A far-reaching look at soul, R&B, funk and proto rock legends covering the Lennon-McCartney songbook – as diverse and impressively put together as Ace's great previous entry in the Black America Sings series that covered Dylan! Come Together comes together terrifically – with early rock & soul stars like Chubby Checker, Fats Domino & Little Richard, stellar groups like The Vibrations, Main Ingredient & New Birth, the great ladies of the era including Aretha Franklin, Maxine Brown and Linda Jones and many more! None simply record Beatles' songs from a more soul-based perspective, there's real heart and unique touches across the board here. Great Stuff! "Back In The USSR" by Chubby Checker, "Ticket To Ride" by Wee Wee Walker, "Let It Be" by Aretha, "Lady Madonna" by Junior Parker, "Get Back" by Main Ingredient, "The Long And Winding Road" by New Birth, "Yesterday" by Linda Jones, "Day Tripper" by Otis Redding and more. CD

The music of Otis Redding – sung by some of his hippest contemporaries, and by a whole new generation inspired by his talents! The tunes here are all numbers you'd know from Redding's famous recordings for Stax and Atlantic – yet the versions are nice and fresh – some done with a gritty down-home feel that's rougher than any of Redding's records, others done with an inventive style that pushes the music forward into new modes – possibly those that Otis might have explored on his own, had he not been taken from us so soon! The package is a great testament to the Otis Redding legacy in soul music – and is filled with a whopping 25 tracks, all of them well-chosen – including "Baby Cakes" by Maxine Brown, "Just One More Day" by Clarence Carter, "Give Away None Of My Love" by Buddy Miles, "Wholesale Love" by Arthur Conley, "Hawg For You" by Tina Britt, "Hard To Handle" by Patti Drew, "Chained & Bound" by Bettye Swann, "I'm Missing You" by Mitty Collier, "Sister Pitiful" by Judy Clay, "These Arms Of Mine" by Albert Washington & The Kings, "Monkey On My BacK" by Jackie Hairston – plus the previously unreleased "Loving By The Pound (part 2)" by Otis Redding himself! CD

A great early collection of upbeat 60s soul from Ace/Kent Records – featuring 16 cuts by The Rocky Fellers, Benny Gordon, Rosco Robinson, Shirelles, Maxine Brown, Young Holt Trio, Jackie Wilson, Isley Brothers, Chuck Jackson, Artistics, Roy Head, and The Esquires! (Soul, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic look at the Spring Records label in New York – a company that had a few big crossover hits in the 70s, but also issued a lot more rare and obscure material over the years – with a long legacy that even hit the early years of the old school scene! One of Spring's great contributions was finding a way for fast funk groups to shift into a disco mode when the earliest years of the clubs got going – but there's also a lot more going on here too – including some great deep soul ballads, warm midtempo steppers, and cuts that point the way towards the modern soul generation on the rise. The package also features six never-issued cuts, alongside some well-chosen and overlooked Spring Records gems – all put together with the usual strong notes and excellent sound we love from Ace/Kent! Titles include "If We Get Caught I Don't Know You" by Prince Philip Mitchell, "Falling In Love" by Victor Tavares, "Save The Best For Me" by The Determinations, "Do You Feel Me" by Act I, "I'm The Other Half Of You" by Maxine Weldon, "If You Could Turn Into Me" by The Fatback Band, "Magic's In The Air" by Ronnie Walker, "Hold On" by Ray Godfrey, "If You Say You Love Me" by Us, "The Storm Is Passing Over" by Jackie Verdell, "Beauty" by The Joneses, "Kill The Monster" by Flower Shoppe, "I Ride Alone" by The Internationals, "Get Right" by Richard Barbary, "Daddy's Coming Home" by Prince Harold, and "Of Your Life" by Vernon Brown. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

Excellent work from Wand Records, a real powerhouse in 60s soul – featuring not hits, but nicely obscure tracks by Nella Dodds, The Gentlemen Four, The Ivories, Darryl Stewart, Clarence Reid, Wally Cox, the Charts, Ed Bruce, Billy Thompson, Walter Wilson, and The Masqueraders – plus two by Maxine Brown! (Soul, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album