Funky 45's — Recently Added  

A killer from Barbara King – raw, soulful, and plenty darn powerful! The original version of "What I Did" begins with a moody guitar, and a spoken bit by King at the start – then rolls into this romping funky groove that's really dominated by Barbara's great raspy vocals on ...

Ruth Brown, way past the hits – two great gritty numbers, back to back on a funky 45! "Sweet Baby Of Mine" is nice and groovy – a romper with some great guitar that wangles out next to Ruth's vocals – almost like another singer, offering up a response! "I Don't ...

Caribbean grooves, recorded in Paris – and one with all the sweet electric touches you'd guess from the group's name! "Sipote" is a monster – offbeat rhythms topped with this cool stepping organ – almost flat in tone, but with a really imaginative solo right from the ...

Rare funk from the Kelekye Band – material recorded after their legendary Moving World album, but never issued at the time! This amazing package is totally great – four tracks of offbeat Afro Funk, with an approach that's heavy on percussion, and topped by jazzy riffs that really ...

Raw sounds from one of the most rocking artists on Specialty Records! "Love Charms" is a killer right from the start – a wangly guitar line stepping with the hard rhythm – and bold, soulful vocals from Larry Williams – recorded with a beautifully vibrant tone! "Hee ...

An early stunner from Black Ivory – a great groover, done with kind of a bouncy lilting groove that has lots of bass, and a good mix with the group's harmony vocals! One of the funkiest from Fatback – "Goin' to See My Baby" is especially tough, and starts out with a massive ...

Nickodemus brings his Global Minute series to Beirut – Middle Eastern MCs and regional funk sounds fused masterfully with timeless, universal hop hop – a brilliant, uncompromising track! Here Nickodemus is joined by MCs Edd Fareeq L'Atrash, Yaseen, Malikah & Ram6 Al Hamorabi on the ...

One of our favorite tunes from the old school – a beautiful blend of vocoder vocals, sinister keyboards, and some cool splashy beats! This one ties it all together – the sound of the streets, the experiments of the import scene, and the changing energy in the clubs – all with a ...

One of our favorite singers of recent years – served up here in a sweet limited 7" single! "More Than Mine" is a wonderful jazz tone – one that builds slow, with circular piano amidst Zara's raspy vocals – and a great alto and tenor part in the middle, which really ...

A lost modern soul classic! Although Barbara Lynn had some big hits in the 60s, "Movin On A Groove" is a sweet 70s number that's been in demand for years – and which has a hook and a groove that just don't quit! The track's backed here by a rare version of "Nice & ...

Great guitar kicks off "Leila" – a tune with a really eerie edge, and one of the most striking numbers we've heard so far from the legendary Kourosh! The tune begins quite slowly, almost introspectively – with some slight Arabesk flavors that only get stronger once the vocals ...

Nesta and Malcolm Catto team up for this spacey little 45 – the enigmatic "Noise", a dark heavy tune tune that lives up to its name, with ripped out noise bouncing around on a pillow of reverb over a deep, deep groove! "Dance Of The Dogon" is a looser, jazzier number ...

Previously unreleased numbers from the Poets Of Rhythm side of the funk spectrum – both excellent tunes, filled with Original Raw Soul energy! "Willpower" is skittishly grooving right away – snapping drums and riffing guitars driving the main vibe of the cut – while ...

A great one from The Incredible Bongo Band – lots of echoey percussion, and a massively snapping groove – the kind of cut that always threatens to break, but keeps building things up – layering and layering the sound as it goes on, and really living up to the "Riot" ...

A great great entry in the "freeze" genre – a kind of stop/start sort of jazzy track that burns with organ and horns, then "freezes" for a second – and rolls back into the groove with a mighty mighty finish! "Let's Go" starts with horns sliding up the ...

Wow! "Rattlesnake Baby Rattlesnake" is a KILLER R&B number from Joe Johnson – starting out with the slinkiest, coolest and moodiest percussive rhythm to start it – before Joe growls and the guitar leads the way for the horns and the whole groove to crash on in. From ...

One of THE all-time funky 45 classics of all time – a hard-burning, James Brown-styled number that was cooking things up in the underground years before 7" singles first started changing hands for thousands on Ebay! "Pull My Coat" is one of those tunes you'll know from the ...

Stunning stuff – and one of the few reissues we've ever seen to really do justice to this legendary New Orleans soul label! The Ric and Ron imprints were a key indie force in the development of Crescent City soul music – home to some of the better artists who didn't get scooped up by ...

Nashville jazzy funk & soul collective Coolin' System cover classics by Eddie Harris & Jack McDuff – funky 45 from GED Soul! "I Need Some Money" is one of the funkier Eddie Harris numbers, and the System do him proudly here – featuring guest vocalist AJ Eason, a ...

A mindblowing 7-inch EP from Nashville's DeRobert & The Half-Truths and the GED Soul team – who've shown enough potential thus far to make us think they'd eventually rise to the upper tier of neo classic funky soul collectives – and with this exceptional EP we think they've made it! ...

Two great lost numbers from one of our favorite soul artists of all time! "I Can Take Care" is a rolling midtempo number, with that loping Chi soul groove that Gene was working in afer his early Vee Jay sides. Gene's vocals really send us – especially on the the chorus, when they ...

A southern romper from Don Varner – a tune that's plenty upbeat, despite the tears staining its face! The track's got a solid punch, and some tight Eddie Hinton production – and Eddie also worked the same magic on "Mojo Mama" too, which has an even grittier groove at the ...

A great little box set of Syl Johnson sides from Numero's epic, jaw-droppingly far-reaching Complete Mythology package! The purpose here was not only put together a beautiful, more portable vinyl sampler of the amazing 6LP/4CD complete set, they also did it to represent the breadth of Syl's soul ...

Old school funky soul from DeRobert & The Half Truths – served up here in a groove with tightly snapping drums on the bottom, great guitar riffing in the middle, and horns that have some nicely dark touches! These elements are all played with nicely on the dub version – although we ...

The first official release to come from Numero's epic excavation of the Boddie Recording Studio tapes – unheard Cleveland soul made by three unknown groups – issued here on three 45s, packaged in a 1/4"reel box with the replicated Boddie label! The Boddie Recording Company was ...

A sweet Okeh rarity from the Seven Souls – a cut that bounces along with a groove that's right up there with the bigger Chicago soul issued by the label – that gentle swing that always played big in the Windy City soul scene of the 60s, topped with great harmony vocals from the group! ...

Brooklyn Afro dub from Super Hi Fi and tightly-grooving, horn-heavy Afro Soul from Seattle's Polyrhythmics – on sweet split 45! "We Will Begin Again" by Super Hi Fi has a dubby backdrop and some really atmospheric horns carrying the mood. "Pink Wasabi" is a playful ...

It's like the glory days of Warner Brothers all over again – as Van Dyke Parks reminds us why we love him so much with a tune like "Missin Mississippi"! The track's got this minimalist acoustic groove – flowing forth in waves of sound that are almost like Penguin Cafe – ...

Beautiful sounds from Van Dyke Parks – with instrumental undercurrents that recall the genius of his best early work! "All Golden" is tremendous – piano rippling under accordion (or is it harmonium?), creating this Americanist backdrop that's perfect for Parks' tremendous ...

The first taste of the Faithful Man album from Lee Fields & The Expressions – a living oracle of deep soul and at the very peak of skills in 2012 – seriously, the man and the band are completely incredible here! "You're The Kind Of Girl" gives us what we need from Lee ...

Wicked stuff – and 2 tracks that offer a whole new take on the modern sound of deep funk! "Creation" is a weird little offbeat number that snaps along the beats, blasts them with horns, and almost goes for a Chicago Brunswick sort of style! There's a bit of strings lilting along ...

Deep funk for the hip hop scene – instrumental versions of 2 Wu-Tang classics, both of them great! "CREAM" is done here as a low-down and dirty funk track – hard drums in place of the beats, scratchy guitar to enforce the darkness, and a madly tippling piano part that's pure ...

Modern funky Latin Soul from Spanglish Fly! "Think" is a cover of the old school R&B staple best remembered for the killer James Brown version from the early 60s – masterfully remodeled here as a fresh live Latin Soul with vocals by Erica Ramos and a great mix of Latin ...

Brooklyn boogaloo from Spanglish Fly – a joyous couple of numbers for their second funky 45 for Electric Cowbell – recorded at Truth & Soul! "Me Gusta Mi Bicicleta" – kind of a Latin party soul love letter to urban cyclists! Female lead vocals and chorus backup ...

One of the funkiest records we've heard from Lee Fields in years – and most of his records are already pretty darn funky! This one's got a very different approach than some of Lee's recent deep funk sides – a more electric, 70s-styled slow funk groove – one that begins with great ...

A straight up funky soul treasure from the late career instant classic My World LP by Lee Fields & The Expressions – his ode to the "Ladies" and such a standout moment on the album – tightened up just a bit on this great 45 edit courtesy of Truth & Soul's own DJ ...

A haunting, funky samba instrumental, a sweeter vocal tune and spacey bonus track to close – cool stuff from Os Magrelos! "Luz Negra" is quite killer – with funky drums and heavy bass, plus a really thick layer of organ! "Seja Como For" is shows a different side, ...

An incredibly rare slice of righteous soul – pulled from obscurity! "Third Eye" has this really cool little groove – jazzy, but kind of light too – with these horns that are way in the background as the core skipping rhythms set most of the scene – all to some ...

Sharon's got her political agenda straight on this one – working with heavy heavy backings from the Dap-Kings on a hip message-oriented cut that ranks with the best of the early 70s! The groove's overflowing with tight wah wah guitar, topped off by some nice chromatic Willie Hutch-like work ...

Scorching raw soul from Charles Bradley – backed by the tight Menahan Street Band! "World (Is Going Up In Flames)" might be the best track yet from Bradley – an incredible groover with a heavy theme – but the apocalypse never sounded so sweet! The groove is raw and ...

Bang! This one starts like a mofo – hard drums rattling in a monster break, and really setting the scene for Charles stark and soulful lyrics. The tune rattles along with some super-tight guitar – riffing away next to the bass in a double-time groove that's immediately gripping – ...

Live Jimi Hendrix – tearing it up on Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" at the Berkeley Community Theater in May of 1970 – plus a previously unreleased version of his own uber-classic "Purple Haze" at Winterland in '68! The '70 line up features Mitch Mitchell on drums ...

Sharon Jones does a wonderful job with this classic – getting some hard funky backings from The Dap-Kings, and soaring out over the top with the best reading of the lyric we've ever heard! There's a tasty sax solo in the middle of the track – and the instrumental flipside offers even ...

Quite possibly the heaviest groove we've heard to date from Bronx River Parkway – a tune that snaps out with a stark little break on the beginning – really crackling with a heavy funk energy, but also sharing a bit of Wu-Tang like piano in the background! As the tune rolls on, the ...

Funky Latin grooves from Bio Ritmo! "Diana's Mambo" has timeless mambo flavor bubbling underneath – sweet percussion, brass up front in the mix and taking to another level via some otherlwordly electric organ. The flip shares the slightly tripped out organ vibe, otherwise a nicely ...

Sweet Latin grooves from Bronx River Parkway – two great numbers back to back! "Aqua Con Sal" has a soulful stepping bassline at the bottom – one that sets the groove with almost a bit of early 70s west coast Latin – in contrast to the more New York-sounding horns on ...

Wicked funk from the great Dave Hamilton – a tight Detroit instrumental from 1970, with wangly guitar, sweet vibes, and more than enough heavy drums to keep the groove going! "Bad Things" is an early one from The Barrino Brothers – recorded by Hamilton before their HDH ...

Two tasty funky numbers on a limited reissue 45! Billy Garner's "Brand New Girl" is a non-stop groover – with a hard James Brown/Lee Fields vocal style, and compin' and chompin' guitar underneath! Next is a break you can't live without – served up on the amazing intro to ...

Sweet vocals, spacey keyboards and other lush textures highlight the second single by singer Kendra Morris – following up the equally solid "Concrete Waves" 12-inch – here with a great, and equally strong 45 for Wax Poetics! Wax Poetics has been pretty adventurous with their ...

Not really "beating steel", but a tune that's definitely got a beat right from the start – a mod mix of romping drums and crime-styled guitar, but recorded with a slightly warmer sound library groove too! Horns blast in strongly once the tune gets rolling – and there's an ...