a solid album with the irresistible hit "Lowdown", still a favorite around ...

A stunning solo effort -- Teena's second on Epic, and proof that she could still put out the goods on her own. Teena wrote, arranged, and produced the whole thing -- and tracks include "Light", "Jammin", "Out On A Limb", "Alibi", "Youngblood", ...

Uptempo club material by one of the lesser-known dancefloor divas of the 70s. The record has a strong soulful feel, and some great jazzy arrangements by Don Sebesky and Richard Tee -- played by players who make the set a bit hipper than you might expect! With the funky uptempo bells in "Shoot ...

Eddie's sweet clubby soul is produced by the master, Norman Harris -- and the result is one of Eddie's best crossover albums of the 70s. The groove is pure Philly, with the usual crack team in the studio -- Vince Montana, Bobby Eli, Ron Baker, and Harris himself. Includes "Born Again", ...

Proof that Teddy P was a fantastic solo act -- and some of the most godlike work that he ever recorded! The record shows Teddy moving into territory all his own -- with wonderfully smoth quiet storm arrangements offsetting the deeply soulful vocals he forged with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. ...

One of their wildest and most beautiful LPs! By this point, Young & Holt getting past their usual funky Brunswick sound here, and they've opened up the groove a lot with lots of nice extra bits. The best proof of this is their fantastic take on "Midnight Cowboy", which has an insane ...

Almost a "greatest hits" of greatest hits albums -- one of those collections that almost sold more copies than all the full albums by the artist -- forever earning Sly & The Family Stone a place in record collections around the globe! All the hits are here, laid out back to back in ...

Given that this one was produced by Ashford & Simpson, we're guessing that Ray had some relation to Valerie -- which you can certainly hear on the album's great mix of smooth vocal tracks and modern soul numbers. The album sounds a lot like some of Ashford & Simpson's best work at Warner ...

The one and only LP released by this funky soul duo from Chicago! Simtec & Wylie were formed in the shape of Sam & Dave, Bob & Earl, Mel & Tim, and other famous 60s male duos -- but they had a madder approach that was the fruit of many years of making funky 45's, and (given Simtec's ...

A stunning 3LP set -- featuring just about all the best stuff you'd ever want by the young Jacksons! Titles include "I Found That Girl", "Got To Be There", "Goin Back To Indiana", "I Want You Back", "ABC", "Dancing Machine", "I Am ...

One of the most successful albums cut by People's Choice during the 70s -- and a record that shows them making the same progression from funk to disco as other groups of the time, like BT Express. Yet despite the easily imagined disco that the title might indicate, the album's actually got some ...

The group's third album, and although it wasn't as big of a hit as some of the others, it's a great batch of club tracks with a unique sound, and a nice jazzy approach! August Darnell wrote all the lyrics in the set and plays bass in the group -- and lead female vocals are by Cory Daye, who ...

Amazing early work from Marvin Gaye -- a set that's more jazz than soul, with a really unique sort of sound! Marvin's vocals are sublime, but in a completely different way than on his later hits -- almost a bit broken at times, next to some very broken-down piano lines used in the album's spare ...

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